Wood Decking for Dropdeck

most vans use oak, don't know how durable it would be in the elements, but would be better than pine. Oak would also be heavier if that was an issue.

 

better use a hard wood elm, hickory, or oak 2" thick Hickory will hold up the best if you load machiery or heavy concentrated load, pine boards will break

 

Apitong came on the new lowboy trailer I got in 1999. The teeth on the wheels of a soil compactor would break 2.5" thick oak boards like toothpicks, But wouldn't dent the Apitong.

 

Apitong is extremely tough, and extremely heavy 45 to 50 lb/ft 3. Apitong wood has higher fiber strength than any domestic structural wood, is long straight grained, and mostly knot free. Unfortunately it's also very expensive but nothing is going to hold up like it.

 

IPE (eepay) is about the same. Weyerhauser i beleve sells it and they are locationsl all over the US There called iron wood.

 

Either one would be better than a normal hardwood. If the trailers are never going to haul any concentrated loads, i.e. coils or machinery or driving a forklift on it you might get by. But if you go cheap chances are your going to be replacing it again later. A friend tried oak on a small goose neck trailer and a diesel pickup truck with a front weight box broke the floor on it.

 

hemlock (tamarack) very durable I have no idea about the cost

 

I have heard that Osage Orange is very pest and rot resistant. It is used for fencing out west as it used to be cheap and very durable.
I know it hard as hell too! I've turned a few pens out of it, the stuff dulls blades very quickly but polishes up real nice!