Poplar

[foragefarmer]

I need a new trailer deck for my 20' goose neck. I talked to a couple band mill guys about cutting me some poplar for the decking and then it is going to be pressure treated at a local treater. He said he would do it for free since I do a lot of business with them. Anyway neither of the band mill guys would give me a price? And one of the guys I would have had to bring a log or logs to cut. So what the heck I'll do it myself.

Everything was going great. Then I got to the center of the log.



Two cuts split like that.

I remembered that one of the band guys said they box out the center of poplar logs and take the fence boards they cut from the outside of the log.



The last cuts were better. The wood has been sitting for a couple weeks and the splitting hasn't gotten any worse. Hopefully I can get a usable deck out of these boards.

 

[exSW]

I'm curious to see how this turns out. Poplar usually doesn't last in deck applications at all. But with being treated and how it takes the treatment I'm interested.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Interestin',.... Poplar is 'bout the last wood I'd use for a trailer deck,.... it's the softest of hardwoods,....

It rots in no time, 'n snaps with the slightest load,...

Black Locust would be my 1st choice,....

 

[foragefarmer]

I'm curious to see how this turns out. Poplar usually doesn't last in deck applications at all. But with being treated and how it takes the treatment I'm interested.

Yeah, we will see. I talked to my guy. They treat poplar fence boards 1x6x16 with MCA and they seem to be working out well from my experience. They have been around for about 10 years now. He says since it is a hard wood it doesn't take the treatment as well but it will work well enough for encapsulation, so as long as I perform a minimum of cutting to retain that encapsulation I may be good. They have a CCA line as well.

 

[foragefarmer]

Ayuh,.... Interestin',.... Poplar is 'bout the last wood I'd use for a trailer deck,.... it's the softest of hardwoods,....

It rots in no time, 'n snaps with the slightest load,...

Black Locust would be my 1st choice,....

Black locust is not realistically locally available, I talked about white oak which I know would hold up well but it would add significantly to the weight of the trailer just like locust would.

I am doing this on a couple independent recommendations, so I guess I am not the first to try it. I don't know. Maybe I should have cut a couple of my big shortleaf pines down. The PT pine deck on there now has lasted since 1997.

 

[exSW]

I once built the prettiest hay wagon deck out of poplar you ever seen. Stained it Olympic Weatherscreen #736 to match the board fence. Lasted about five years. That running gear has a white oak deck now. If Poplar can effectively be treated it would sure free up some lumber for better use.

 

[foragefarmer]

I once built the prettiest hay wagon deck out of poplar you ever seen. Stained it Olympic Weatherscreen #736 to match the board fence. Lasted about five years. That running gear has a white oak deck now. If Poplar can effectively be treated it would sure free up some lumber for better use.

I built my first board fence from PT poplar about 10 years ago. It is still there. Seems to hold up as well as PT pine at $2.00 a board cheaper than pine or oak. It is fine for residential or aesthetic applications but I still recommend oak for livestock especially cattle and horses with cribbing issues.

 

[exSW]

I built my first board fence from PT poplar about 10 years ago. It is still there. Seems to hold up as well as PT pine at $2.00 a board cheaper than pine or oak. It is fine for residential or aesthetic applications but I still recommend oak for livestock especially cattle and horses with cribbing issues.

Best thing I've found is red elm. I have some here on board fence that's twenty years old and still good. No nothing for treatment just weathered. Never had issues with cribbers,they went down the road.

 

[foragefarmer]

Hard to tell a client to sell a horse.

Here is a recent pt poplar fence. Purely aesthetic.

 

[exSW]

Hard to tell a client to sell a horse.

Here is a recent pt poplar fence. Purely aesthetic.

View attachment 11550

Very nice. I run five rail on the frontage little more "rustic". Used to be cow fence now it's my front yard. The round pen/cow pen is six foot high.
Clients are why I haven't thrown a leg over a horse in at least five years. I raised my rate to a dollar a minute. Still got some takers. Now it's two dollars a minute.

 

[Jughead]

Hemlock would probably work well too.they use hemlock for split rail here but it's 10-15 years max for posts.treated i'm sure would last much longer.

 

[exSW]

Hemlock would probably work well too.they use hemlock for split rail here but it's 10-15 years max for posts.treated i'm sure would last much longer.

For looks it'll work. But all it takes is a motivated bovine and you got toothpicks.


Need any toothpicks?

 

[Jughead]

True.for myself i'll only use locust for posts.for trailer flooring it works pretty good.been many years since i floored a trailer with any.that was in my freshman year of high school.never got to see how it held up.

 

[exSW]

True.for myself i'll only use locust for posts.for trailer flooring it works pretty good.been many years since i floored a trailer with any.that was in my freshman year of high school.never got to see how it held up.

All I use is locust also. Sawed locust posts are funny. They will rot where the blade has sheared the fiber. One reason the old timers hand split them. I just have them milled to 5x5's to give a little wiggle room and they still fit in the ram of the post driver.

 

[Jughead]

Yeap split many many many posts.my uncle always said "while your resting how about splittin a few of those posts over there." i miss farming but my back doesn't.

 

[Cut4fun]

Dad used rough sawn poplar (off my land) to build a addition to the rough sawn oak sided barn.

I have about 12 poplar bigguns that need to be dropped right now too.

The section that looks new and not aged yet to right. Poplar. Used for storing tractor implements.

 

[Guido Salvage]

How did this turn out? Poplar would not have been my choice for decking but will be interested to see how it turned out. I have a bunch of lumber in my shed you could have used...

 

[foragefarmer]

Gary, do you know the lumber mill in Gordonsville Branmar? On 33 just before town coming from Louisa.

 

[Guido Salvage]

On the right at the railroad tracks before you hit 15? Never done any business with them or been in their yard.

If you need someone to mill my best friend's cousin has one. Both their fathers were in the timber and sawmill business, he is near Prospect just outside of Farmville.

 

[foragefarmer]

He's to blame for all this...