flooring trailer

Paper Maker · March 31, 2011, 10:40:25 PM

I have 2 Questions for you-al . I sawed about 450 bf of white oak yesterday. And just so has it the town came by today and wanting to buy the lumber to floor the trailer they haul there backhoe on. How long should I let the lumber dry before it can be used on the trailer. I'll also be the one to floor it. Being new to sawing lumber I don't want my name associated with a shabby job. For my next question. About a week ago while sawing some pine I hit 2 nails in a row. But about 8 inches before I hit the nails the band run up about 1 inch. Am I seeing things or did the nails do something to the wood that caused this. My dad said the saw was smarter than I was. It was trying to miss the nails. I'm not sure what happend. I just thought it was strange. Thanks for any input.

beenthere · March 31, 2011, 11:33:56 PM

Quote from: Paper Maker on March 31, 2011, 10:40:25 PM
I have 2 Questions for you-al . I sawed about 450 bf of white oak yesterday. And just so has it the town came by today and wanting to buy the lumber to floor the trailer they haul there backhoe on. How long should I let the lumber dry before it can be used on the trailer. I'll also be the one to floor it. Being new to sawing lumber I don't want my name associated with a shabby job. ........

Is the white oak in 2" planking? What widths?
The wood will shrink over time, but that shouldn't amount to a shabby job for the backhoe trailer. It will leave room for the dirt to fall through. Should be able to lay it down right away, and the sooner the better if crook in the planks might show up. Bolt such that the planks can shrink with minimal splitting. IMO
Sort out boards with bad grain and large knots or splits. If it looks good when you put it down, it should stay that way over time.

ladylake · April 01, 2011, 05:46:44 AM

Right ,off the mill on the trailer. Put the best boards where the wheels will be. Steve

bandmiller2 · April 01, 2011, 07:00:40 AM

PM,the usual is for a band to hit a nail that upsets the set and small curls of the nail steel stick to the tooth cutting edge.I've never seen or heard of a nail affecting the wood fibers in pine ,oak you would get discoloration but no real change in the wood.Many times if you hit a nail perpendicular it does little damage just take your pocket knife from gullet to tip and flip the little curls of nail steel off the tooth also look at the set in the band section hit,many times I've corrected a bent tooth with a pair of pliers and continued with the same band.You want some clearance between oak floor boards bolt them up green and when they dry its just right. Frank C.

terrifictimbersllc · April 01, 2011, 07:34:12 PM

Quote from: Paper Maker on March 31, 2011, 10:40:25 PM
I have 2 Questions for you-al . I sawed about 450 bf of white oak yesterday. And just so has it the town came by today and wanting to buy the lumber to floor the trailer they haul there backhoe on. How long should I let the lumber dry before it can be used on the trailer. I'll also be the one to floor it. Being new to sawing lumber I don't want my name associated with a shabby job. For my next question. About a week ago while sawing some pine I hit 2 nails in a row. But about 8 inches before I hit the nails the band run up about 1 inch. Am I seeing things or did the nails do something to the wood that caused this. My dad said the saw was smarter than I was. It was trying to miss the nails. I'm not sure what happend. I just thought it was strange. Thanks for any input.

Never put blades that hit metal back back together with your other blades. Fear will sweep through the whole box and none of them will ever be any good again.

Warren · April 03, 2011, 07:19:05 PM

The wood will never look better than right off the saw. Bolt it down before it gets a chance to bow/warp/twist. As stated above, widest, clearest boards under the wheel tracks. Piece and fit down the middle. Blow it down with an air hose when you are done to clear all of the chips and dust.

The best part is smiling and saying "Thank you" when you hand them the bill to recover some of YOUR tax dollars ! 8)

Warren

Wintergreen Mountain · April 03, 2011, 07:41:01 PM

Wise sugestion!! terrifictimbersllc . :D :D

And Paper Maker. Install the planks green and clamp them well.
Leon

customsawyer · April 04, 2011, 05:38:34 AM

The reason you blow the trailer off is that the metal from drilling and bolting down will stain the wood. Make sure you charge a fair price as putting that wood on a trailer always seems to have hidden little extras that need done to do the job right.

Magicman · April 04, 2011, 07:45:00 AM

With Oak, you can put it on fairly tight. After shrinkage, it should be OK. When installing Black Locust or Cherry, leave a crack. It doesn't shrink. Yes, I have floored trailers with Cherry.

northwoods1 · April 04, 2011, 08:49:36 AM

I am curious how much do some of you others charge for trailer decking lumber per board foot and what species?

Chuck White · April 04, 2011, 09:11:59 AM

Quote from: Paper Maker on March 31, 2011, 10:40:25 PM
About a week ago while sawing some pine I hit 2 nails in a row. But about 8 inches before I hit the nails the band run up about 1 inch. Am I seeing things or did the nails do something to the wood that caused this. I'm not sure what happend. I just thought it was strange. Thanks for any input.

I would almost bet that another, possibly smaller nail was hit 8 inches before the two that you did see! ;)

Paper Maker · April 04, 2011, 09:40:26 AM

I wondered how much to charge for white oak lumber myself. I checked Craigslist out for some pricing and it looks like it's going for $1.00 a board foot. To be honest though, I thought it should have been a little more. I'll work off midnights in the morning and swing by and check the trailer out. I had cut the lumber originally to floor my trailer with. But my wife is ready to see a little money coming from the saw. I appreciate you all for taking the time to help someone you don't even know. The people here seem to take pride in what they do. I tell my son often, if you take pride in what you do everything else is taken care of.

Jeff · April 04, 2011, 10:45:32 AM

We sold W.O. trailer decking at .50 a foot when I was sawing but that was 2006

ladylake · April 04, 2011, 02:01:11 PM

It's .70 to .85 here in MN, logs cost .30. Steve

ely · April 04, 2011, 03:17:12 PM

i sell red oak for 1.00 to some folks, down to .80 cents too others.

paul case · April 04, 2011, 04:03:52 PM

i sell oak trailer flooring for $.60 . i think kansas gets quite a bit more for his but it is all in having a good clientelle. most folks i sell to will probably need another one in 20 years or so. pc

Jim_Rogers · April 05, 2011, 03:25:20 PM

When I cut oak for a trailer deck, I cut red oak.

I usually try and get the dimensions of the deck before I begin cutting so that I can divide up the distance between the rails and make up planks that will drop in just right. (Rails run front to back, ribs run side to side.)
For example the last trailer I did was 26" between the rails, I did it with three planks 8 5/8" so that the total adds up to 25 7/8".
Between the center rails was 25" so I did three 8 1/4" pieces.

Now that you have all the lumber sawn you'll have to figure out how to lay it out, and fill in the deck.

One thing you can do is fill it in with the planks you've got and start at the outside on each side and work towards the middle. When you get near each other in the middle cut one smaller plank to make up the finial piece and fill it in. It really depends on the trailer and how many rails you have going from front to back.
Some trailer decks only have the outside two rails, and the ribs go completely across over the base frame.
Try and end any planks over a rib so you can secure it done to the rib.

Also, as mentioned put it down green.

Recently, I asked someone which side goes up. The side towards the center of the tree or bark side.
He told me bark side up.

What do you guys do?

I told my customer to put them bark side up.

Jim Rogers

Tom · April 05, 2011, 04:31:36 PM

I've not had a lot of success with trailers decked with Red Oak because they rot from underneath. I think that white oak would resist that a bit better than red oak. 'Course you have to use what you have available.

Petroleum products put 0n the top surfaces don't seem to help as much as people will say, and we all forget about about the bottom surfaces. Even if the wood is dry, the ground moisture will condense on the bottoms of the boards as the sun comes up. I don't mean this to be a condemnation, just an awareness.

You were told right about putting the bark side up, in my opinion. The main reason is "Shelling". Shelling is when the growth rings turn loose from the pith side of the board and the sharp edges begin to curl away from the surface. It's really dangerous on a walking surface, like floors or decks. I doubt it would hurt a tire rolling on a trailer deck, but it might cause an operator to trip and fall.

Jim_Rogers · April 05, 2011, 04:50:49 PM

I know what you mean about products put onto trailer decking.

One of the other many uses for the lumber we make is planks for cemeteries. You know when you go to a funeral and the casket carriers walk up and place the casket onto the rig that has the straps on it and lowers the casket down into the ground. That rig is setting one two oak planks underneath the carpet that looks like a lawn.

I make a lot of these for cemeteries all over my county as one of my many customers is the vault company that sets the burial vault. They have planks I made them on each vault delivery truck. And the cemetery workers see these nice new planks and usually they ask him where did he get them. He tells them and they call me.

Well, anyway, I was delivering some planks to a cemetery not far from me where this worker told me he used to be a house painter. And back when he was a kid just learning house painting from his boss/dad or whomever, they used wooden ladders. He told me that the ladders were always outside and in the rain. In order to keep the ladders from ruin they would paint them with 50% linseed oil mixed 50% with turpentine. This would make the ladders last a long time.

When you read some of the labels on can's of "deck protectors" you see that most of them say "...apply to dry wood...." Well, this oak is not dry at all, usually green right off the mill.

But when you read a can of boiled linseed oil it doesn't say anything about "...applying to dry wood".... what it does say is "...helps wood to prevent splitting and checking.." or something like that. It's my understanding that the oil is absorbed by the wood and it might displace the water and keeps it from drying out too rapidly and doesn't split that much, if any.

I tell each customer about this and suggest that they paint the bottom of the trailer decking before the put down the planks. And then after it is down and secured, paint the top side.

Jim Rogers

Jeff · April 05, 2011, 05:20:42 PM

This part of the country Red Oak is not usually considered suitable if one has a choice.

Paper Maker · April 05, 2011, 05:30:18 PM

Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on April 01, 2011, 07:34:12 PM
Quote from: Paper Maker on March 31, 2011, 10:40:25 PM
I have 2 Questions for you-al . I sawed about 450 bf of white oak yesterday. And just so has it the town came by today and wanting to buy the lumber to floor the trailer they haul there backhoe on. How long should I let the lumber dry before it can be used on the trailer. I'll also be the one to floor it. Being new to sawing lumber I don't want my name associated with a shabby job. For my next question. About a week ago while sawing some pine I hit 2 nails in a row. But about 8 inches before I hit the nails the band run up about 1 inch. Am I seeing things or did the nails do something to the wood that caused this. My dad said the saw was smarter than I was. It was trying to miss the nails. I'm not sure what happend. I just thought it was strange. Thanks for any input.
Never put blades that hit metal back back together with your other blades. Fear will sweep through the whole box and none of them will ever be any good again.

AW man. I wished you would have said something sooner. I'll let them stay inside tonight. Maybe that will help.

redbeard · April 05, 2011, 05:32:34 PM

douglas fir is popular for trailer decking in our area the fasteners usually blacken the wood.

Tom · April 05, 2011, 06:06:41 PM

The main reason for Oak around here is the transport of metal-tracked vehicles. If bulldozer transporters can get Live Oak, they are very happy. Treated pine works great for rubber tires, like farm tractors skidders and feller bunchers. I suspect that the use of fir might be the same.

Warren · April 05, 2011, 07:20:43 PM

PM,

I did an 8ft x 20ft equipment roll back a couple years ago. I charged the equipment dealer $800 for the entire job. I broke it down and quoted it as:

$320 for 320 BF of 2" thick white oak decking

$180 for tear off and prep. I had to take the old deck off, grind off the remaining self tapping bolts, straighten some metal, dispose of the old, rotten decking. Figure the cost of at least one 4" grinder wheel for cutting bolts and smoothing things out.

$300 for installation, including 88 new 5/16" self tapping bolts. the price of steel is going up. Check the cost on your fasteners, nuts, bolts, washers, etc, before you bid the job. If you are going to have to drill, or re-drill holes, figure the cost of several new drill bits. I used a 1/2" drive torx bit and an impact wrench to actually drive the self tapping bolts. Figure the cost of the torx driver bit if you use torx bolts.

You can make good money on the job. But you gotta add up all of the little things before you offer a final fixed price.

-w-

paul case · April 06, 2011, 10:15:48 PM

i spent the afternoon cutting trailer flooring 2x8-16'. i needed 9 and i always put an extra one in. for a 16' car hauler. i had a red oak log or 2 at the mill that would have made them, except when i cut it out there were big black ants and their holes. so i went to the woods and got 2 post oak 16'ers. 1 of those would have made 8 boards but the knots were all nasty and black looking. the last log was bigger and made 12 2x8 and a 2x12 and they were all good. finally got them done but i actually cut enough for 3 trailer floors.

thats how it goes i guess!! :( ??? :-\ pc