Have you used sweetgum for horsestall work?

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Yeah, I know....
I has been quiet a while.   
I have been busy trying to market the wood
that I have been accumulating over the last few years.  It's beginning to sell.  Of course,
this all goes straight to the my son's college fund. 

I have a customer ("Customer A") who asked about some of my nicer oak for stalls in a horse barn,
but... needless to say I am not too keen on discount-pricing my nicer oak which has
been borated and air dried for three years.  Simply put, I have too much handling labor in it at this point.

I am about to cut some pine paneling and sweetgum equipment decking for  a customer
(whom we shall denote as "Customer B") who can provide me with some extra sweetgum logs. 
The question is whether 5/4 sweetgum, nailed up green for the stall work, would do
Customer A a good job. If it would,  I could horse trade with Customer B on some gum logs
and saw them at his site, thereby handling his needs and those of Customer A.

So, what's the A,B,Cs of using 5/4 (or1-3/8") sweetgum for such an application: 
                                                                  Green construction on horse stalls.

Thanks in advance for your wisdom.                smiley_swinging_board

Phil L.

[DanG]

I have horses, but don't keep them in stalls, so I can't answer your question with any real knowledge.  However, I sure wouldn't discount the oak to him just because of his intent to use it in a stall.  If he wants to pay the price you have set for it, then he could burn it in the fireplace, and you shouldn't care.  I haven't heard anything about sweetgum being inferior for that purpose, but I really don't know. ???

Horses do not chew on wood because they like it, they do it out of boredom if they are trapped in a little stall for long periods.  That isn't natural for them, and they are healthier and behave better if allowed to run free in the outdoors.  Personally, I wouldn't care if this customer was happy or not, but that's just the way I am.

[WDH]

Your plan seems reasonable to me, but I am not horse-person.  The sweetgum in that application will be free to move (not glued in panels) and it seems to me that it would be a practical choice.  But, horses are persnickety, and I defer to the the horse experts.

[Kcwoodbutcher]

I use oak in my stalls, mainly red. The horses chew it regardless of species. The harder the wood the longer it lasts. Its best to construct the stalls where any board edge is inaccessable to the horse, then all you have to worry about is strength. 5/4 is the bare minimum in thickness regardless of species. I've had horses kick and break 2" oak.

[scsmith42]

My horse stalls are built with pine, oak, and poplar, but I would not hesitate to use sweetgum as a substitute (just had the other species on hand when I built the barns).

A neighbor down the road has a horse barn built out of sweetgum - it's been around for over 50 years.

Scott

[thecfarm]

We had 2 horses and 1 pony on about 8 acres.Really more than that because we would take them across the road to give the field a break.Must of had another 2 over there.We had a run in for them,never closed them up.They could come and go as they pleased.They tried to and would chew anything on the run in that they could.Not real bad,but there are a few spots they really liked.Can't help you out with the sweetgum,never saw the stuff.Built the run in out of hemlock.The only real way to keep a horse from chewing is to put angle iron on every cornor.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Thanks for all the responses!

I meet with "Customer A" at 7:30  in the morning so that he can see some Sweet Gum
in the flesh.  I gave him a quote on what I would provide oak for and a lower figure for
the gum.   (I had some stickered oak which would fill part of his order that I had only
sticker stacked five weeks ago.) He was not familiar with Sweet Gum, so showing him
some which has been air dried about 16 months will give him a clear impression. (Yes,
you guessed it: Gum I have already on hand -cut and air-dry- is not the thickness
required for his job.)

Hopefully, if he likes what he sees, I will begin sawing his order Thursday.  Four logs are
ready, but some have to be rescued from a land-clearing pile a mile out of town.  Hey!
These freebies are at least 28" DBH and I will get three 12 footers out of several of these
trees.   Then the rest can come from the log supply of "Customer B."

Phil L.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

"Customer A" was pleased with the seasoned Sweetgum.

"Customer B"  was pleased to save some sawing cost in
exchange for helping with more Sweetgum logs.

The other Sweetgum which I had horse-traded for is still
available,..

so let's cut some wood! ;D

Phil L.