New timber tray

[Dodgey]

Hi All,
Thought some of you would like to see my finished tray. I threw in a before photo ( which was the origanal PMC tray) to show you what it was like when I first bought it. If anyone wants more detail on the building of the tray please feel free to ask.
Cheers

[juddy]

That looks very good, I will have to do mine on the Series One, later this year, so any pointers would be helpful.

[Homestar]

Looks great. A few more photos from some different angles would be great. :)

[Dodgey]

Thanks for the nice comments and I will try and get some photos from different angles. Hope all is going well with the series 1 project juddy and Ill give you some information I gathered while doing my tray. The biggest decision I had to make was whether to use decking timber or tounge and groove. I joined a woodworking forum to try and get some pros and cons and most of the members were suggesting I use the decking boards due to the problem of the tounge and groove boards swelling when they get wet and causing the whole tray to get warps. I wasnt keen on the decking for a couple of reasons; 1- you have to leave a 5mm gap between the boards meaning everything will get wet from underneath when it rains ,2- you loose strength in the tray as the boards dont interlock ( I will be taking a road bike on the back and all the weight will be on one board) and I personally think that the tounge and groove has a more solid/ robusk look to it.
After talking to a few timber merchants ( most of who also suggested decking as they had it in stock) I finally found someone who said that as long as I left at least a 10mm gap around the tray to allow the timber to expand I shouldnt have a problem. So I went ahead and ordered the bluegum ( had to be in random lengths which interlock on the ends) at a cost of around $400 which arrived a few days later. I did make this decision knowing my truck will be garaged most of the time and also seeing that the origanal tray was T and G and showed no signs of warping. I forgot to mention that I bought the timber through Wayne Norman Timber at Logan village and was very happy with the quality and service that he provided. Hope that was of some help and will be happy to give more info if needed juddy.

[chazza]

Dodgey you are on the right track with your plan to keep it under cover.

I made a wooden decked trailer in 1989; for the first 2 years it looked great because I kept it in a shed when not using it. When I was forced to keep it outside, the timber swelled in the rain and eventually a couple of boards broke their tek screws. If you keep it heavily linseed oiled, that helps greatly in reducing moisture ingress. My tray is not tongue and grooved,

Cheers Charlie

[Dodgey]

Here is another angle for you bacicat but it was prior to plugging the holes and coating with Organoil.
Cheers