We just stripped and sandblasted our trailer, it is 20k Cronkhite with
a 18 ft long bed. The wood on it was completely rotted and I am now
looking for good options. I want this trailer to haul forklifts,
machines etc.

What options do I have. 1/4 inch diamond plate is very expensive and
costs $10 per square foot. I would prefer something cheaper that would
last 5 years.

i

On Sat, 09 Jun 2012 23:26:58 -0500, Ignoramus9564
wrote:

We just stripped and sandblasted our trailer, it is 20k Cronkhite with
a 18 ft long bed. The wood on it was completely rotted and I am now
looking for good options. I want this trailer to haul forklifts,
machines etc.

What options do I have. 1/4 inch diamond plate is very expensive and
costs $10 per square foot. I would prefer something cheaper that would
last 5 years.

i
I'm re doing my truck bed right now. I'm using pressure treated 2 x
12. I'll also coat it with used motor oil and let it sit in the sun a
couple weeks and wash off

My old trailer was diamond plate. I guess it was nice in that it
lasted the whole 30 years I owned it. But it had several indented
spots from too heavy a pressure point. Plus slick as snot on a greased
glass door knob when you spill a dab of oil on it.

Karl

On 6/9/2012 11:26 PM, Ignoramus9564 wrote:
We just stripped and sandblasted our trailer, it is 20k Cronkhite with
a 18 ft long bed. The wood on it was completely rotted and I am now
looking for good options. I want this trailer to haul forklifts,
machines etc.

What options do I have. 1/4 inch diamond plate is very expensive and
costs $10 per square foot. I would prefer something cheaper that would
last 5 years.

i


I would go back with wood. Steel decks are too slick and are prone to
dents and ripples caused by point loads. I've always used treated
yellow pine lumber and you will get well over 5 years. Trap both ends
of the planks under an angle iron rather than using screws at the ends
of the planks and don't get carried away with screws to allow the boards
to move. I use strips of 90# roofing stuck to the trailer iron with tar
where the boards cross sit to protect the trailer and the planks. How
thick was the original wood deck? I have seen some decks done with
bridge planks (+/- 3" thick). If you carry the same piece of equipment
repeatedly it may be worth putting some steel deck plates on top of the
wood deck where the wheels sit.

--


___________________________________

Keep the whole world singing . . .
Dan G
remove the seven

On Sat, 09 Jun 2012 23:26:58 -0500, Ignoramus9564
wrote:

We just stripped and sandblasted our trailer, it is 20k Cronkhite with
a 18 ft long bed. The wood on it was completely rotted and I am now
looking for good options. I want this trailer to haul forklifts,
machines etc.

What options do I have. 1/4 inch diamond plate is very expensive and
costs $10 per square foot. I would prefer something cheaper that would
last 5 years.

White oak, doug fir, jarrah, and purpleheart are 4 commonly used woods
in the past (around the world) in 2+ inch thicknesses. Ipe is another
possible. All are good at handling weather and are tough, with doug
fir having the shortest life, 5-7 years. Doug fir and white oak are
probably your best bet for cost.

--
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplacable spark.

In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and
the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish
and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but
never have been able to reach.

The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real,
it is possible, it is yours.
-- Ayn Rand

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 09 Jun 2012 23:26:58 -0500, Ignoramus9564
wrote:

We just stripped and sandblasted our trailer, it is 20k Cronkhite with
a 18 ft long bed. The wood on it was completely rotted and I am now
looking for good options. I want this trailer to haul forklifts,
machines etc.

What options do I have. 1/4 inch diamond plate is very expensive and
costs $10 per square foot. I would prefer something cheaper that would
last 5 years.

White oak, doug fir, jarrah, and purpleheart are 4 commonly used woods
in the past (around the world) in 2+ inch thicknesses. Ipe is another
possible. All are good at handling weather and are tough, with doug
fir having the shortest life, 5-7 years. Doug fir and white oak are
probably your best bet for cost.

+1

Find a local sawmill, they may be your best bet for oak.

On 6/9/2012 11:26 PM, Ignoramus9564 wrote:
We just stripped and sandblasted our trailer, it is 20k Cronkhite with
a 18 ft long bed. The wood on it was completely rotted and I am now
looking for good options. I want this trailer to haul forklifts,
machines etc.

What options do I have. 1/4 inch diamond plate is very expensive and
costs $10 per square foot. I would prefer something cheaper that would
last 5 years.

As others noted, I'd also recommend the wood option.

If have the local mill option, just be careful if it's "oak" to steer
away from red oak--it does not weather well at all--white oak will stand
up well. Around here, anyway, Doug fir is at a premium since it all
comes from the West Coast. W/ the housing slump it might not be as bad;
I've not tried pricing recently.

Don't know whether it's a local or not up there but if there's locust
(particularly black) it's not useful for much else but is extremely
tough and rot-resistant but because isn't much for typical lumber use
can be less expensive.

--

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 07:47:28 -0400, "ATP"
wrote:



Find a local sawmill, they may be your best bet for oak.


Or another suitable local species. Here in Maine hemlock is the wood
most commonly used for trailer decks.

--
Ned Simmons

"dpb" wrote in message
...
... If have the local mill option, just be careful if it's "oak" to
steer away from red oak--it does not weather well at all--white oak
will stand up well. Around here, anyway, Doug fir is at a premium
since it all comes from the West Coast. W/ the housing slump it
might not be as bad; I've not tried pricing recently.


Here in New Hampshire red oak lasts decades and white oak rots
quickly. I recently cut up a red oak trunk that has been lying on the
ground in the woods since the mid 90's. Roughly half the cross
sectional area is still too hard to stick a knife into. What rot there
is penetrated lengthwise much faster than across the grain.

Pressure treated Southern Yellow pine has nearly the same strength as
oak.
http://www.americantimberandsteel.co...d-fencing.html
Oak is stiff but it can be rather brittle.

jsw

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:38:20 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


"dpb" wrote in message
...
... If have the local mill option, just be careful if it's "oak" to
steer away from red oak--it does not weather well at all--white oak
will stand up well. Around here, anyway, Doug fir is at a premium
since it all comes from the West Coast. W/ the housing slump it
might not be as bad; I've not tried pricing recently.


Here in New Hampshire red oak lasts decades and white oak rots
quickly. I recently cut up a red oak trunk that has been lying on the
ground in the woods since the mid 90's. Roughly half the cross
sectional area is still too hard to stick a knife into. What rot there
is penetrated lengthwise much faster than across the grain.

Pressure treated Southern Yellow pine has nearly the same strength as
oak.
http://www.americantimberandsteel.co...d-fencing.html
Oak is stiff but it can be rather brittle.

Something is funny there about the oak, Jim. White oak is used in
boatbuilding because the pores will not wick water like a soda straw,
through capillary action. The pores in white oak are filled with
"tyloses."

Red oak has no tyloses and will wick water. Consequently, red oak
soaks up water, holds it in its pores, and rots easily. White oak does
not.

It's hard to explain your experience. There is a thousand years of
boatbuilding experience behind the preference for white oak.

--
Ed Huntress



jsw

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:38:20 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


"dpb" wrote in message
...
... If have the local mill option, just be careful if it's "oak" to
steer away from red oak--it does not weather well at all--white oak
will stand up well. Around here, anyway, Doug fir is at a premium
since it all comes from the West Coast. W/ the housing slump it
might not be as bad; I've not tried pricing recently.


Here in New Hampshire red oak lasts decades and white oak rots
quickly. I recently cut up a red oak trunk that has been lying on the
ground in the woods since the mid 90's. Roughly half the cross
sectional area is still too hard to stick a knife into. What rot there
is penetrated lengthwise much faster than across the grain.

Something must change when you cross the border into Maine. g Here
white oak has good rot resistance while red oak rots very quickly.
Traditional Maine boats were Northern white cedar planks on white oak
frames. White oak is hard to come by locally these days; red oak is
abundant.

--
Ned Simmons

"ATP" wrote


Find a local sawmill, they may be your best bet for oak.

What he said. Oak will last the longest. You just have to find some cheap
stuff, if there is such a thing. Too bad pallet oak would not be big
enough. An oak pallet weighs a ton compared to a flimsy pine one, and lasts
forever. A Teamster can't even destroy one.

Steve

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:38:20 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


Here in New Hampshire red oak lasts decades and white oak rots
quickly. I recently cut up a red oak trunk that has been lying on
the
ground in the woods since the mid 90's. Roughly half the cross
sectional area is still too hard to stick a knife into. What rot
there
is penetrated lengthwise much faster than across the grain.

Something is funny there about the oak, Jim. White oak is used in
boatbuilding because the pores will not wick water like a soda
straw,
through capillary action. The pores in white oak are filled with
"tyloses."

Red oak has no tyloses and will wick water. Consequently, red oak
soaks up water, holds it in its pores, and rots easily. White oak
does
not.
It's hard to explain your experience. There is a thousand years of
boatbuilding experience behind the preference for white oak.
Ed Huntress

Boat planks have cut ends and treenail holes that expose the end
grain. The red oak posts of my sheds all rest on flat rocks so they
don't rot like red oak pallets left on the wet ground. I acquired some
old red oak trailer decking that was beat up but not rotted, and piled
firewood on it over one winter. By next summer the bottom planks were
all rotted underneath.

It was a long log and the rot had to penetrate from the ends, one of
which was off the ground. I agree that red oak is a sponge and rot
runs down its grain easily, but it doesn't cross it nearly as fast.
Standing red oak trees that have been dead for maybe 5 years since I
first saw and taped them are only rotted ~1/2" in except near knots
that let rot in deeper. Many showed little or no sign of surface rot
for several years after the bark had fallen off.

Some local(?) fungus gets to the tops of dead white oaks and rots them
downwards and inwards, while dead red oaks rot in the heartwood from
the ground up. I would have saved good white oak logs for my sawmill
but I never found a dead one before it went bad. In winter live and
newly dead trees look alike, in summer the leafy branches conceal the
leafless ones except from directly below.

The property owners only let me cut dead and fallen trees, so I spent
a lot of time looking for and marking standing dead ones.

jsw

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:44:09 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:38:20 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


"dpb" wrote in message
...
... If have the local mill option, just be careful if it's "oak" to
steer away from red oak--it does not weather well at all--white oak
will stand up well. Around here, anyway, Doug fir is at a premium
since it all comes from the West Coast. W/ the housing slump it
might not be as bad; I've not tried pricing recently.


Here in New Hampshire red oak lasts decades and white oak rots
quickly. I recently cut up a red oak trunk that has been lying on the
ground in the woods since the mid 90's. Roughly half the cross
sectional area is still too hard to stick a knife into. What rot there
is penetrated lengthwise much faster than across the grain.

Pressure treated Southern Yellow pine has nearly the same strength as
oak.
http://www.americantimberandsteel.co...d-fencing.html
Oak is stiff but it can be rather brittle.

Something is funny there about the oak, Jim. White oak is used in
boatbuilding because the pores will not wick water like a soda straw,
through capillary action. The pores in white oak are filled with
"tyloses."

Red oak has no tyloses and will wick water. Consequently, red oak
soaks up water, holds it in its pores, and rots easily. White oak does
not.

It's hard to explain your experience. There is a thousand years of
boatbuilding experience behind the preference for white oak.
And about the same length of Cooperage experience.

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:44:09 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:38:20 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

It's hard to explain your experience. There is a thousand years of
boatbuilding experience behind the preference for white oak.
And about the same length of Cooperage experience.

Freshly cut storm-downed live red oak develops fungus on the sapwood
of the cut end within two or three days unless I leave it open to the
breeze to dry. White oak doesn't seem as bad, though I don't have
nearly as much experience with it.

Once the red oak log has dried it's very resistant to rot on the
outside. The cut ends are still somewhat susceptible if they stay wet
for a few days.

Old red oak pallets that I get from the garden center usually have
little or no decay. They stay outdoors in the weather, but stacks of
them dry quickly in the sun.

After standing dead red oaks have shed their bark and dried for a year
or so they remain dry enough inside to split and burn immediately,
even after long storms. Only the first few feet above the ground will
be wet. Perhaps I see the cases where water doesn't have enough time
to soak back in after the wood has dried.

jsw

Be sure the under carrage is stout and not rusting. You don't want
to load up something and break boards.

Remember putting steel over wood might rot out the wood under it -

Rather than steel plate in places - put down heavy wood and then
overcoat areas or the whole with expanded metal. The heavy stuff
that will dry out from rain and provide traction on the smoothest
fork lift wheel.

Martin

On 6/10/2012 6:12 AM, DanG wrote:
On 6/9/2012 11:26 PM, Ignoramus9564 wrote:
We just stripped and sandblasted our trailer, it is 20k Cronkhite with
a 18 ft long bed. The wood on it was completely rotted and I am now
looking for good options. I want this trailer to haul forklifts,
machines etc.

What options do I have. 1/4 inch diamond plate is very expensive and
costs $10 per square foot. I would prefer something cheaper that would
last 5 years.

i


I would go back with wood. Steel decks are too slick and are prone to
dents and ripples caused by point loads. I've always used treated yellow
pine lumber and you will get well over 5 years. Trap both ends of the
planks under an angle iron rather than using screws at the ends of the
planks and don't get carried away with screws to allow the boards to
move. I use strips of 90# roofing stuck to the trailer iron with tar
where the boards cross sit to protect the trailer and the planks. How
thick was the original wood deck? I have seen some decks done with
bridge planks (+/- 3" thick). If you carry the same piece of equipment
repeatedly it may be worth putting some steel deck plates on top of the
wood deck where the wheels sit.