[AT] OT Barn floor question

[Bo Hinch]

I have acess to cypress here in south louisiana , my question is what size
do the boards need to be and last question , how big is your bank account
???
Tell me your sizes and I will see if I can help you without you going into
debt for the next 20 years .

Bo Hinch


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'"
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 9:40 AM
Subject: RE: [AT] OT Barn floor question


> Thanks, Charlie -- and everybody else who has chimed in.  When I
> restored this windmill the FIRST time, I was led to believe that there
> were two woods that were preferred -- cedar and poplar.  I had both
> available, but chose to use poplar because it's a LOT clearer.  BTW-
> this advice came from a windmill historical and restoration group.  I
> figured they knew what they were talking about.  Well as it turns out,
> there probably isn't a worse wood to use for exterior work than poplar,
> and that's what I used.
>
> The whole thing fell apart in about five years.  Now I've got to start
> from scratch and do it all over again.  In talking with a wood worker
> this week, he recommended redwood or cedar.  I don't like either one.
> Redwood splits too easily, and cedar has too many knots.  I really would
> prefer teak or cypress.  Now, I'm talking BIG BUCKS!
>
> What I'm more likely to do is to use the treated lumber that Lowe's and
> Home Depot sell for deck construction.  There was no way I would have
> considered this material when I was employed at the university and using
> their wood shop for all the mill work --- no way to isolate the area to
> protect people and the environment from arsenic.  But I have a contact
> with a complete woodshop with filtered dust collectors on everything.
> If he'll work with me to do the resawing and other operations in his
> shop, then I may go that route.  I wanted some feedback on the synthetic
> stuff so I would know whether or not that's a viable option.  It sounds
> like it isn't.  I don't want the salt treated lumber either.  That's
> what I had in the floor of my trailer, and it didn't last.
>
> I notice that Home Depot is now posting a safety sheet by the bins where
> they store their treated lumber.  It's kind of a consumer's edition of
> an MSDS and gives all the precautions to be followed in working with the
> arsenic-treated stuff.
>
> Does anybody have a good source for cypress?  THAT'S what I really would
> like to use.  I doubt very much that I would ever find locust or Osage
> Orange in a form and in enough quantity to do the job.
>
> FWIW, the windmill is a Flint & Walling model 26 on a 35-foot steel
> tower.  Ten-foot diameter wheel, seven-foot tail.
>
> Larry
>
>