The Tractor Shed Delima.

I call it a delima but I actually enjoy trying to figure out the best way to assemble the joints and their locations for structural purposes. This is the barn rafter and I wanted to use this joint somewhere. I felt since I had already cut the Edge Halved Scarf  with Bridled Butts four times for my sills and would also use this joint for my top plates, I decided to use the Stop splayed scarf with wedges for my rafters over the tractor shed portion of the barn. As I stated earlier I am limited to 12' beams due to the fact that I have to carry them in the back of my pick up. On one hand I it has caused me to have to cut many more joints than normal but has given me more experience also. Since the tractor shed rafter will be approximately 14' long  to cover the tractor and to extend out in order to have protection for wood storage on the north side of the barn,  I plan to use two 8x8 beams and connect them with the stop splayed scarf joint with wedges. I will use 4x6 purlins and 3/4 in. tong and grooved plywood with a metal roof which should be a light load for this joint to carry. As you can see the upper half of the rafter will be supported by the brace and this will also support the connecting end of the other portion of the rafter. The rest of the weight of the second half will be supported by the post. Although this is not the most preferred way, I believe it will work for my purposes and give me more headroom. I believe this is known as the Colonial version. The reason I used the Edge Halved Scarf with Bridled Butts, especially on the top plates is that this joint resist twisting. I was afraid that any outward thrust of the rafters resting on the top plate would cause it to rotate and the splayed scarf would not resist the twisting as much. Since there is no live load and a light roof then the tractor shed rafter might be a great place to practice using this joint. I love the way driving a wedge in the square in the middle causes the joint to tighten. My biggest decision is the exact placement of the brace and mortise for the purlins so that I would not weaken the joint. The mortise for the purlins will be a lap joint and only cut into the rafter 3" which will enable the purlins to extend out a minimum of 2' past the rafter.