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Finish for wooden pickup rack

JFink | Posted in General Discussion on December 17, 2005 06:49am

I’m considering building a lumber rack for my truck, likely out of milled doug fir. I’m wondering what would be a good finish that would take some abuse, as well as plenty of seasonal weathering?

Justin Fink – FHB Editorial

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  1. 4Lorn1 | Dec 17, 2005 07:08am | #1

    UV stabilized and tung oil fortified spar varnish would be my first choice. It has a long history on boats. A challenging environment. Might need to scrape or sand the degraded top coats off and recoat every four years or so.

    A trick is to thin the first coat so it soaks in. Especially any end grain. This coat can be pretty much slopped on. It should be applied liberally. You can use a lint free rag dampened with thinner to mop up any drips. Let dry a couple of days and then a quick second and third coat.

    There are supposed to be some newer products used on boats that may last longer but I don't have much experience with these. The spar varnish is rough, ready, cheap and easy to work with.

    1. Agatized | Dec 17, 2005 08:17am | #2

      What do you use to thin the spar varnish for the first coat?

      Erich

      1. 4Lorn1 | Dec 17, 2005 08:57am | #3

        I have always used regular paint thinner but that is because the particular formulations I used called for that as the solvent. I can't remember a brand name but at the time it was one of about three similar conventional products readily available. My understanding is that other products may call for different solvents and it is a good idea to follow the manufacturers recommendation.

    2. User avater
      JeffBuck | Dec 17, 2005 09:47am | #4

      UV stabilized and tung oil fortified spar varnish would be my first choice.

       

      mine too.

      lotsa thin coats of tung oil.

       

      Jeff    Buck Construction

       Artistry In Carpentry

           Pittsburgh Pa

      1. 4Lorn1 | Dec 17, 2005 11:05am | #5

        Do you like the idea of a thinned first application to penetrate while wiping off the excess to keep the coat thin on the surface? I have usually started that way and was told by an old timer it helped seal the wood and, down the road, made refinishing easier. Kind of made sense to me to get the stuff into the grain where it would do the most good. But I have never seen any studies or authoritative sources beyond old timers who did it that way because it's traditional. Is this a superstitious holdover from earlier times which adds little to the quality or is it a good idea worth the time it takes?

  2. DonCanDo | Dec 17, 2005 02:14pm | #6

    I would use the same stuff that works on decks.  Semi-transparent oil-based stain.  Good adhesion, UV-resistant, several color choices and easily touched-up.

    The darker stains provide greater UV-resistance.

    -Don

  3. Newf | Dec 17, 2005 03:20pm | #7

    Olympic Maximun wood sealant

    http://www.ppg.com/ppgaf/olympic/prob.htm

    Any finish that "sits" on top of wood is prone to peeling, cracking, etc. once this happens water gets in and is trapped, starting the process of finish failure. Maximun is the first product I have ever found that works on decks, and looks beautiful. As a matter of fact, it sells deck jobs. The 3 year maximun has a very light stain, and when applied th PT SPF turns it a very nice cedar tone.

    All though that link says "new", it has been around Canada for at least 4 yrs

    And it is exactly what I will be using on my truck rack.

    Peace on Earth, Good Will to Man...whoops...and Woman

     

     

    "If John is looking down from somewhere, and I believe he is, he'd be impressed that anywhere in the world where people are standing together to try to change their government or to bring about peace, they sing `Imagine' and `Give Peace a Chance.'

     

                                                                David Sheff, Journalist

    1. Mooney | Dec 18, 2005 06:21pm | #14

      Looks like what I will put on my roof come spring.

      I believe Ive already used it once and thats been a few years ago.

      You saying its supposed to be new ?

      Tim

       

      1. Newf | Dec 19, 2005 02:57pm | #19

        No, I'm saying the website I put the link to says "new" up on the corner of the webpage. I have used it for 4 yrs so...not so new, LOL

        Maximum 3 Honey Gold on Pressure treated SPF:

        View Image

         Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon.  A happiness weapon.  A beauty bomb.  And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one.  It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air.  Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas.  And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight.  Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in.  With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest.  And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.  ~Robert Fulghum

        Edited 12/19/2005 7:00 am by Newf

        1. Mooney | Dec 19, 2005 03:05pm | #20

          Thats cool . How old is it ?

          Tim

           

          1. Newf | Dec 19, 2005 09:41pm | #27

            Not old. It was this spring. In photo finish is hrs old.

            I'll take again in 2 1/2 yrs....

            LOL

            Have a great one!

             Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon.  A happiness weapon.  A beauty bomb.  And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one.  It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air.  Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas.  And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight.  Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in.  With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest.  And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.  ~Robert Fulghum

  4. User avater
    MarkH | Dec 17, 2005 06:07pm | #8

    Auto transmission fluid is waterproof and would simulate a phillipine mahogany on the rack.  Cheap, easily replaceable, and slick for sliding ladders on and off.

  5. dustinf | Dec 17, 2005 06:11pm | #9

    I would use http://www.waterlox.com  or cabots australian tung oil.

    ---------------------

    Swimming through the ashes of another life, no real reason to accept the way things have changed.  Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight.



    Edited 12/17/2005 10:12 am ET by dustinf

  6. notascrename | Dec 17, 2005 06:34pm | #10

    I'm not sure but it seems to me you might be asking the wrong question. you might want to consider air-dried rough-sawn white oak instead of fir. strong wood, dosn't want finished. and turns a fairly uniform dark gray color. I can see going out every couple of years and rubbing on my sailboat, but I have trouble trying to fit my ladder rack in the same picture.[think a caricature from"great moments". jim

    1. User avater
      Huck | Dec 19, 2005 01:28am | #15

      my thoughts exactly, but didn't want to be the first to say it!

      1. Mooney | Dec 19, 2005 01:52am | #16

        What did he say?????

        Old men cant read his post. What ya say young man???

        Tim

         

         

        1. User avater
          Huck | Dec 19, 2005 02:21am | #17

          He said douglas fir may not be the best material for a lumber rack. I'm thinking steel is the material of choice for a good reason.

          1. Mooney | Dec 19, 2005 03:42am | #18

            Thanks

            Some folks like the old cattle rack styles or orchard styles where they can haul a variety of things . Dad hauled peaches on his . Ive hauled plants quit a bit by shooting 1/12s through the slats . Some people in the trades have the cross over tool box in the truck and have cattle racks on too . They make good lumber and ladder racks combined. You can make wind ups on the out sides . Pretty cool.

            Tim

             

          2. girlbuilder | Dec 20, 2005 10:54am | #39

            Guess you people are in farm country. UP here in New England where farms are only on pictures people hang in their living rooms, you don't see the old trucks with wooden racks, save for the flatbed one ton variety.We made a wooden rack that we could collapse and use on any truck if we needed to. I hate it. Its ugly and looks more hillbilly than I need to look around here. No one appreciates the homey around here. I miss the midwest too much I think.

          3. andy_engel | Dec 20, 2005 04:40pm | #40

            We don't have hillbillies in my part of New England. We have swamp Yankees. Same dentist and all, but an entirely different history.Andy

            Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

          4. girlbuilder | Dec 20, 2005 07:11pm | #42

            Yeah I've seen those swamp yankees and it seems all their dentists know how to do is pull out rotten teeth. I never saw a rotten tooth in all my life until I moved up here.The "swamp yankees" generally are good down to earth people. They help to make this area somewhat liveable -- a breather from all the damn uptight yankees running everywhere and over everyone.

          5. andy_engel | Dec 20, 2005 10:31pm | #43

            We're on the same page. One of my favorite things about my small, sort of upscale town are the folks who are renments of old families. Getting to know them makes me feel at home here, and keeps the place real.Andy

            Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

          6. Mooney | Dec 20, 2005 06:39pm | #41

            Theres lots more 10 cow and less farms than there used to be with more people living on split 40 acre tracts. 40 acres here will self sustain 10 cows and a bull. The small hay equipment is used in square bales with a Kabota  pulling all implements normally. A 3/4 ton long bed pick up with wood racks will haul one cow or a bull to sale or a couple of  large feeder calfs. Of course they will also haul a horse or a mule. Mules are the easiaest to haul because they like to jump . So mules are loaded with out cattle ramps.

            Trash haulers use the wood racks too with a rolling tarp on the top.

            Its commmon issue for pickup peddlers selling produce.

            Tim

             

          7. FHB Editor
            JFink | Dec 19, 2005 05:10pm | #21

            Well, doug fir may not be the best choice, but white oak is going to be more expensive than than just buying a steel rack.

            Here's the situation: I have a Ford Ranger, so the bed isn't 4-ft between wheel wells. The most affordable lumber racks, which start at around $250, have curves in the load bars so that they curve in as they go up. This tapering inward means that I can't fit a sheet of plywood up there either.

            That leaves me with a bed full of tools, and a rack that won't fit plywood. I was hoping to build one from wood, save myself some serious dough, and still be able to carry ply up there.

            I have heard of people making racks from rough lumber, what other types of wood do you guys suggest?Justin Fink - FHB Editorial

          8. Mooney | Dec 19, 2005 05:49pm | #22

            I have heard of people making racks from rough lumber, what other types of wood do you guys suggest?

            Funny it keeps being an issue where we live .

            White Oak would be the best wood here and it is free off the stump most of the time sold for firewood . Theres a handle factory that uses it but they cant touch the supply. Theres several band saw mills that would cut what you want and you haul them the tree.

            Douglas Fir would cost a mint . We dont carry any.

            Funny huh?

            Tim

             

          9. User avater
            Huck | Dec 19, 2005 06:14pm | #23

            Got a buddy who does welding on the side? Lots of guys do, and a custom lumber rack is the perfect side job for a little extra cash. When I used a small Toyota truck, I built a toolbox between the wheel wells, and the top platform was perfect for carrying sheets of plywood or drywall.

            View Image <!----><!----> View Image

            I had a camper shell, with a custom rack on top. Can't remember what I paid to have the rack made, but I'm sure it was at least a couple hundred - and worth every penny! As I recall, it was 1" sq. tube, and it was plenty strong enough for anything I ever put up there.

            Problem is, no one makes the fiberglass shell I like anymore, with the opening hatches on the side. So my current truck is set up different. Anyway, I made sure I specified the width of the rack I had made, for full sheets. Although I seldom used it for that, because I generally felt safer carrying full sheets in the bed, and lumber on top.

            Edited 12/19/2005 10:18 am by Huck

          10. Jamie_Buxton | Dec 19, 2005 07:10pm | #25

            Justin --

              I too have a Ranger.   There's several solutions you might consider for carrying sheet goods.

            1) The steel lumber rack I have can handle 48"-wide materials on top.   I think all of them do.

            2) Some Rangers have pockets in the sheet metal in the sides of the bed.  They're 1 1/2" below the tops of the wheel wells.  The idea is that you put 2x4s in the pockets to form a platform for sheet goods.

            3) You can make a simple platform which sits in the bed of the truck.   The top of the platform is above the wheel wells, and that allows you to carry 48" wide sheet goods.  Mine is made from plywood.   It hooks together with tab-in-slot construction, and disassembles without tools.  It mostly lives in the shop, and only sees weather when I'm doing a run to the lumberyard.  This one has outlasted three trucks so far.

          11. User avater
            Huck | Dec 19, 2005 08:44pm | #26

            I like your solution - only thing I would do different is make it a little shorter, so the tailgate can go up, and angled so that the back end lines up with the tailgate. The slant would assure that the materials being hauled wouldn't slide out.

            View Image

            <!---->

            View Image<!---->

          12. FHB Editor
            JFink | Dec 19, 2005 09:41pm | #28

            But if the tailgate is up, the sheets of ply won't fit in the bed anymore. Did you mean allow it to go up, for when the rig isn't in use?Justin Fink - FHB Editorial

          13. andy_engel | Dec 19, 2005 09:52pm | #29

            Locust is the way to go. It's cheaper than dirt, never rots, and it's stronger than my old bike shorts. Doesn't need a finish, but you can if want to have to refinish it every few years. I can take you up to Davis's Sawmill in New Milford sometime. He's got it, and he's a trip all by himself. Last time I bought any, it was about $.70 per bf.

             Andy

            Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

          14. FHB Editor
            JFink | Dec 19, 2005 10:14pm | #30

            Think it would be strong enough as a rack andy? Knowing you, you must have built a wooden lumber rack at some point...right?Justin Fink - FHB Editorial

          15. andy_engel | Dec 20, 2005 12:52am | #34

            Well, in truth, I've never built one. But I've seen a bunch of inelegant ones, and a few that succeded. And it's just basic seat of the pants Yankee engineering...

            Yeah, the locust would be more than strong enough. That's about the toughest wood I know, and the strength to weight ratio has to be better than Doug fir.

            The challenge with any wooden rack is building it rigid, yet light. Short of sheathing it, triangulation is the way to go. Easily enough done with notches and some carriage bolts. You might even make it look good.Andy

            Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

          16. Mooney | Dec 19, 2005 10:34pm | #31

            Yup, Locust is just another junk fire wood as we refer to it . I knew that it doesnt rot becuse we used to use them as posts for cattle fencing before the metal posts became known and avalilable . Since them Ive never heard anyone mention them except for mixed firewood.

            If I remember they are a bear to split?

            Now what about making those racks ? Is Locust as strong as  as strong as White Oak?

            Some one mentioned they will not hold up but they will . We have ran produce for years and we are in peach country. Its the only way you can haul peaches because they cannot be stacked. There are a  bunch of White Oak ones around made like pick up cattle racks . They are made from true 1x3s and of course 2x3 post bed stakes. Each connection gets two bolts, washers and loktite nuts. Everyone with a few hogs  or goats use them too.

            Tim

             

          17. andy_engel | Dec 20, 2005 12:59am | #35

            Without a doubt, locust is as strong as white oak. And you're right, it's a bear to split. Know how white oak or elm is stringy, with fibers running across each other? Locust is worse, or better, depending if you want to split it or build something tough out of it. I think it was a traditional wood for ox yokes, which had to transmit some major force, yet be light. A big locust went down in my mother's front yard when I was about 19. I cut it up for firewood, then ended up dumping the logs back in the woods because short of explosives, those puppies weren't going to split.

            The saying in New England is that if you stick an iron bar in the ground next to a locust post, and come back a century later, the iron will be gone, but locust will still be holding up the fence.Andy

            Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

          18. User avater
            zak | Dec 20, 2005 02:35am | #36

            There's another great saying- "If you want something to last forever, build it with stone. If you want it to last 10 years longer, build it with locust." But make sure that's black locust- honey locust isn't very rot resistant. I've found both locusts to be strong and extremely hard, but somewhat brittle when aged.
            All that said, I think i would make that lumber rack out of steel. Even if you can't weld it up, all you need is a drill and a handfull of bolts to make a simple lumber rack. I've made a lot of stuff with recycled steel pallets- in their first life they were used for shipping small lawn tractors and such, but it's good 1x2 square tube, 14 gauge or something. plenty strong. Whatever material, I would put plenty of triangle braces in to keep it from racking.
            zak

          19. User avater
            Huck | Dec 20, 2005 04:41am | #38

            I kept the tailgate up, the sheets hung over a little, and angled a little toward the front, kept 'em in place during transit.

          20. Jamie_Buxton | Dec 19, 2005 11:17pm | #33

            It isn't clear from the photo, but the platform is a little shorter than the bed, so the tailgate can close.   Of course, when it is loaded with 8-foot-long sheet goods, the tailgate is down.   In fact, I generally pull the platform a little on to the tailgate, to support the sheet goods near the middle.   I run a rope from on tiedown in the front of the bed over the end of the sheet goods, and back forward to the other tiedown in the front of the bed.

          21. notascrename | Dec 21, 2005 09:07am | #44

            if you opt for an over the to p rack be sure to build in a good stop at the front, saw 40 12' 1X8's slide across the hood and  on down the road in a sudden stop one time. we pay .22 cents a bd. ft. for rough oak here, it's up to you to pick out the pieces. go to the sawmill. jim

  7. Jamie_Buxton | Dec 17, 2005 07:36pm | #11

    Several trucks ago, I built a wooden lumber rack.   I built it like furniture -- deep mortise-and-tenon joints and such.  It looked great when I installed it, but in only a few years it died, and I've gone back to steel racks.  

    Joints on a wooden truck rack see enormous abuse.  They get racked and twisted and stressed evey time you hit a bump.   In addition, they see lots of weather (you're in Connecticut, right?).   The result is that glue lines begin to open, water gets in, and eventually the joinery either breaks or rot sets in inside the lumber.   If you really want to make a wood rack, and you want it to last, perhaps you should wrap it in fiberglass.

  8. IdahoDon | Dec 18, 2005 05:02am | #12

    Lumber racks do take a lot of abuse and the usual spar varnish is very easy to use and gets my vote if stain-grade.  Also, look into the various specialty marine finishes if you have unique problem areas.  For instance, if an intersection of the rack needs to be reinforced and weatherproofed, an epoxy filled joint, covered with a thin layer of fiberglass and a brushed on coat of epoxy will seal quite well.  Epoxy is also a much more durable finish than the somewhat soft spar varnish for high wear areas.

    How about an epi rack that wouldn't need any protection?

    Happy holidays,

    Don

  9. Pete | Dec 18, 2005 05:56pm | #13

    turpentine, spar varnish and boiled linseed oil, equal parts.  as many applications as it will hold.  it'll soak in more at first and less as it is saturated.  it may weather gray, but won't degrade for a long time as long as you re-apply about once every couple years.

    the spar varnish wont handle any abuse and the cracks and chips will look like crap.

  10. cliffy | Dec 19, 2005 06:44pm | #24

    There is a difference between effective and efficient.  A wood rack on a truck that you are going to drive everyday just wont't last.  The rack I currently use is on the third truck.  It is one inch square tube bolted on top of a fibreglass cap.  I've carried everything from lumber to ladders to boats up on it.  It is 13 years old and I'm sure it will last another dozen years if I paint it!

    Have a good day

    Cliffy

  11. WorkshopJon | Dec 19, 2005 10:48pm | #32

    I'm wondering what would be a good finish that would take some abuse, as well as plenty of seasonal weathering?"

    Justin,

    Many years ago I built a rack for the P/U out of the same material.  If you are not going to use it regularly, just make it easy to disassemble, and axe the finish.  Mine took ~5 minutes to put together for the five or so trips to the yard I needed it a year.  I think it cost less than $40.00 to build.

    Jon

  12. rasconc | Dec 20, 2005 02:36am | #37

    Sent these before, I used PT deckboards with 2x4 cross pieces.  It is more of a ladder rack than lumber rack but I have carried some serious timber on it though.  There are lag bolts toenailed through the uprights into the crossmembers.  I have some metal brackets that I will put under the 2x4s some day.

    The platform slides out to carry long items or serve as a work platform.

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