Need new deck for my lowbed it has 3in. now could a person use treated 2by8 stacked together to make 3in. glue and screw together.Hard to find 3in. boards where i am can use spruce or poplar but don't think it would last very long.
Can you tell what kind of wood is on it now, and how did it fail? Worn and weathered out from a couple decades? If spruce and poplar are your only options, I'd use the poplar if the trailer will be stored inside, spruce if it's stored outside. Dried white oak or black locust would be good if you could get it. Lots of other hardwoods would be better than spruce or poplar. I wouldn't try the stacked 2x8's because treated wood is always saturated when I get it, and I don't like it because of the corrosion, even if that's out of date. I guess it comes down to what the spruce would cost you, vs treated, vs apitong. And how much labor it takes to change, plus how long you expect it to last.
Talk to an old-school lumberyard in your area, if you have one. It's amazing what those folks can find for you. I agree with Demer, treated lumber isn't a good idea if, for no other reason, it's softwood.
I wouldn't use treated it breaks to easy and would be very slippery when oily and wet we usually have those kind of boards custom cut at a local small sawmill they will know what is the best locally available wood for you to use you may have to ask around most here dont advertise
Try contacting pallet suppliers in your area. They either mill their own wood or buy hardwood in bulk. Pallet builders also do custom pallets so have sources for dimensioned hardwood. I've had good success with getting trailer floor boards to my exact needs.
Yeah jook24 , do you really need a full 3 inch deck board on the trailer ? If you truly need the 3 inch I might look in to using treated 4 X 6 posts for the floor rather then laminating 1 - 1/2 inch boards . I have had pretty good luck using 1- 1/2 inch treated lumber on trailers & truck beds . For the ease , availability & cost we could not pass it up . Drop some conveyer belt down for the tracked equipment . HeavyEquipmentForums Still holding up , no complaints . http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?263-Some-Holmes-750-action&p=2462&viewfull=1#post2462
I would say there would be a mill near you, I would talk to them about some white oak planks.
Sawmill and hardwood. Only way to do it right. Anything soft won't last. Apitong is some bada$$ stuff but you'd have to raise your crossmembers to use it and it's expensive. It would be a waste to have it that thick and I'm not even sure they sell it that thickness. Staying with the 3" you have now and going hardwood you'll have a nice deck that'll last a long time. That thick use carriage bolts and clips to hold it to the crossmembers. Screws don't seem to work as good on boards that heavy and as the boards dry and shrink they'll break the deck screws. What is your crossmember spacing? What tonnage trailer is it? Don't see many with 3" deck boards these days. Junkyard
If this helps, local contractor I used work for would install 1 1/4" plywood over their new apitong deck to make it last longer. When the plywood would break up we would screw on a new piece. It helped especially when running compactors around.
Thanks guys i ended up useing 2+10 treated lamenated glued and screwed together then bolted to the trailer i run heavy belting on both sides i use it for hauling my dozer and excavator.