I was going west Stevie was going east,I knew I would meet him sometime today so I was keeping a eye out for him :lol:

 

I'll probably go with Red Oak since it grows in my state. I can go to any mill and have them make the correct size on the spot. I was wondering how to line up the holes for the screws which seems like a crap shoot and then I talked to another flatbed driver. He said to just drill new holes with self taping screws like he did.

 

All the newbies are doing the straps outside the tarps now-a-days.

 

Nice looking truck and trailer. Your tarp job looks like a Christmas present. I'm jealous!!

 

I would go with apitong too. Where I live here in TN we are the leading hardwood producing county in the Southeast. Worked at several mills for summer jobs as a teenager and replaced many floors on the mill trailers and none of them seemed to last very long with the oak. Apitong is quite a bit more expensive, but there is a reason they use it! Most likely if you use lumber from the mill it will be fairly square, but after drying there is no way you are going to be able to fit it together without gaps from it bowing and kinking. In order for that too happen you will have to have it planed and jointed after it is kiln dried. I think you should upgrade to an all aluminum flat Steve. Having an all aluminum will def upgrade ur status among fellow flatbedders! :wink:

 

We hauled some ugly stuff too.

 

At my company we replaced all the wood on are GRN like 2 months ago. We used oak and we drilled the new holes in the wood. We would lay on the groud and drill from the bottom up to the top. So we knew where the holes were at for the bolts. We also use big carriage bolts with qoofy looking washers that Rogers (make of trailer) gave us.

 

Thanks for the responses on the deck floor. I think I'll go with the oak though. It's real cheap here around me and is dry. I'm not talking right off the mill floor from the forest wet. The mills around me do not normally sell to the general public but it's one of those good ole boy things.

My deck seems to be some kind of wood right now and looks like white oak and it's in good shape. I just want to close the gap.

I talked with a few guys that had some nice new deck on theirs and it was red oak. They both did the same thing instead of trying to line up the holes from underneath. The plate that the wood bolts down to is pretty wide so plenty of space to drill new holes from above.

I did check on Apitong but that's very expensive. I would replace with oak many times over for the cost of that once.

I don't think I'll go with an aluminum trailer. I like my steel one with the aluminum deck. My trailer is very sturdy and like I've said before, I can scale 48k and that's all that matters. Everything else is perfect on my trailer and buying a new aluminum one does not make sense and I would never recover the cost.

I got home yesterday and noticed gear oil all over the rear. It looks like the front seal went on the splitter or whatever you call that thinger dinger. They can't get to it until Tuesday so looks like I'm stuck at home for a few days longer then I thought. Oh well, time to buy more steak and tequila.

The place I delivered to yesterday was a nice treat. Out in the country, very easy to get in and out. Big huge area to untarp on concrete you get eat off of. Birds singing, deer and antelope playing (not really) but you get the picture. Very laid back and the guy wouldn't take no for an answer when helping me untrap and roll it up.

I have a new contact also when out west near Washington and Oregon. He said to call him next time I'm out there to see if he needs anything. I told him what I got paid and he said we can work something out much better for both of us.

I guess I'll use this extra time at home to do all the crap I really don't want to. Time to get the truck ready for winter driving also. Many of you may notice the sky like myself living in NH. I got the first sign of Fall coming yesterday. It's just a look and feel thing that comes from living here my whole life. It's a warning to get ready.

 

I believe you are talking about the front power divider.

 

TRANSLATION: You offered to put them in one of your porn movies.

BAH. We haven't even had Indian Summer yet. Autumn isn't even for at least another month and a half.