Trailer Decking

[4x4American]

Any advice on trailer decking with green wood?  I have a load of pine (EWP) coming, so I figure I'll saw some out of that if I have any extra logs.  Will pine not be great because it may dry out and crack?  Poplar would be my next option, as it's easy/not expensive to get around here.  I know that I should make it as tight as possible with green wood, any other tips/tricks?

[thecfarm]

Eastern white pine??? I doubt that will last long. Well it will if you don't throw anything in it. That is some mighty brittle wood. I would put any on green and hope it will shink so the boards don't touch. I would use poplar before I would use EWP.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Do you have White Oak?

[5quarter]

4x4...I'd save the EWP for interior framing or something. you're in hardwood heaven there in upstste NY. get a few white oak logs and redeck your trailer once.

[4x4American]

Hah hardwood heaven my can!  I'm in the ADK mtn region, not in flatland central!   :D  Spruce, pine, fir is what we've got in abundance.

[4x4American]

Do you have White Oak?

Rarely.  We have more red/black oak group trees than white oak. 

[4x4American]

Eastern white pine??? I doubt that will last long. Well it will if you don't throw anything in it. That is some mighty brittle wood. I would put any on green and hope it will shink so the boards don't touch. I would use poplar before I would use EWP.

Pine is brittle yes, but the trailer has alot of steel support for the deck so I thought it might work. 

[69bronco]

4x4 Any tamarac left near you? I can still find a few up in the northeast corner. They last a long time with some treatment.

[JB Griffin]

I would use the red/black oak before i'd use pine, for sure.

[mikeb1079]

red oak should last quite a while  ;)

[4x4American]

4x4 Any tamarac left near you? I can still find a few up in the northeast corner. They last a long time with some treatment.

Not much, I asked a logger and a wood buyer yesterday if they get any in, said no.  I rarely see any in the woods.  At my friends place in cny he's got a whole grove of larch there.  and a hud-son sawmill 

[4x4American]

I might be able to get some oak for free from my friend.  I'll use that then if I can

[FarmingSawyer]

If softwood is all you got, use spruce or Hemlock......but make them 2-1/2 or 3" thick.......Hemlock is a tough wood, but mill it & get it down or it will be hard...... predrill everything......

I hesitated a bit, but I put down some spruce on a vehicle ramp because it was all I had and I needed the ramp. I would have liked poplar or ash--lighter than oak and strong.

[barbender]

White pine is one of the last woods that I have available that I would use for trailer decking.

[xlogger]

I've got to replace my boards on my gooseneck trailer. I'm having a hard time finding someone to cut me 20 foot white oaks for it but going to wait till they do. I just want to do this one time.

[5quarter]

4X4...darn that's too bad. We spent a couple weeks fishing along the black river near Potsdam. about every third or fourth tree was a white oak. Red oak will hold up pretty good too. I'd treat it about every year or so, just to help it shed water.

[4x4American]

there's white oaks around here but you really pay for em.  I've only been going to a few small local loggers who stay pretty well in this area, I'm sure I could get it but didn't want to pay for the logs and I have pine available so wanted to see what yawl thought.

[4x4American]

4x4 Any tamarac left near you? I can still find a few up in the northeast corner. They last a long time with some treatment.

I went out to Boonville area this past weekend to my friends hunting cabin and on the way out there I passed a road called Tamarack Rd off of Rt. 28...must be there's Tamarack out that way.

[mesquite buckeye]

Pine probably weighs close to half as much. It should be fine if you don't load heavily or drop stuff on it, especially if you cuprinol it. ;D

[4x4American]

4X4...darn that's too bad. We spent a couple weeks fishing along the black river near Potsdam. about every third or fourth tree was a white oak. Red oak will hold up pretty good too. I'd treat it about every year or so, just to help it shed water.

Punch in quercus alba range into google, you'll see that its scarce in the adk mtn range of NY.  It looks like according to the map that out that way near Potsdam there is more for sure.  Like I said, they're around, but not plentiful by any stretch of the imagination.

[Just Me]

 Tamarack is pretty dang tough. You have some of that up there don't you?

[Randy88]

I'm not sure what you do with the trailer, but we've cut some live elm and then painted on waste on one side, then put that side down and installed the lumber and then when done, painted the top side with waste oil as well, let it sit for awhile outside and then tossed on some ashes or wood sawdust to dry off the deck somewhat. 

Mine are used for heavy equipment and sit out all the time.   

[4x4American]

This was for a trailer I'd found on craigslist, it got bought before I could get to it.  I just bought a 1988 gooseneck trailer this weekend.  It has a fairly recent hemlock deck.  Previous owner painted it with used engine earl each spring and multiple times throughout summer, he said he's had the trailer for over 15 years.  Using it to mainly move logs and lumber, but also equipment when needed.

[scsmith42]

See I f you can source done low grade white oak. Another good option is black locust. Both will provide years of good service, especially if they are treated with oil.