Tractor decking - White Oak vs. Pressure Treated

[ponytug]

@HawkinsHollow If you do go the pressure treated route, I would strongly suggest UC4B or higher pressure treated wood. If you cut any of the boards or put fasteners in, I would retreat with copper naphethate.

https://www.culpeperwood.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Use_Category_Standards.pdf

And

https://preservedwood.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PT_CStandards.pdf

Modern pressure treated wood, for better and worse, is not arsenic and chromate filled, so it needs more help than older varieties. Regardless, the pressure treatment is only in the outside 1/4" or so of the wood, and any cracks larger than an 1/8" or so in the future will need to be addressed.

All the best,

Peter

 

[oldballs]

Maybe it depends on what one is hauling. My 12 foot industrial Skid Steer Hauler came with Linseed oiled white Oak. I hauled a lot of gravel from the quarry....some dirt and some rock. I can't saythat the OE deck lasted any longer than the PT 2x6 x12 replacement decks (two deck replacement in 25 years). I did brush on Boiled Linseed oil at least once ....sometimes twice per year. It sits out in the sun all the time.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[kenhar]

I need a new deck on my trailer. I have a sawmill but do not have any white oak logs long enough to serve the purpose. BUT, if white oak is going to be that much better than pressure treated wood I will find one.
So my question is: What is better white oak deck boards with the oil/diesel treatment or pressure treated 2x6s? If white oak is the answer, is it THAT MUCH better to go through the trouble of sourcing a white oak log to mill the boards out of? This trailer will primarily be used for moving logs and my trailer. The log loading process will probably not be very kind to the trailer decking.

The old timer that I usually ask about such things seems to think that white oak will be substantially superior to pressure treated. What says ye?

 

[ponytug]

@kenhar I think that your location, trailer usage, and how you store the trailer makes a big difference. If you can keep the trailer deck dry, white oak is at the top of my list for toughness, and durability, but it will rot, so I would put some copper naphthenate underneath and oil the upper part.

All the best,

Peter

 

[CliffordK]

Pressure treated fir is going to be lighter weight than your oak. I like it. I suppose it depends on how you're using the trailer, but if you break it, you are probably doing something it wasn't intended for.

I have 2x12 pressure treated on mine.

I might consider rough cut (full dimension) 2x12s for some applications.

 

[WinterDeere]

I didn't see anywhere that anyone mentioned how terribly corrosive modern (ACQ) pressure treated is to anything metal. Fastners and framing in contact with ACQ lumber rot awful fast.

There's a reason the whole market switched over from zinc and galvanized fasteners to ceramic coated and stainless fasteners, right after ACQ lumber replaced CCA. That wasn't a coincidence!

If you can still find some old-school CCA pressure treated, then have at it! But short of that, I'd stick with white oak or any one of the various less expensive African hardwoods popular for decking today.

 

[dieselscout80]

I didn't see anywhere that anyone mentioned how terribly corrosive modern (ACQ) pressure treated is to anything metal. Fastners and framing in contact with ACQ lumber rot awful fast.

There's a reason the whole market switched over from zinc and galvanized fasteners to ceramic coated and stainless fasteners, right after ACQ lumber replaced CCA. That wasn't a coincidence!

If you can still find some old-school CCA pressure treated, then have at it! But short of that, I'd stick with white oak or any one of the various less expensive African hardwoods popular for decking today.

When did the switch from CCA to ACQ take place?

Well I googled it and looks like 2004.

My trailer was built in 2003 so it has a CCA treated deck.

 

[WinterDeere]

When did the switch from CCA to ACQ take place?

Well I googled it and looks like 2004.

My trailer was built in 2003 so it has a CCA treated deck.

2004'ish sounds about right. It took awhile for all the CCA inventory to disappear from distributors and store shelves, as the ACQ production pushed through, so there was a period around then that I remember buying a mix of both.

From the user's perspective, CCA was better in every way, except when you're using it for picnic table tops. It's not something you really want people eating from. But I'd guess the reason for its elimination probably had more to do with pollution from manufacturers handling mass-quantities of chromium and arsenic, than individual health concerns.

 

[kenhar]

Built a corral out of white oak 2x8 and new cross ties 40 years ago. A few of the boards have been replaced and a couple cross tie have rotted at ground level but still in use today. Our deck is 15 years old, built with treated lumber and some of the boards have rotted and broke through. White oak is the way to go if you can find it.

 

[lman]

Built a corral out of white oak 2x8 and new cross ties 40 years ago. A few of the boards have been replaced and a couple cross tie have rotted at ground level but still in use today. Our deck is 15 years old, built with treated lumber and some of the boards have rotted and broke through. White oak is the way to go if you can find it.

I built some horse stalls out of native white oak about 30 years ago and the impressive thing is that the horses will not chew on it because it's so hard. Horses will chew on treated lumber. The oak looks like it did when I installed it. We've got sawmills around here and they always have some extra white oak from local trees.

 

[WinterDeere]

We have a local sawmill, Haecock lumber, where I've always bought my white oak. It's green, not kiln dried, but I do my own "solar kiln" by stacking it in the driveway and building a makeshift tent over it with clear plastic sheeting for a summer.

Just re-decked my own trailer with white oak in September or October, with lumber I had bought back in May, after it'd sat and dried in the driveway over summer: