advice needed on which timber to use for skids on a trailer

[doublexl]

hi anybody know which timber is the best for use as skids on new boat trailer?poly or plastic is to small,needs to be 40mm wide 125mm high and 3500mm long.i will screw teflon to the top but havnt researched timbers yet so i thaught i would ask here first.thanks

[ShaneC]

Cut stair treads to size mate. Works beautifully

[Jarrah Jack]

Good old Aussie hardwood would do fine. The best stuff is probably in the demo yards. The heavier for its size the harder the wearing, like those old pier timbers, great stuff.

[cormorant]

If you have a few places to support it you can get a polly beam solid that is 3m long and not have any wood.

[Haji-Baba]

I would probably try to use Tallow Wood or Crows Ash.

Both would serve the purpose and have lots of stength.

T.W. will not cost the earth but C.A. will be difficult to come by.

As stated previously any old seasoned H.W. will do the job.

Have Fun Haji-Baba

[nigelr]

Jarrah or teak if you've got buckets of cash.......or any local hardwood or even dressed treated pine, which is plenty tough as well. I'd prolly go the last option, it is softer than hardwood so will give before your hull if push comes to shove. There is a great product called raincote is you want to seal it.
If you want to be a perfectionist you could seal the any of the timbers and screw holes with a penetrating epoxy like norseal then give it a coat of boat coat.
Otherwise you could do the same thing with Bondcrete even.........
Cheers.

[finga]

Off to the demolition yard you go.
As others have mentioned any seasoned hardwood will be just dandy

Only problem I can see is the sizing. 5 X 1 1/2 would not be real common but if you know someone with a table saw or thicknesser then your home and hosed.

[Noelm]

treated pine will do, or some old "proper" Oregon from a demolition will also be good, Hardwoods are fine, but heavy to use and work with.

[Salad Fingers]

I have dressed treated pine on my trailer for skids - so far so good.
and its so cheap that even if it does flog out after a couple of years is no big deal to replace it.

[bigjimg]

Definately Tallowwood or Crows Ash,Moxon Timbers at Yeronga for them.Or go Rose Gum or Spotted Gum very Durable class 1 timber.Oregon will rot and you need large sizes for any strenght.especially if a boat is going to sit on it and will flog the holes out if any gap on the yoke.F17 hardwood not good if exposed.Or go F14 appearance grade 125 by 38mm tell them no wayne or sapwood only heart.If i were you Tallow would be number 1.Jim

[Noelm]

proper Oregon will not rot (well not for a very long time) Oregon is/was used for oars, masts, planks and god knows what else in building boats, and house windows, all sorts of stuff, it is not to be confused with crap Douglas Fir that is passed off as Oregon these days, but I guess for the amount you will need and the amount of drilling/fitting and so on, anything will be fine.

[bigjimg]

Oregon is not fit for the application in this case.At 3.5m it obviously is not a little tinny.And oregon is not fit for any outside exposed building application because of its tendency to rot.But hey don't let me stop you.This is my opinion after 26yrs in the building game and i have repaired boats with oregon in them and yes very rotten.No offence intended Noelm.But there are plenty enough other suitable species out there.The better Oregon these days is sourced from the Gympie area and is not cheap.Jim

[FNQCairns]

Worldwide many an old timers built their boat frames out of hoop pine, a good grade...can be cheap compared to many worthy woods.

Still no matter which one consider sealing it too.

I have hoop sealed with polyester running 2/3 the boat length so about 14 feet worth, settles the boat well.

[doublexl]

thanks everyone for the info,i got some kiln dried hardwood should do the trick.

[oldboot]

Its not realy the timber that matters all that much.....you can make it as big a section as you like so strength is not too much of a problem.

many things will rot.

Abrasion is realy not an issue if you are going to screw teflon strip on.

If you size the timber correctly the holes getting chewed out isn't an issue because the yokes will clamp down well on it.

It is only a boat trailer, not like it will be immersed and it is a single stick so not many places to harbour water..so rot is much less of a problem

What matters is that you treat it with something.

The young brotherinlaws boat we did the runners in treated clear hoop pine shaped and planed....its be on his trailer about 8 years......looks as good as the day I put it there and it is parked in the weather.

We treated it with lanolin.......same stuff we sprayed up all the channels .

The lanolin has realy stood up very well.

I am very fond of marine epoxy.... but the lanolin has stood up so well, why would you go to the bother and expense... and of course it is simple to put a bit extra on from time to time.

cheers

[GBC]

I agree with bigjimb, oregon isn't an external grade of timber. I've used it as jin poles etc and it has it's uses but it wouldn't be high on my list for boat skids. The stuff we used was Canadian Skookum.

You've bought kd. Think of it as 'pre shrunk' - it is for use where seasoning and the associated shrinking has been achieved prior to the member being used in internal construction. As you dunk it under water the beams are going to want to reconstitute somewhat. The effects won't be catastrophic, but I'd certainly be giving a little extra clearance on bolt holes etc to give it the chance to do what it will do naturally, without splitting too much.

I'd also entertain strapping or binding the ends to prevent splitting.

C.N. oil is as good a rot preventer as any and I'd be liberal with it. You can get it from the hardware. K.D. generally is raw and not treated with anything.

I personally probably would just go for some slightly larger section cca rougher header.

Tony and the boys at Moxon's have some amazing timbers, but I don't know that I'd bother them (or my bank account) for burmese teak or King billy pine to 'waste' on a boat trailer?

[oldboot]

Oregon or "Douglas Fir" is very popular in wooden boat building because it has one of the highest strength to weight ratios in timber ( as long as it is good stuff).

while all timber shrinks (particularly radialy) as it is dried from green, it will not expand anywhere near as much when it is wetted after proper curing.

Much of oregan's bad press has come from it being used extensivly in the cheapest grades in this country, and it being sold and used very green.

As far as cracking and splitting there are haeps of hardwoods that crack plenty more than oregan.

As far as leaving clearance for bolt holes, ya should do this with any timber.....many of the hardwoods will expand into bolt holes if made neat, and the tannins ( acids that stain) in the hardwoods will considerably accelerate the corrosion of that fastener.

On several ocasions I have had to belt bolts out of hardwood poles because of the above....and on more than one ocasion completely failed to remove bolts because they were so well corroded into a neat hole.

I love hardwood and have a shed full of the stuff.... but on boat skids.....I would be using hoop pine ( not a pine at all) as a preference.........it is far less prone to split, crack and misbehave that most other woods, it has almost no tanin and can be had in decent section clear.
It also has a pretty good strength to weight ratio.

cheers

[timddo]

Just buy a peice of 100x50 length of Fencing grade treated pine rails.

$10.80 i think from bunnings. 4.8 meter length.