Wood to re-deck a Stepdeck
 

Hey guys, I'm looking for wood to re-deck my step, but can't find anything that's economical. Apitong is rare down here and I will have to order it. $2400 for just the apitong wood is too much. Oak is even more expensive down here and I'd hate to use pine. What do you guys suggest? BTW, I'm located just south of Miami,FL.

Thanks in advance.

Do you think I can get a good year out of treated pine? I'd really hate to use pine, but between the price of 20K ramps and chains I really can't afford to order apitong right now.

I only ever used OAK. But i only ever drove RGNs. I dont think i would use pine. But thats just me.

Yea I never thought I would use pine either, but money is tight and I really need to have ramps on my trailer. If I can get a good 9-12 months out of the pine, I'll be happy.

Well if money is tight you got to do what you got to do lol.

Pine is soft. I would not want to use pine on a step deck if I planned on driving anything on it. You could use some 1" plywood. I have seen some drivers use that before and it seems to work for them. They just put it down on top of the old floor. If you just need the ramps you may be able to only get some of the apitong to do what you absolutely have to do for the time being. I am going to need to refloor my step deck this year and I really don't look forward to spending the money. I can get the 1 piece full length boards for about $2,200. I think the mixed length boards were about $1,400 or so. If you only want to do the ramp part of your deck, you could cut a 4' x 8' piece of plywood and nail it to the deck. Throw some paint on it and it may last until you can do something different. It would not be my first choice, but might get you by until money becomes more plentiful. I would need to find the quote on my trailer, but I believe the boards ran about $2.29/lf.

This is coming from a tree guy, if you can find somebody to saw you some ash wood it should be almost as good as oak and alot lighter. Where are you located? my uncle has a sawmill and we have some ash logs laying around.

Thanks for the input. I'm a little skeptical about using 1" plywood. I need to re-deck the entire trailer. There is absolutely no wood on there that can be saved. I will also be sandblasting and painting the trailer myself. I will be posting a few pictures on here soon, to show before and after I guess. Back to the flooring, I was thinking of using 1 1/2 -2 inch treated pine. I think my cross members are 12" apart, so hopefully the pine holds for about a year. I don't know what other wood to use that is in the price range on the treated pine.

Thanks for the help. I'm located just south of Miami,FL.

I know that people say not to drive anything on top of the pine, but do you really think that the pine will bust or crack if I drive up a rubber wheel loader or a medium to heavy duty truck(cab and chassis / dump trucks / military)? I know for a fact that anything on tracks will rip the pine apart, but I'm not sure what will happen with rubber wheels. And I'm pretty sure the pine will hold standard 47-48K pound stepdeck loads. Opinions are appreciated!

If you plan on laying the pine on top of the old wood, it might be alright. I don't think that I would want to put pine down in place of the apitong. It might work, but whether you are talking about rubber tires or track, you will have a lot of weight on the deck. I haul some military trucks, etc., on my step deck from time to time. I would rather have something with a track than a wheel due to the displacement of the weight using a track. I have 12" centers on my step deck and I would be apprehensive about using pine unless I put it on top of the old wood. I might be more inclined to use sheets of plywood rather than pine until I could afford the apitong. Neither will last all that long. The apitong on my trailer is 1 1/8" I believe. Do you plan on taking up the old wood before putting someting else down on your trailer?

Yea, I have to take off all the old wood. Its all broken and rotten. I really don't have another choice but to take off all the wood. I just bought this trailer and need to get it on the road asap. It's a 94 Fontaine 48x102, fixed spread, AirRide, Dump Valve, 22.5LP, 36 inch ride height. I really wanted a 53x102, but got this one pretty cheap. I figured the ride height was sweet it being on 22.5's, so I jumped on the opportunity.

Using pine that thick will raise your deck height. If you use 2" it might work for you. That is going to be a lot of extra work. If the pine is already treated you might make it work longer by treating it again in about 6 months. It is not cheap reflooring a step deck. Mine is 53' long.

The lower deck height may help you. Your post reminds me that I need to call a guy I know who has owned a lot of open deck equipment. He also has a sawmill.

Glad I can help someone out. lol...
I really need to get this whole re-decking thing figured out. I honestly don't want to use pine. I don't trust it, but if I can use it for a year for any stepdeck load, I guess I'll have to do it. Can't really beat the price down here for Top Choice 2" x 6" x 16' #2 Prime ACQ Treated Lumber for $8.97 per plank.

What are you cross member spacings? Are you doing general freight or anything specific? It would be my inexperienced guess that if you could lay 2 sheets of plywood (having each layer staggered) it would be stronger than pine. If you want to treat it you can do that also.

Anyone have an opinion on these woods: poplar or ash.. Anyone have any experience with any of these types of wood?

I can tell you for a fact that anything heavy on fir or pine alone, will fall through both. IF you choose to patch the holes in the trailer with pine......I would suggest going one step further and covering it (the entire deck) with 1" marine plywood as well, like Gman suggested. If you sprayed the entire top of the plywood with linex, you could run it for a couple years and save up the money to do the deck right.

Ash is used to make baseball bats....it has some good points....but it also has its bad points.

Thanks for your info. You don't think the marine plywood will flat out break/snap when 40K+ lbs rolls over it?

According to the Janka hardness scale, ASH is stronger than Apitong.

Ash- 1320 pounds of force
Apitong- 1270 pounds of force

What do you guys think? Anyone using Ash on their trailer(s)?

Not if you over lay it across a "pine board" repaired deck. But then again.......If I was repairing a deck, I would just bite the bullet and get it done with the right material. I prefer an aluminum deck with apitong strips in it.

Who wouldn't prefer aluminum, but if I can't afford apitong there's no way I can afford aluminum. I think I will go with 1 1/2 or 2 inch ash. It cost a few hundred more than pine and half the price of apitong. And according to the Janka Hardness scale, its stronger than apitong.

My boss just bought a 2006 53' Landoll yesterday that is getting a new deck and they are going to use hickory. It will be the first trailier we have with hickory boards. So I reckon will see how that works.

I guess I won't be using Ash after all. When I called today to place the order, they said that they couldn't sell me the quantity that I need at the sale price. But they did try to offer me another more expensive wood! Lumber sales people are sharks just like car salesmen. Lol! So now I'm pretty much stuck with pine (sucks!). I don't know what else to do, I feel like I've exhausted all my options. Anyone have any ideas before I purchase the pine? Thanks

Are you talking to lumber mills or the Home Depot? I agree with the tree guy. Can you get a load into an area where they have cheap lumber and get the lumber form them?

If you don't like pine then stay away from poplar.

I can't load the trailer anywhere unless I'm planning on putting the load directly on top of the bare crossmembers.

Got a guy down here selling me 2 inch PT lumber. A little green in color after treatment. What do you think?

Also went to see some #2 SYP. Looked really good, no big knots but doesn't come treated. Sales guy told me it was for indoor use. PT pine was bad, all cracked and huge holes. Boy I wish we had some solid hardwoods down here at a reasonable price.

Plywood with a staggered overlap will be your best bet given your situation. Using pressure treated pine would be a teriffic waste of money as there's no strength in it. What do 1" and 1/2" sheets of plywood cost? Or you could do it with 3/4" and double it up. Again...stagger the over lap.

Thanks for the info. I thought about putting down double sheet of 3/4 outdoor plywood, but it just doesn't convince me. My crossmembers are 12 inches apart, which isn't bad. But I see that plywood breaking really easily.

Anyone of any place in FL where I can get hardwood at a decent price?

With 12" cross members I'd be all over this with plywood! Be sure when on both tiers of plywood that the seams are on cross members.

I have 2 oak trees got blowed over in my woods not more than two tears ago. About 24" dia. and the bugs haven't got to 'em yet. They're yours if you come to TN and get 'em! I wish I had a saw mill.

Do you guys think that the rough cypress used for railroad ties will work on the stepdeck?

Just found a local guy with african sapele. What do you think?

Here are a few pics of what the trailer looks like now..


http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...10711-1830.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...10711-1827.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...10711-1828.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...10711-1827.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...10711-1828.jpg

Only a little hole. I would run it like that lol.

lol.. I'm sure DOT won't notice the little hole.

I suppose it could use a coat of paint. :cool: