"ATP*" wrote in message
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"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"ATP*" wrote in message
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"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message
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Anyone know where there's a stash of old Marston Mat or other 'sheet
goods' in So-Cal?

Need to rework my old flatbed - the plywood rotted out again, to
where the Oddysey FL350 was pretty much tires sitting on the
framerails. Shop crane and a 6' nylon lifting sling solved that
little dilemma... ;-)

If you have a local lumber mill and they are reasonable rough-sawn oak
plank is the way to go. Pressure treated 2x is the second best
alternative.

The trouble with red oak, though, is that it soaks up water from the ends
and has no inherent rot protection. You can put the end of a stick of it
in water, blow on the other end, and watch bubbles come up. Waterproofing
it isn't very effective. We have a lot of it around here and you can
always spot it on a boat, if it's been exposed, because it looks great
for a while. And then it rots. g

White is very rot resistant (as is chestnut oak, if you can find it), but
white is not easy to find and it's usually premium-priced. You find it in
lumber yards that serve the boatbuilding trade.

I think we have white oak on our trailer at work. It's been on there at
least ten years and is in good shape. It's also thick like scaffold
planks. I remember we replaced the oak on an equipment trailer with PT SYP
and it did not hold up well on the tail, but that trailer was used for a
small dozer and some other fairly heavy equipment. 2x PT has worked fine
for me moving milling machines, etc. on a light duty trailer.

Oak is tough wood, besides being strong. It will take a lot of abuse. Too
bad white oak is so damned expensive, at least around here. Red is
relatively cheap but it's only good for interior work.

BTW, all of the interior trim in my house is a close relative: chestnut.
It's now 84 years old. People go ga-ga when they hear it's chestnut. But
when it was milled, chestnut was just a cheap substitute for oak. It
actually looks like open-grained oak.

--
Ed Huntress