Stringer wood

Gonna be near Atl anytime soon?   

the other day i was clearing out some pasture and cut a nice straight trunk out of a hedge tree (osage orange)and wondered how it would work for marine applications. we use it here for fire wood and fence posts but milling it is fairly uncommon since it can be pretty tough to find a long straight section. being that it is very uncommon, it is obviosly not a practical choice but it is hard and very rot resistant so i thought i would ask just for grins.
thanks

Pete,
help me out and throw me a few links.

I have had instances in the home building industry where the architect specified doug fir on particular floor joists lets say, because it has more strength than other grades such as SPF for the same dimension.

I used SYP in my American Skier, mainly because I had some left over from another project. It was clean, straight and had been in dry storage for over a year. I brushed on 2 coats of thinned epoxy before bedding and lay-up. SYP is a little heavier than DF.

I used 8/4

I think a 2x is only 1 1/2 inch wide, so it's not too much difference.

Called local lumber yard today and found DF 2x10x14 boards were $70.00. Not sure of the of the lenght needed for a Ski Tique, but the choices were 14' and 20'. I'm thinking the 14' would be long enough, but haven't measured it, as the floor is still in place.

I only looked quickly at what they had at the time. I wasn't really considering it at the time, but have since read several web articles on the subject.

Sounds like a number of small boat builders use SYP. I am talking about mostly private persons who build boats.

As far as cost goes, a couple hundred for wood isn't going to matter with the costs of everything involved. However SYP might be a choice also. I really don't think that Douglas Fir is the only option.

dwcar wrote: What is the difference between Him Fir and Douglas Fir?

8122pbrainard wrote: Look at any spec on building and you will see that the Doug is in it's own class.

I believe the cost of regular non PT SYP was about $12.00 for a 2x10x16, and Lowes has plenty of it. It all looked pretty good(much better than expected), no large knots, and very few small ones. Looked clean and straight.

My son priced DF at some a lumber yard here, but I don't remember what he said. It wasn't inexpensive. He is flying back from Texas right now so I can't ask him.

CC also said in 93, we aint using this *************** anymore

must_dash wrote: I am doing a stringer job next winter and may have supply issus wth Douglas Fir. So a few questions to the wise... With LVL stringers which way does the ply run? Of the various types of LVL which is the best? And how do the lag bolts for the engine mounts work when into the end grain@

LVL stands for laminated veneer lumber. Microlam is one of the trade names. Unlike plywood where the grain runs alternate with each layer, all the venner in LVL runs the length of the member. There are other "engineered" wood products out there made with small shavings of wood just like OSB is made. Stay away from them.

The lags will not be an issue as you are not going into end grain. As with solid lumber, I always recommend predrilling your pilot holes and filling them up a couple times with CPES.

Funny they don't say Douglas Fir. Lumber yards started using the term "Hem Fir" around here back in the '90's.

Our Mustang has SYP main stringers and the outers and longitudals looked like white pine.

Roym wrote: Yeah I don't think CC would of shipped in DF for boat building.

Why not? Mahogany doesn't grow in Florida ether!!