My first trailer decking

[Magicman]

I sawed three very nice 10' White Oak logs yesterday. The largest was 26" and all were 20"+.  I sawed 1X12, 10, 8, & 6's and some of it was "knock your eyes out" pretty.  It will all be used for a cattle working/loading chute and corral. 

[Magicman]

I forgot to mention that he wanted some of those 1X18's.  They will probably be used on the corral also, but folks just can not get past the beauty of a  "W I D E"  board.  ;D

[Rkez]

Do any of you dry the lumber before install?  If you don't, how much shrinkage on a 1.5 inch board of white oak?

[Bogue Chitto]

I put 1x12s oak siding on my barn right off the mill.  Butted up as close as I could get it.   One inch between each board a year later.   

[beenthere]

Rkez
Welcome to the forum.

You can figure about 5-10% shrinkage, but that is just a ballpark range. The direction of the rings has an effect on that percentage, as does the moisture content the lumber is dried.

There are tables for this, by species that approximate shrinkage percents.

[hackberry jake]

The wood couldn't have been greener. It went from happy tree to trailer deck in one day. I expect anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 inch gaps between each board. I was thinking about putting another board in it after it dried to tighten it back up, but I might leave the gaps for water drainage an airflow

[Kansas]

We run from 1.75 to 2.20 a board foot, depending on length. Given the price now for standing oak timber, we save the rough logs for blocking and use the good stuff. Yes, its a shame. We use bur (white) oak for trailer decking. Had 4 decks ordered yesterday. We rarely cut to length. They can cut to fit. We do a lot of the ones that are between metal runs. Seems like 23 1/2 and 31 1/2 wide runs happen a lot. 

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Rkez.   

[MHineman]

A treated 2x12x16 at Lowes is $30.  If you saw a rough cut white oak board that is 1 5/8" thick that is 12" wide and 16' long, that is 24 BF.  So an equivalent price to match a treated 2x12 in rough cut white oak would be $1.25/BF.

But White Oak will last as long as treated outside and is much stronger!!! 

[Rkez]

Thanks for the welcome and the info. If you were selling to customers for trailer decking, would there be any benefit to drying first?

[hackberry jake]

There would be a little more time And labor, you would need an extra board per trailer because of shrink. The final product would be more stable and less likely to surface check if left out in the hot sun. There would have to be a little higher price for the final produce and it would be harder to bow it up in the middle to install it in the trailer.

[WDH]

It would take about almost a year to dry 1.5" white oak.  That requires a lot of planning ahead, and if you are selling to the public, a pretty good inventory.

[Magicman]

We normally install them fresh off of the sawmill and leave no space between boards.  I do like to chamfer the edges.

[Al_Smith]

I've done several trailers from reclaimed barn decking boards .Probabley red oak .Slopped them down with old crankcase oil and they will last pretty easily 20 years if you  give them a shot of oil now and again .After a couple weeks in the sun the oil is soaked into the boards more or less .

Well they aren't that pretty but it is a machinery trailer not a '57 Chevy in a rod and custom show . ;D

[westyswoods]

Did a 16' x 8' wide last year. Used white oak which had been milled to 6/4 air dried for 9 months. I actually installed as tight as possible, width of boards varied from 6"-10". The most difficult part was fitting the last board tight needed to scribe and cut down.

This trailer takes a beating from arbor care stump grinders, skid steers, ect.

Used the trailer last week and amazing how well it has stood up. Shrinkage is from 1/8 to 1/4 which is good as water can get through but chains and cable can not. Nothing can be a bigger pita than having a chain fall through trailer boards and have to work the links out.

Have a great day 8)
Westy

[CalebL]

When I cut barn packages for a couple of farmers, I cut them on a Saturday and by Monday they start framing with them.  Some of them will take the posts and soak them in used oil for a couple of days and then put them in the ground. 

I've never had anyone have any troubles using fresh cut lumber this soon.  I do cut it oversize and they plan for it to shrink.  When doing boards and battens they put the boards butted together and come back in a few months to put the battens on after the boards shrink. 

[Magicman]

I have sawed SYP framing lumber one day and it was nailed up the next.   :-\   Twice, for new homes.

That's not my recommendation, but it does happen.

[Al_Smith]

Well you folks that mill for income probabley come across more good lumber logs than most .I imagine more times than not those that just mill some stuff for personal use might not be so lucky .As such perhaps many times the stuff would have ended up as firewood any way had they not been salvaged .In that case trailer decking is  much more nobel use of the wood than to have it go up in smoke .

You can always find stuff to feed the wood burner but you can't always find good weather resistant decking lumber .