Oh man! @littlesleeper thanks for the kind words. Mad respect for you and your lifting over the years!
Put the log to the test this week. It weighed in at 92 pounds on Tuesday; figure it might dry out a bit more over time to something like 75-85lbs. Anyway, loaded it up to 220 and after a few reps, dropped it on the platform from chest height. Solid as hell.
What we did right was finding the balance point of the log and measuring the handles out from there. If we’d gone right from the center, it’d been weighted unevenly, but it balances perfectly on the chest.
What we did wrong was barking the center. Yeah, it rolls better obviously, and the bark may have come off over time anyway, but instead of 11 inches in diameter, it’s about 9.5-10 after barking. Definitely sits lower on the chest than a 12-inch would, making it way harder to press, but I figure come contest time, log press’ll be that much easier.
I’m working out at a gym in Washington state this month while I visit family, and it definitely’s caused some looks hahaha. I didn’t see this, but apparently some guy was doing hang-cleans with it…with chains on the end. No weight, just chains. Wish I’d seen that.
Made a yoke too today, we’ll see how that goes. Next, a stone, and then some kegs, and I’ll be happy.