Took a while to get the wood and started taking it off. Buddy with a saw mill and had several White Oak's fall in the storm, cut me up some. I asked if he could do it 1.5 inch, but he said he cuts 2 inch. So I picked up 3 inch screws, 20 cobalt bits and counter sink bit. Never took wood off a trailer like this but @materthegreater gave me some insight but I had to trial and error at first. My first try was to cut through the boat and try to pry it up, that didn't work so well. Next used a chain and a forklift, it did better but still not good. Thought about my backhoe and a chain, but decided against it. Best method so far is cut a short distance away from the screws and then hit with a sledge, that worked. Got 3/4 of the deck off and getting to hot so I'll do some more later
I did my decking 3yrs ago. I used a hole saw without the centering bit. Worked okay.
A hole saw???
Around the screws.
Oh got it Did find that as i got closer to finishing i cut the wood so there was about 4ft between cuts. Doing this gave me enough leverage to lift and break it free. All the wood is off now Wonder if I should grind flat the studs that didn't break off flush or just smake the board on top before drilling holes?
Yeah, sorry….didn’t complete my thought. I ground screw shanks flush
Grind the flat. Are you using trailer floor screws? The ones that self tap from 1/4” to 5/16”?
Yes same ones mater used just longer. Have a cople down and the wood sticks up 1/2 inch as expected.
We always pre drill , even with the self tapping screws.
I did pre-drill as screw manufacture listed, I bought 20 bits, I'm on 3 rd one Should have taken pic, will try to get tomorrow Issues we're running into is the buddy that has the sawmill said he normally only does 10 ft. He did 16ft for me (most 17+) and I'm seeing problems with being straight. They fairly straight for the first 6ft, than the get wider and than get smaller closer to the other end. Going to buy a couple more 7.5 carbide tip saw blades to morrow for ripping. The chalk line is turning into my friend, if I really need a friend like that One if the boards measures 2.25 inch thick, if 2 inch wasn't thick enough
Pick yourself up a electric hand planer from harbor freight. Works well and it is cheap https://www.harborfreight.com/75-amp-3-14-in-planer-with-dust-bag-61687.html?hftm_sc=&hftm_source=google&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=23914512667&campaignid=23914512667&utm_content=194118217101&adsetid=194118217101&product=61687&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23914512667&gbraid=0AAAAADAHb4fuy0R6X3DBf7Hw2AQQGTgyG&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6_HSBhCpARIsANvVltaY_NzMROyHblemMIx8GQAjkAl5zXa5cjtjJ9SotUJQYTv61WFhPtoaAgRgEALw_wcB
I do have a good planer but don't see how that will take out a 1/4 to 3/8 bow with any accuracy
I was referring to the 2.5 board
Boards are 2.5 to 2 inch thick and 8 to 12 inch wide , that will take a lot of planning
What kind of sawmill is he using?
A portable, don't remember the name. It's been setup for many years in the same place.
If it's a band or circular type saw, that's a lot of variation, even for an amateur operator. If it was a chainsaw type, it would be a little more understandable.
It's a band saw type
Watched a video of a guy putting boards on. He put all the boards on and layed a channel across and used a mag drill for his pilot holes. That fits a lazy many like me. It's a lot of drilling, I've done several.
I use my mag drill like a mobile drill press queit a bit. I have screwed or clamped metal to wood, I don't like drilling by hand. I have had mine for about 10 years, it has saved the day multiple times. I think it is a pretty good investment, some times I wish I had the one that would do 3" depth but that has only been a handful of times when drilling 2 1/2" square tube
Again no pic, will post later, I'm exhausted it's high humidity and in the 90s The good, the Bad and the Ugly Good - Got the wood for a low cost, and would rather the wood be 1.5 but 2 inch works. Don't have enough 8 footers but have more 16 footers than needed "maybe" Bad - It took so long for the guy to cut the wood, stuff started warping. So been using all kinds of things to fasten and bend boards into position, then drill and screw. If they are to warped, have ripped the boards straight using chalk line. Bought another carbide saw blade and things are going better Ugly - Two of the 16 footers are 2.25 thick and don't want to use them, imagine putting one of those in the middle or one side, . Middle not to bad if loading track or tire vehicle, but place pallet or other will cause issues. Found one that is 1.75 inch thick for first 18 inches, then goes to 2 inch, and I need 188 inch so not enough to use the whole board. Have been working the entire width trying to keeps the boards square, and dang this is hard Have 27 inch (+/- 0.25) space to fill for 16 footers than go back to 8 footers. Maybe one more day I hope will finish. Could sure use a Industrial planner but that is for another lifetime
Something that I started to wonder about Broke the screws off with a hammer, than when needed used a grinder to make them flush. Bit late, but should I have broke the other side of the screw off? Started thinking over time I think those screws will fall out of the channels and can puncture the tire. I am getting the screws laid in a straight line and the center of the channel. Each time a new board is laid on, I measure the distance from each old screw to edge of board it will lay against. Use a Speed square to draw a line of center of channel. Move new board next to the position to the new wood. Then move the new wood to board previously screwed down and repeat
Heres what we have on our 20 ton. They are rubber with a aluminum channel in them they where the wear parts out of a ball mill. Dad made a gillatine type thing to cut them. your post discribed guite well why he did
Looks like maybe 1/2 to 9/16 gap between boards I putting them with no gap, assuming when boards dry out there will be a gap
Mag drill is a real time saver. Mine has annular and a drill chuck both for it. Cut some slots in 1 inch thick the other day cutting between the holes with a cut off wheel. Turned out lots better than a cutting torch. On trailer decks I've used flat head bolts with nuts underneath most of the time. Get the bolts longer and tighten then bend the ends of the bolts to lock the nuts. The self tapping are a pain if board gets bad or bolt breaks. I've also put boards under the deck and screwed the boards to that with just a few bolts holding the deck to the frame. I tend to tear lots of boards up with exc and skid steer attachments.
Pics
All done, probably added maybe 500 lbs but will outlast me
Well done!