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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

White Vs Red Oak

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Brian G. NY

04-06-2004 20:14:07




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Most of the comments in the prior posts about using white oak for a trailer bed indicated the white oak is more rot resistant than red oak. Maybe that's the case in sawn lumber, but believe me, a downed white oak tree will be "punky" practically all the way thru in 2 or 3 years, whereas, I have cut red oak for firewood that has laid on the ground for 15-20 years. Altho it will be rotten, for an inch or so on the outside, the rest will be "solid as a rock"

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cannonball

04-08-2004 06:10:14




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 Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-06-2004 20:14:07  
try post oak ..will out last all oak's have nice day may god bless



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MarkB

04-07-2004 18:16:53




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 Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-06-2004 20:14:07  
White oak is more rot resistant than red oak. That's what every book on the subject says, and that's what I've observed in my own wood pile. Red oak exposed to the weather is rotten in 3-5 years.



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rod

04-07-2004 13:40:07




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 Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-06-2004 20:14:07  
poplar was the wood of choice here for many years in gravel dump boxes and truck floors it is still used quite a bit once it is dry it is very hard.
regards
rod in nova scotia



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Ben in KY

04-07-2004 08:55:27




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 Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-06-2004 20:14:07  
One thing I have found that all oak lumber will last a lot longer if treated with boiled linseed oil. Just get as much to soak into the dry wood as you can, a warm sunny location will help. imho a worthwhile investment for a trailer bed.



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bob

04-07-2004 21:10:07




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 Re: Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Ben in KY, 04-07-2004 08:55:27  
exactly right; this is why you oil tool handles for winter storage if you want to keep them stout.



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kyhayamn

04-07-2004 07:24:15




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 Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-06-2004 20:14:07  
I've observed similar results in downed logs. Once split neither one is going to last too long in ground contact. For trailers and wagon flats where the lumber can dry out white oak will resist rot better due to it's greater resistence to saturation.

Wood only rots due to an actual infection by fungi and micro-organisms. Control of these is done by modifying the host to make it immune (impregnation with toxic compunds (inorganic metals, phenol, etc), selecting hosts with natural toxins (cedar, walnut, etc), or modifying the environment to exclude those pathogens (exclusion of water, etc). One reason white oak was so desirable for ship building is that it is not susceptable to rot when saturated with salt water whereas water borne micro-organisms will attack red oak in salt water.

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Nat

04-07-2004 07:12:14




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 Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-06-2004 20:14:07  
I don't know about redoak and white laying on the ground, but for any other instance, white oak will last lots longer. Red oak will wick water up a foot is left standing in a bucket of water because the cells in the sapwood are much more open. On a trailer floor white oak will outlast red oak, but either is good strong wood, and will last a long time on a trailer floor



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Robert in W. Mi

04-07-2004 06:29:18




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 Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-06-2004 20:14:07  
My brother put us a fence, useing red oak post, didn't take too long for them to rot off at ground level!!

Robert



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PJ [southern IL]

04-07-2004 05:11:23




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 Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-06-2004 20:14:07  
Just backwards here in southern IL.



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Brian G. NY

04-07-2004 13:32:01




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 Re: Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to PJ [southern IL], 04-07-2004 05:11:23  
Thanks for the comments; I found it interesting and educational. A neighbor of mine was building a small bridge and when he went to the sawyer for the lumber, the sawyer told him he had a batch of larch coming in and suggested he wait 'til he got that sawed out as it was extremely rot resistant and perfect for bridge decking. I never worked with larch, but I can't imagine it being anywhere near as strong as white oak.

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Bret

04-11-2004 04:23:48




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 Re: Re: Re: White Vs Red Oak in reply to Brian G. NY, 04-07-2004 13:32:01  
Larch, tammarack to us NYer's, is a truly underated wood. Fast growing, straight, heavy, medium hard green, hard when dry, good firewood without too much pitch for a conifer, pretty rot resitant after it's dried down, and ugly so nobody cries about you cutting them. We used it for stable flooring. The old timers said something about the reaction between horse pee and the chemicals in the wood acting a preservative. All I know is it lasts good in that application. No, it's not as strong as white oak, but if you use the oak for the structural members on the bridge and the tammarack for decking, (we always used 3-3 1/2 inch bridge decking), you'd be in good shape. Elm is another underated wood in the sense that it will last forever if it's kept wet. Yup, wet. It's what the old guys made mill hubs out of that sat in water for years. Not sure if that was common white elm or green or what. Too much of this knowledge has been lost.

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