The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts stake bed...

Well for anybody who cares i'm doing the stakebed in my 52 chevy 2 ton with red oak. it's also a dump so the other boards are going to be a tighter fit than some stake beds but not all. it's going to have stainless bolts and with any luck its' going to have polyurathane finish. for those who don't know the truck wasn't running right before and i have changed focus on the bed for now.

how much are you paying per board foot? our local saw mill has rough cut poplar for .75 cents a foot and wandered if it was a good deal.

indianajay, gotta warn you against using poplar. If it's like the stuff up here in ME, it rots real quick outside. Red oak is best, although down south pitch or yellow pine is also a good choice.

I am glad you told me, I will look for something else. thanks

The best wood is Aptung..This is used on flatbed semi trailers...Original bed wood is hard yellow pine../.

Geoff

indianajay......How can you be from Indiana and not know that the Poplar you have growing right there around Nashville will outlast your lifetime. It was used on nearly all the old barns built way back when in that part of the world. It lasts and takes on a beautiful patina. It is a little soft however. That old barn siding makes gorgeous paneling.

I have a local saw mill that makes log homes from poplar, I don't know a whole lot about wood and weather. I figured poplar must be good or they would'nt make houses out of it. I've always thought that if it's gotta be outside it has to be treated. however I want real wood in my truck.
moneypit, thanks for getting my thinking back on the right track. have you priced red oak lately? blows my budget out of the water.

Well 53moneypit, like I said "if it's like the stuff up here in ME"...well it isn't. I checked and what we have is "QUAKING ASPEN (Populus tremuloides) or "BIGTOOTH ASPEN" (Populus grandidentata). What grows in your neck of the woods (pun) is most probably "Yellow Poplar" (Liriodendron tulipifera), a different kind of cat. Just didn't want indianajay to do a lot of work to have it so south on him in a few years. Green, roughsawn red oak boards, log run, up here go for about $1.50 a board foot.

am I glad everyone is hear to help me, I certainly don't want to pay good money for nothing. this is my first flatbed and I want to do the job right once. even the sawmill guy says to treat poplar with some linseed oil before putting them down. and do maint on it once a year after that.

You mill man has given you good advice regardless of the species. White oak is the most common species for your application. Red oak is almost always used for trim, cabinetry, etc. If you ever get the opportunity to see the Scottish Rite Catherdral in Indianaplis you will see the most lavaish use of Russian Red Oak I've ever seen. Built in the teens or twenties it has the best craftmanship you'll ever see. Spectacular old world craftsmanship.

Pete/ME - I'm in Colorado and we know about Aspens out here. The mountains are full of it and I have some out my kitchen window. We call them quakers here too but likely a little different than your eastern Aspen.

I would avoid Poplar because it is to soft to last very long and look good.
If given the choice between red and white oak white is better. Red oak is not very rot resistant, white oak is very rot resistant.
I know there are many suitable woods for a flat bed, personally I will use quarter sawn white oak for the flat bed on my 48 2 ton.
Grigg

Southern yellow pine is about as tough as it comes too so there is another choice. If you use it get the treated material.

I'd say there's a big difference between wood you use to make a log cabin out of, and wood you use in a truck bed.

For starters, truck bed wood generally gets laid out horizontally.. which means water gets to really collect on it.. not to mention when it's empty, the sun beats directly down on it all day.. not just a few hours a day.

Second, truck bed wood usually gets stuff tossed in on it.. rock, gravel, corn, junk, dirt.. i'd guess the average truck bed sees a whole lot more action in a day than most house sides see in years.

Then you got the bark. Most log homes i've seen still have the bark on the logs, which adds yet another layer of protection from the elements.. I mean.. it's a tree.. they're built by nature to hold up against the elements.

Finally, the log homes i've seen end up getting coated with some stuff that protects it.. and since they're not subjected to things getting tossed on 'em or shoveled off them, that super coating stuff really helps protect the wood.. but might not be such an ideal coating for bed wood.

Red oak outta last for many many years.. but holy christ i'll bet it's expensive as hell.

I'll stick with pressure treated deck lumber. Not sure what it is.. guess it's some sort of pine.

Speaking of bed wood.. I saw a guy do up his bed with some beautiful 'Canadian Rock Maple' that had an absolutely stunning 'birds eye' figuring to the wood. Man was it a beautiful truck bed.. looked like a fine piece of furniture.

On a working truck, I also use green treated 2X decking. My plow sits all winter with 4 ton of gravel on it. It's still holding up well and it's been about 7 years now,
Scott