Got my first request for pricing on white oak deck boards, 16ft with 2ft dove tail 2" thick. What are the going rates, what would you all charge? My calculated rate was 2$/bdft but being 16ft I was thinking 2.50-3.00$/bdft due to handling. They will be rough sawn on my circle mill.
I like that pricing, if you can get it👍
Be sure that he wants a full 2" rather than 1½". Many "store bought" trailers can not accommodate a full 2". I am just saying communicate and be sure.
What do you guys mean by dove tail on trailer decking?
You can always upcharge for Blackwood decking ...just found this video when searching for dove tail decking.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vHUk6SKmdZw (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vHUk6SKmdZw)
Dovetail refers to the back part of some trailers that slopes down.
My trailer definitely needs 1 1/2" deck boards.
Yeah i thought they weren't true 2" but he said he ordered them from a mill before. I was just looking for ball park prices and what not for $/bdft.
Firefighter, my trailer came with 1 1/2" decking. The boards were held in place on both ends by angle and a single row of screws about 6' back from the front. I cut a 1/2" rabbet on the ends of 2" boards when I redecked it. Worked like a charm.
Jemmy, if you can get $2.50 or $3 a board foot that's good. I've been getting $2/board foot. They park their trailer and I load directly on to it. I will ask more if I have to stack and sticker etc.
Good idea. It would be nice to have a stronger deck.
Around here, $2.50/bf for 2" white oak trailer decking.
Not to be annoying, but those trailers are actually "beaver-tail" trailers. Seems they've morphed into being called dovetail trailers by quite a few people. Just throwing it out there.
Semantics are funny, I use my language to portray a message/picture and dove tail works beautifully. But maybe I'll throw a beaver in the mix :D
Due to the lack of availability and handling of 16ft logs I left it up to customer to go for 2.25 for variable length and 3.00 for 16ft boards. It makes sense for me and the customer has his choice.
My research says; There may be a difference historically but it doesn't seem to be known among anyone as the terms are used interchangeably for any type of tail fixed or hydraulic.
If I had to choose I would say more often I hear the dovetails are fixed with ramps and beavertails are hydraulic. But again its not a defined term so I wouldn't assume anything when referencing one or the other. The movable beavertail probably came from it's ability to move up and down similar to a beaver's tail whereas a dovetail is fixed such as a "dovetail joint".
I found the same basic answers to the beaver tail/dovetail debate.
I figure since trailer manufatures themselves call it a dovetail, even the hydraulical 1s, dove is the termanology is the correct 1.
I too need to redeck my gooseneck and bumper pull. Untreated lumber dosent seem to last long nowadays. Im gonna have use store bought material sizing. Just gotta get the dang torx screws out and some are bent and some have the heads tore off. Treated lumber will be used this go around.
White oak decking will outlast any treated material. The difference isn't just the decay resistance, but also the strength and shock resistance of the white oak. Untreated softwoods don't have a chance, doug fir and larch might be ok if you're hauling lots of tracked machines and you destroy them before they have a chance to actually decay.
Yep, that's why I am selling rough sawn w/o and locust as trailer decking. They're restant to rot and tough as nails! If someone brings me logs, I will cut them up at 1$/bdft, I always offer my suggestions when asked. The one market I am looking at getting into is mobile sawing. I am already mid way through a chainsaw slabbing unit 090 with 84" bar, and I am looking at a smaller band saw that I will turn into a mobile unit or serve as a thin slicer of cads from the circle mill. A lot of choices that need to be made between buying/timeline of another mill, building a roof over my circle mill, and putting together a shop.
dovetails definition is an interlocking joint. The oilpan notch at the back of a racecar trailer mimics this joint and is the source of the name. However on non tilt trailers they also have to add a drop down (beavertail) to break the crest into two smaller points so as not to hang up the rocker panels on a low car. So the dovetail and beavertail got mixed together since they were so often paired. If you have a drop in the back and an oilpan notch then it'd technically be a doved beavertail.
Charles, its easiest to circle saw the board just behind their crossmember line then sawzall or disk grind the bolts after youve knocked all the wood pieces away from the rusty hardware. Just be careful for boards springing up.
Quote from: charles mann on September 16, 2018, 10:47:35 PM
I figure since trailer manufatures themselves call it a dovetail, even the hydraulical 1s, dove is the termanology is the correct 1.
I too need to redeck my gooseneck and bumper pull. Untreated lumber dosent seem to last long nowadays. Im gonna have use store bought material sizing. Just gotta get the dang torx screws out and some are bent and some have the heads tore off. Treated lumber will be used this go around.
That's what I'm worried about when I have to re-deck my trailer. I bet every one of those torx screws will break.
Some calls it a beavertail. I calls it a dovetail.un-hunh.
saws saws and crow bar for getting decking up?
Quote from: firefighter ontheside on September 17, 2018, 07:43:42 AM
That's what I'm worried about when I have to re-deck my trailer. I bet every one of those torx screws will break.
I bought a 3/8" impact and a bunch of torx bits. My cordless impact driver wouldnt even budge the screws. I may, if i break to many with the air impact, just drill them out.
Quote from: barbender on September 16, 2018, 11:10:35 PM
White oak decking will outlast any treated material. The difference isn't just the decay resistance, but also the strength and shock resistance of the white oak. Untreated softwoods don't have a chance, doug fir and larch might be ok if you're hauling lots of tracked machines and you destroy them before they have a chance to actually decay.
Im gonna use apatong treated with boiled linseed oil. Not enough white oaks i have access to and if im gonna have to buy wood, i might as well buy apatong. My dad built a trailer over 30 yrs ago and used apatong and its still solid. The trailer has rusted out from around the wood in places. It'll cost me bout $600 more compared to "treated" pine, but if the wood out lasts the trailer, it'll be worth it.
Just bend and break to old screws off. You are gonna drill a new hole anyway.
Quote from: Magicman on September 18, 2018, 09:30:03 AM
Just bend and break to old screws off. You are gonna drill a new hole anyway.
Not planning on drilling new holes in the base metal unless i cant go from underneath and back drill the new boards off the existing screw holes.
Im talking bout drill the torx screws out, even if i have to break the heads off that didnt get twisted off trying to screw them out, then cutting just above flush with base metal, centerish punching them and drill out till either i can extract the remaining screw or the only thing left is the threads, which a new screw will "re tap" that same hole and cut away the old screw.
I hate snowman holes or punching a new hole when not required. It may be extra work to back drill, but ill line up in the same existing holes.
Gonna be fun drilling them screws out. They are hardened. I just break them off. I generally don't put screws in the new boards. Most trailers have the ends of the boards stuck under the lip of angle iron. They ain't going anywhere.
Quote from: pineywoods on September 18, 2018, 09:55:58 AM
Gonna be fun drilling them screws out. They are hardened. I just break them off. I generally don't put screws in the new boards. Most trailers have the ends of the boards stuck under the lip of angle iron. They ain't going anywhere.
Until the board/s warp upwards and now, not so much a level deck. I use my trailer for everything, including a work bench. Unlevel wood makes for crappy lay out when trying pull straight lines/measurements.
I think screws every cross beam was over kill, so maybe every other or every third beam.
Up here in the land of road salt, you'll never get the old screw out. "Life's easier when you plow around the stumps" comes to mind😊
I seem to have no problem getting 2.50 bd ft for white oak, I "round up' some for 16 footers, they are freaking heavy. As for installing, we`ve done a lot of them, we find the break off with a hammer, lay down the boards, redrill thru all from underneath the most efficient method for us
The last deck I did the customer supplied self drilling and tapping screws. I predrilled the plank and the channel. When I ran into an old screw, it would not drill through. With a drill and an impact driver, it goes quickly.
Youre a glutton for punishment charles.
Chainsaw and a cutoff grinder buddy. Stripped by lunchtime.
Quote from: mike_belben on September 18, 2018, 11:35:22 AM
Youre a glutton for punishment charles.
Chainsaw and a cutoff grinder buddy. Stripped by lunchtime.
I just cant help myself.
Circle saw first, 10# flogging iron to bust wood away from screws and grind them down a bit. Either way, my luck is, id hit most of the old screws while trying to install the new 1s. If iv gotta get under the trailer and back drill anyways, i figure go the extra couple miles and remove the old screws completely and use the same holes for the new screws.
Hope it's a small trailer, I did a lowboy and it was a couple hundred screws, I'd have quit if I tried to redrill every original one. Easy way is this, saw year old ones with circular saw, take crowbar and hammer and break/remove old boards out, now take an air hammer and chissel bit and break all the old screws off flush in the angle on both sides. Then get some self tapping deck screws, I still predrill them with a small bit to make them go in nicer but it goes real quick.
Quote from: Upstatewoodchuc on September 18, 2018, 12:46:32 PM
Hope it's a small trailer
30' x 98" of wood surface. Its broken into a 20' run, then a 10'. Crappy part is, iv gotta grind out, then re-weld the cap angle for the forward 10' section, just a 3 out of 12 boards. Was hopping to be able to slide them backwards, but they put an actual piece of angle as fore/aft back stop.
I plan on breaking it up into 3 10' sections and building spacers to put 1/4" steel diamond plate over my tandems. Which doing that, will lessen the length aft of my tandems.
But yes, it will be LOT of screws. Ill make sure to pull my tlr off the useable list for 3-4 days in a row and do it all in sections so i can still have use of it during the modifications. Just gotta remember to stay off market place and CL for trees.
I've posted to craigslist and Facebook for advertisements. What other markets/marketing should I approach? I have some cabinet makers I would like to work with, but I will need a nice planer and some how acquire a nice affordable means of drying. I know there are people looking for things to be sawed up constantly, and being mobile is a decent idea for side gigs. I'm going to start reaching out to wedding planners for supplying them with "cookies". I also have a potential client with 30k of yearly boards needing sawn up, he gets yard trees dumped at his place, and has a pretty big operation of moving landscaping materials. He also has plans to open a store front in a prime time real estate to move retail products. My plan is to charge 1$/bdft for just milling, and for every screw that I hit is 20$ and if I hit anything serious he will have to be responsible for covering that cost. I would, but not prefer to, trade him out some logs for the milling but I wont do all that sawing for payment of just logs especially yard trees, too much cost and risk involved for me for that. I might be getting 20" beater band sawmill just in case I destroy some teeth and dont wanna keep beating up blades and teeth. One of my first moves is to insure that there is a functional shear bolt for the pto of the circle mill, I totally forgot about that little trick that makes the world of a difference.
Jemmy Most on here charge from .25 to .50 a bf for just milling, I hope you get some business at $1 a bf. I'd be unemployed if I charged that much. Steve
I did a few trailer deck for machinery in elm. It is not resistant to decay but most of the wood will be teared off before decay. The truckers were saying that elm resist better with a track machine. Unfortunatly most of the big elm in the Ottawa valley are dying due to the Dutch elm disease
Try visiting the local hardware store, the feed mill, farm and garden, the lumber yard (yes the lumber yard). Post your business card on their bulletin board. Visit the firewood sellers, the antique stores and the local outdoor store. Talk to the area tree service folks. Begin building a network of people who know you are in the sawmill business. Sell your service as a way to meet a need or niche in their business or service.
I have a couple of tree services that I follow and saw logs for their customers. The tree service guys love it because they have less debris to remove and customers love it because they get something out of the process. Sometimes the tree service guys offbear and haul the laps away.
Craigslist and FB Marketplace work and I use them. I've had many more contacts from places I've left business cards. Yesterday I mentioned my sawmill business to the owner of our local builder supply. He's a furniture and cabinetmaker. I'll be sawing for him next month.
I also have a few little yard signs I put up where I'm sawing and one stays at the end of my driveway. Of course a webpage is essential (mine isn't complete yet).
A dollar/board foot for most mills here is really high. I am between $0.32 and $0.40 a board foot. It depends on whether I'm sawing softwood or hardwood, if they have equipment to handle logs and the way the lumber is to be cut (plain vs quarter sawn, long or large dimensions). The local circle sawmills get around $250/1000 board feet. I'm at $320 to $400 per 1000. In most cases I'm at $0.36 per board foot. Blades that hit metal are $20 each. If I arrange an off bearer it is $12/hour-customer pays him or her directly.
I prefer to use a cleat similar to these. Doesn't require drilling holes in trailer frame...just a carriage bolt holes in deck wood.
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