Help Me Think

[Allan in NE]

Mornin' All,

This tailgate has to be rebuilt.

Okay fine, normally a simple little one-hour job, but guess what? Ya can't buy 1" tongue and groove lumber anymore. :>(

Thinking maybe build it out of reversed lap siding and cover the inside scallop(s) with a sheet of 3/8" plywood?

Really don't want to get involved with running that much 2X6 material across a planner and then trying to cut the tongue/groove. I'm just not that good of a carpenter.

Got any ideas?

Allan

 

[Bill in NorthCentral PA]

Well, I am not much of a grain truck guy, but the carpenter end IS more my bag. Would pressure treated 5/4" deckboards be the answer? They are 1" thick. Taint the grain - I don"t know, but I"m sure there would be some shrinkage.

Good luck,

Bill

 

[olddog]

5/4 PT deckboards for the framing and 3/4 ( or doubled 1/2") PT plywood for the rest?

 

[Dave from MN]

Allan, does any one have an old corn crib half falling down you could get some floor boards from, they are a bit thicker than 1" but would work real nice and have a deep tongue and groove.

 

[VADAVE]

Why does it have to be tongue and groove? I've got two trucks; one a straight truck, 10 wheeler, and the tailgate is 3/4 plywood with a steel cross hatch strengthener. The other is an 18 wheeler--tailgate is 2X6 treated lumber. Didn't need to be treated was just what was laying around, but I have never seen treat lumber be anything but pine. Either way works.
Strong enough you ask--well the way our trucks are emptied at the elevators is you run onto a lift platform and the elevator tips the whole truck. So the whole weight of the load sits on the tailgate. These boards hold it. That 18 wheeler holds 1000 bu, and yeah she over 80K loaded.

 

[Allan in NE]

Did't used to worry about it in the least when I was raising beans and corn.

However, wheat is another story. Just like hauling water; any little opening at all and the load will sure find it.

Allan

 

[PJBROWN VT]

Replace the wood with sheet metal and channel iron. It would look great and last. Just my thought... I don't like wood truck bodies...much rather have steel.

 

[VADAVE]

You're worring too much. I haul wheat and it doesn't leak. The key is that the boards shouldn't be wrapped. When you sit them edge to edge they should touch the full length, you be able to see light through the edges but it's from the rough cut slivers holding it apart. Then the gap is less then the wheat kernels. Really don't want the board wrapped the other way either but if so put a 2X4 across the board and screw them in, one board pulls it's neighbor into line.
Like I said in my earlier post the whole tailgate is boards--except the bottom two boards. They sit outside the upper ones, in a channel, and are lifted out at the elevator for dumping. This means there is a gap between the upper boards and the lower ones. I've seen this gap be 1 1/2 inches and wheats doesn't leak out. There is a little overlap of the boards--maybe 1 inch which makes the dump area total of 10 inch high and 7 1/2 feet wide. They dump 10 18 wheelers an hour with this system.

 

[mnbob]

Allan; What is that off of? I have the sides and back off my old 66 chevy setting in the shop. Son wanted the truck to haul firewood, then decided it was better to borrow my dump trailer and not license and insure the truck. The old chevy ran good when I let him have it for $1. Bob

 

[VADAVE]

Tried to put in a picture of the back of the truck.
I'm doing something wrong. Strated with it in TRACTOR PICS under Oliver. Then tried to link to it just doesn't work.

 

[Lee in Iowa]

The only thing I know of with 1" tongue and groove is a Heider wagon box floor and they haven't been built in quite a while. You could use t and g treated 2x6 and router the sides down to 1 inch, but it would be heavy. Lee

 

[VAJerry]

Make sure what ever wood you use is dry when you put it on. This rules out pressure treated lumber. Shrinkage will cause gaps. I think I would use whatever dry lumber you have then line the inside with 22ga steel. or at least the tail gate as that seems to be the problem.

 

[John S-B]

It really should'nt be that hard to use a table saw or a router to make your tounge and groove. Just remember measure twice, cut once. You ain't making furniture.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You could make 'shiplap' boards a lot quicker than T&G, and would still have the overlap.

 

[Old Ford Mechanic]

Allan,Why not rebuild the gate using 2x6 lumber? Cut it all to the correct lenght and then set up a blade on the table saw to cut a 3/8 groove in the center of the narrow edge of the 2/6.Let the 3/8 groove extend into the 2/6 about 1/2" into the board.Then cut 1" strips out of your 3/8 plywood and using wood glue put it all together.Set it all up square,rig up some clamps and let set a few hours.Then go back and put you sliding grain door in.Should be stronger than before.

 

[Janicholson]

I agree with Bill and Olddog below, 5/4 deck planks.u Rip a groove down the mating edges of each and
glue in a strip of 1/8" Masonite to make it not leak. JimN

 

[Oldmax]

Allen have you tried Pine flooring or they make . pine paneling the old type 3/4" X 5 1/2 " Pine .

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hey Pard,
I ran a bunch of 1 1/4" T&G this summer... ran some 2" x 6" lumber thru the planer, then used the rabbeting set-up on my jointer to cut the tongues... set up a stack-dado in the table saw to cut the grooves. Ran 70+ 8 footers in just a few hours! D

 

[Anonymous-0]

allen,
check , tool talk archives; tongue & groove bits
10-27-07 17-45

sonny

 

[Pooh Bear]

(quoted from post at 11:02:41 10/27/07) You could make 'shiplap' boards a lot quicker than T&G, and would still have the overlap.

I was gonna say the same thing.
They are real easy to cut on a table say with a dado blade.

Pooh Bear