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What are your sources for wooden blocks??

R

Ralph Bauer

Well-known Member
Other than cutting and nailing 4x4s together, or multiple layers of boards, blocking wood is hard to come by. No saw mills around here, no lumber industry in SW OK. I can use the chainsaw and cut up a RR tie, which would make it a large solid wooden block. Been noticing pics in other posts across YT, good looking lumber, solid and not pieced together. Where did you guys get yours from? Just hoping for a variety of doable options besides the ones I mentioned. Thanks in advance!!
PS: I will stop for a road find...done that, ...will do it again...!
 

Keep an eye out for any of your neighbors who might be taking down a large tree and get a few chunks from the trunk, right down near the base.

Check with your local county bridge crew, maybe even the railroad.
 
I wouldn"t go larger than 6X6 for blocking, stack them in a crib fashion, That"s how professionals like house movers and riggers do it. larger blocking has a tendency to split. RR ties would be great if they are sound.
 
Any lakes nearby? Find a contractor that installs pilings for boat docks. They cut the tops off after driving the 6x6 posts for the dock supports. The discarded tops make great cribbing blocks.
 
I was wanting a base for an anvil, so when I was cutting firewood, I cut off several foot from a good solid oak.

Find a carpenter who does a lot of deck building. Get some leftover scraps of 4x4 or 6x6.

When we were farming, we made a lot of hayracks and feed troughs out of oak. The runners and frame that is. My dad always kept a lot of oak 4X4's around and we just used scraps from hay racks, etc.

Go the Amish, they would have access also.

Gene
 
I made blocks out of 5x6 posts. Cut them 20 inches long, then bolted (not lagged) four pieces together. Laying flat, they are either 10 or 12 inches high. Standing on end, they are 20 inches high. Used threaded rod for bolts, countersunk the heads, so surface is smooth. Excellent support for a 4WD TRACTOR, (Case 2470) or anything smaller.
 
We have a little sawmill and I make blocks if I am cutting a log and find out it has a big rotten part in the center of the length of the log. I make up to 8x8 blocks, lengths vary quite a bit. I have a pile of random blocks and when I am working on something I just poke around till I find what I need. I also do have some treated 6x6 blocks that are leftovers from pole barn poles and they are handy too.
Zach
 
I just snaked a 13' long 5'x12' out of the woods I was hog hunting in. I suppose it was from an old bridge or something. It was a wrestling match for sure but, it's going to come in real handy for just what you're talking about.

I was given some rough cedar blocks that were used for beams in a log home. They are light and perfect for blocking up the lawn mower and such. They dent real easy though.

I've got two big 2' wide by 4' tall bodark stumps in my pasture. Not sure what I'll use them for and I think they might give the chainsaw heck now that they've dried and hardened.
 
Go to Home Depot. Take a lumber cart and find a couple of the worst looking, most bent and twisted 6X6s in the pile. Push them up front and ask for the manager. Ask him how much he will discount them as they are too rough to use for most purposes. Don't tell him why you want them unless he asks.
He will generally knock off about half of the price. Now take them home and cut them into 2' pieces.
 
Farmer down the road.His brother works for a company that makes post and beam houses and garages.

Vito
 
Farmer down the road.His brother works for a company that makes post and beam houses and garages.

Vito
 
Ralph, if I was still going to the Cordell, Rocky, Hobart area on the harvest I'd throw a bunch of blocks on the truck and haul em down there, but that's in the past. Implement shops might have blocks out of shipping crates but they're probably soft lumber. Most of my blocks are just old cutoff 6X6-4X6's taken out of old buildings. Jim
 
Thanks for thinking of me! I have access to 4x4 from HD pallets (have to disassemble them)but it is poor wood quality, soft. Left a few pieces out in the sun, try to bring them in when it rains and see as they dry, how hard it will become, a project.
 
I live in a lumber producing area and have a mill so I can't really relate. I'd say look up portable sawmillers in the area, they will have offcuts once in a while.

My favorite blocks are offcuts of pressure treated 6x6 from the 70's. Good deep penetration with old high arsenic content, no sticky creosote and you can leave them on the ground outside.

I've got a few that are hemlock or something similar, very dense and don't split/crush like fir/spruce off my mill.
 
Saw my neighbor go by with a lot of Bois D'arc, Osage Orange, fence posts. We do have that would here, Just need to find a good saw/blade to cut it into shape! Thanks for all suggestions so far!
 
I worked for a power Co. and the best cribbing to use is old crossarms that have been retired. They were treated and will last a long time. They are 4" by 4" and 8 or 10 ft long, cut them into 2" pieces. Check with your local power co.
 
Any businesses or construction sites around you that get flatbed loads that they unload with forklifts? Sometimes they just throw the dunnage away. It's usually good, rough cut timbers, sometimes oak!
 
check your implemen dealers near you. the john deere dealer near me has the cribbing that is used when they receive new combines. 8x8's and some bigger, most will give them to you just to get rid of em. works real well.
 
New construction sites along the coast where they use 6x6" up through 12"x12" marine treated pilings. They build the homes up on posts 8-12' above grade. They drive them all in and then cut off all the tops to level things out.
 
With less and less need for tobacco barns around here there are lots of them be'n let go. When one blows over or goes down most of the time there will still be lots of good oak 6x6, 8x8 or bigger blocks a guy can get in an afternoon's work with a chain saw. A truck load of block will last most folks many, many years.

Dave
 
Before installing the roof on my polebarn, the contractors cut a foot off of the verticle beams.
I said 'Put those cuttoffs over there in the pile labled Glenn'
 
We got a sheet rock plant nearby....Ohhhh, do I find good "bungees", the black solid rubber kind w/ metal hook, made in China. Priced them, usually around 3 bucks that length. However, I never see them used: good weather, no tarp, just belts holding the load, bad weather, tarp over sheet rock, with straps/belts.... anyways, who cares, they are are great finds!
 
Lucky you on your find in the woods. You know the hogs put it there, to keep you occupied!!! LOL
Yes, Bodark will be extremely tough on a chainsaw once aged. I have heard that you have better luck with a sawmill blade (guessing round??), lubricated, though I never attempted it myself.
 
Theres got to be a small band mill near you.I sawed the cedar bunks for my band mill with a tool called The Beam Machine.Clamps on Your chain saw bar,Costs 30 bucks.Ive had my bandmill for 5 years now .Have sawed lumber for my own use and sawed for a few friends.I sawed square timbers with my chain saw,You need a level and a chalk line.Slow going but you could saw out all the blocking you need with a chain saw.
 
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