Yet another trailer decking question...

[WinterDeere]

I just ran some quick numbers, in case anyone cares:

White oak runs about 47 lb/ft3 at 20% MC. MC is ratio of H20 mass to dry weight mass, so that 47 lb/ft3 works out to roughly 7.8 lb. of water + 39 lb of wood.

But when it arrives at the sawmill, it's usually 60 - 65 lb/ft3, meaning roughly 24 lb. of water for each cubic foot. That would put it's MC% a little over 60%.

When first felled, the MC% can be over 100%, particularly certain times of year. This just means that by weight, you're hauling more water than wood mass.

 

[WinterDeere]

As I finish up the battery box mod's and painting, I'm looking at my tailgate, the expanded metal of which is really caving in quite badly. I'd like to improve it, with four things in mind:

1. Not make it any heavier.
2. Improve or at least not make worse the ability to skid logs up the ramp with my winch. Yeah, I should probably build a swing arm type log lift onto the trailer, but dragging them up the ramp has always worked well enough.
3. Give better support to the expanded metal, as it's caving in quite badly under my tractor's front tires. Made worse by the fact that I'm often hooking onto and lifting 15 foot logs out while front tires are on the ramp.
4. Possibly split ramp to reduce how high it sticks up, as I'd love to put a short roof over this trailer in storage.

I think item 4 is probably off the table. I can't imagine any split ramp handling the weight of my 3033r with max load on the FEL. Also, sometimes I transport the tractor with a crap-ton of rear ballast, when going to logging jobs, and I don't even want to think about a possible ramp failure while driving up onto the trailer.

That leaves us three criteria, with item 2 being the only real challenge. How can I make it easier to skid logs up that ramp, without hurting tire traction? I'd be great to just weld some vertical stringers onto the ramp deck, as guide log ends right into the bed, but it'd be awful slippery for snowy tractor tires trying to climb the tailgate.

Any ideas?

 

[LouNY]

Have you considered two fold up ramps, that way they can stronger and heavy duty split folding but still be manageable.

 

[WinterDeere]

Have you considered two fold up ramps, that way they can stronger and heavy duty split folding but still be manageable.

I've seen them, but can't imagine how I'd skid logs up into the trailer without a continous ramp.

 

[LouNY]

 

[WinterDeere]

Oooh! Those are nice!

Thanks, Lou! Will dig in on that, soon!

 

[WinterDeere]

Oh, one thing I notice is the rib spacing is at least as wide as that on my current tailgate, meaning I'll probably collapse the expanded metal... which might be fine.

When you first mentioned split ramps, I thought you were talking about these: