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I think I found some oak deck boards

Geo-TH,In

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
I think I found some oak deck boards for my implement trailer.

I walked past a huge oak tree in my yard and it appears lightning damaged it. Bark is coming off one side in a vertical line. Be interesting to see if it makes leaves this year.
A guy with a sawmill is going to look at it tonight and tell me what he thinks. He has a big JD skidder to put the logs on his trailer.. If it works out ruff sawn oak won't be slick as what is on there now.
 
Years ago I cut down a big oak tree that got hit by lightning and cut it up for fire wood. There was no way it would have made lumber due to the fact when you went to split it you hit it once and you would have 3 or plus split pieces. The lightning all but split it for me
 


This tree has about a 4 ft trunk. Be interesting to see what the sawmill guy says..

The lightning damage appears to damage just the bark about 30 ft up..

If I wait for temps to get below freezing, I'll put an ad on craigslist and people will be fighting over cutting up the smaller branches.

I have a tree man who will do a cut and run. He puts the tree on the ground and I clean up the mess. He will cut branches first, then drop the logs..


Free firewood takes care of most of the mess. Terramite can load the small stuff on dump trailer..
 
I would have never guessed you would allow anyone onto your property to cut up a tree for firewood.

Even if you do not charge for the privilege and the tree is already on the ground.
 
The one I'm talking about lightning had split the tree down the middle. At the time I had a David Bradley chain saw with a 16 inch bar. It would only cut about half way threw each split half so I had to cut it inside the split. That was also the last tree that saw ever cut. The last cut I got almost all the way threw the last part and the saw would not cut the last little bit. I took a wedge and put it in the cut. I set the saw up hill of the tree and drove the wedge in. The tree spun around and instead of falling down hill as it should it fell up hill and broke the carb off the saw
 
Guess again. I do it all the time. That's what insurance is for.

Some people live in fear of lawyers. I'm insurance poor..

I have a neighbor I can call. He cuts, I load logs on his truck with terramite.

This tree is too big. So my tree guy will drop it..
 
Hey George ! WhT type of oak is it ? White oak makes excellent trailer boards ! Back in maybe 2005 or 2006 we had a large cherry tree struck by lightning in our pasture. It was maybe almost 2 foot in diameter and tall. The truck was straight with no limbs up to around 14 feet. I knocked it down and took the logs to a sawmill and had boards cut. I put the boards on a flat place in the barn with stickers between them. They are still there waiting for the right project ! Wood was perfect ! I know you know, but if sawn that wood needs to dry first before use. Just saying !
 
Go for it! Here's a photo essay of direct felling of a 40 inch dead oak. My comment is it takes a big mill and big equipment to handle such a large trunk.

Standing #1

<img SRC=https://i.postimg.cc/8CyvNkkk/Standing1.jpg>

Standing #2

<img SRC=https://i.postimg.cc/50h626hJ/Standing2.jpg>

Standing #3

<img SRC=https://i.postimg.cc/L6MJdgkB/standing3.jpg>

Tree falling:

<img SRC=https://i.postimg.cc/d07sZJmV/Falling1.jpg>

Felled trunk:

<img SRC=https://i.postimg.cc/B6KnkJXV/Felled-Trunk.jpg>
 
Made a truck flatbed from seasoned white oak a number of years ago and it quickly warped all over the place once it got wet, which is pretty much unavoidable when used as a truck bed. Still usable, and as it was an old truck and the lumber had been free I wasn't out much, but it did sour me on using white oak for that purpose. Was also involved in milling a lightning-struck pine and had about the same experience as Old--the wood was dried to a powder and we quickly abandoned that idea and turned it into firewood instead.
 
If the leaves are rounded, it's white oak and good for your purpose. If they have pointed leaves, it's red oak and won't last more than a year or two in the weather. I understand the leaves fell off the tree last fall, but if it's a red oak there will probably be a few still left. You can also tell by its bark; red and white oak have totally different bark. Regardless, don't waste any time or money sawing it up until you've identified the species.
 
Mark that is funny you say that, the preferred here in Tennessee is Hickory or white oak , but lots of trailer floored with red oak. I can show you lowboy trailers that have red oak boards that have been in service certainly more that 2 years as you state , probably some over 10 years. Good clean red oak with no knots sawed properly will stand the weather more than 2 years .
 
Jerry,
Someone said I should make the floor out of oak.
I have no clue if my oak is white, red, pinto oak, pink or purple oak. I'm not a tree expert...
I know it's oak because the leaves hang on for a longer time than other trees..
If it will only last 2 years forget it. I'll order more CCA treated boards from the only lumber yard in Terre Haute that sells CCA. MENARDS! Order them the Johnny Cash way, one board at a time..
My daughter likes 12-18 inch wood disks with bark on edges.
She paints things on them and they sell fast in her art studio.
My boy has 3x12x5 ft oak boards from my ond workshop. He loves using them for a workbench. I ask him what dimensions he wants and have the sawmill make them....

I'll get the tree dropped. Sawmill will pick up the logs and his dad will cut the branches for firewood. I'll pick up the small sticks.. I've know the dad for a long time...

Sometimes you are lucky and sometimes it is who you know that gets the job done...
 
Red oak will be OK, IF you don't use any of the lighter, outer sapwood in your trailer decking. Like was stated earlier, the rounded leaves (white oaks) would be better than the pointy leaves (the red oaks), but center cut boards without sapwood is what you want. On that mature of a tree, there will not be more than an inch or two of sapwood. Most times the lightning won't even travel down the whole length. It usually follows the best electric path, which is usually the cambium layer right under the bark, and will skip directly to the ground or other trees when it gets close. Rich's experience with lightning down the center of the core means there was a better path there than down the outside. I saw a 200 foot, 4' diameter sugar pine explode into 20-30 foot 4x4s in S. California. Luckily we weren't outside when the lightning hit it.
 
Rich, that's what they call saw magnetism. I lost the handle and air cleaner cover the same way. Just a branch that snapped off on the way down. Unlike yours, mine still runs, after some parts. steve
 
How big are the Acorns? Also Spring is the worst time to cut a tree for the boards to last out in the weather and if you really want to get technical check the almanac for the phase of the Moon and the sign.
 
A timber guy told me once that he wouldnt saw trees from peoples yards because of a high likelihood of having nails in them.
 
Heck I have a stake of old boards from a house we took down that was built in 1887, full of Oak, poplar and red gum boards up to 18 wide. Need to check for nails and sort one day down in the barn.
 
I've sawn a few red oaks that had been lightning struck and the quality of lumber was poor. It seems that the grain is disrupted and wood seemed to check or split when it dried. Sounds like firewood not deck boards. Good luck.
 
We had a White Oak hit by lightning one time sawed it and was fine except for a couple pieces and there was a strip down one 2x6 that the grain was a bit different sort of like it was fluffed a bit. Still used it for a rafter on a freestall barn been there since the 80's now. I'd wait to cut it till winter and use it then. Saw and stick it till the following summer to dry. There is a way to saw it so it doesn't warp so much I think it is something about quarter sawing or so.
 
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