I have been in the Earth Mover Tire Service business for less than a year. My question is... what type of wood is the best kind for cribbing. I work mostly with Euclid and Cat Dumps. 18.00R33 and 35/65R33 mostly. I recently acquired some black gum and have split a block on first use. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.
we use oak for all of our cribbing on rail car repair and rerailing. it seems to hold up well.
what average do these railcars weigh?
they can be up 225,000lbs and the locomotives can be as much as 400,000lbs
Laminated veneer lumber or LVL beams cut into sections are very durable. A lot of crane outfits use them under the outriggers.
what about black gum? ever hear of anyone using that?
Oak 6x6x30 is the only way to go. If you already split one then use them for kindling. The oka does not compress and hodls up really well.
I don't remeber who you could talk to but I know when the underground mine companies have to change there cribing you can get it for free. From the way I understand it even if the wood looks good after so many uses they have to get rid of it.
Thanks again guys...and please feel free to add any information that you deem helpful.
I second both the oak and the LVL lumber suggestions. And a helpful tip that i got from my wrecker experience is to find seatbelts out of junker cars and use them to make handles on the end of the cribbing to make an easy to grab handle. serpentine belts also work decent.