Lumber transport - where to cut ?

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Bear_Ludo
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Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:29 am
Location: Nice, France

Lumber transport - where to cut ?

Post by Bear_Ludo »

Hello All,

I am a bite excited these days, I just received the 5/16" router bits from MLCS, today I should receive the Prospector Plan + the Kayak DVD from BMB and last but not the least I bought Western Red Cedar lumbers yesterday :eyebrows

The wood is beautiful, 15 ft to 16ft (4.7 to 4.9m) long and dark in color as I dreamed !! And what a wonderfull smell, I love it.

I need to transport the lumbers to the shop (120 miles - 200 km) and I definitely cannot transport such long lumbers on my car. I have to cut them somewhere and my question is the following:
- Where should I cut the lumbers ??? I can cut them to the longest I can tansport (12 ft max - 3.6m) or somewhere else for particular reasons (more choices on joint distribution). Maybe a stupid question also.

Thanks
Ludovic
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Bryan Hansel
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Post by Bryan Hansel »

10 to 12 feet is a good length to work on. You may want to cut some at 10 and some at 12.

With my roof rack, I can transport 16 ft boards with no problem. I have a Yak Rack with their load carrier L-Brackets. It securely holds the lumber up there no problem. If you want full length boards and don't have a roof rack, you may want to look into a Yak Rack...You'll need a rack to carry the boat anyway.
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RonMc1954
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Post by RonMc1954 »

On my roof rack I transport 20' boards, I first tie down an aluminum 16' ladder then tie the lumber on the ladder. Traveled 80 miles no problem.
Ron
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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

Ludovic, is the problem related to your local laws limiting the length of what you can carry on the roof?

I have built several boats using 8 foot lumber but I prefer 10 to 12 foot boards so I can get a more decent spacing on the butt joints.
Bear_Ludo
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Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:29 am
Location: Nice, France

Post by Bear_Ludo »

Glen, you got it right. In respect to the law, one limit is the front of the car and the other one is 3,5 feet (1m) behind the end of the car. My car is about 14 feet, so I can put the lumbers on the rack, but the lumbers are not centered on the rack and I can't put any holders in the front of the car like Mtpocket does (forbidden).

The ladder tip is a good one that I have to test, thanks Ron ;o)
Indeed I will travel in Italy (my shop is there, in the mountains), and I was warned that Italian policemen are very strict concerning roof loads.

It seems that 10' and 12' is the best compromise for stripping and transport, I will go for that ;o)
Can I cut half of the lumbers to 10' and the other half to 12' or is another distribution better ??

Thanks for your help ;o)
Ludovic
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Pete in the Deep South
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Post by Pete in the Deep South »

a 2:1 ratio would be about right I would think. Twice as many of the 12 footers since you will be using them full lenght.
KG4YOL
rabblerouser
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Post by rabblerouser »

You're going to hate that smell by the time you are done ripping the strips
sedges
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find a longer vehicle

Post by sedges »

I would find someone with a longer vehicle to help you move the full length boards.
How will you transport the finished canoe?
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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

How will you transport the finished canoe?
Hmmmm :thinking Good question! :rolling eyes
Snowman
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Post by Snowman »

Quote:
How will you transport the finished canoe?


Hmmmm Good question!
I was thinking the exact same thing...


Snowman
Snowman back East
Bear_Ludo
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Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:29 am
Location: Nice, France

Post by Bear_Ludo »

Good Question !!!

Legaly I can transport objects up to 17.5 feet on my roof, so this should be Ok for the Prospector.
In practice, I don't really worry about transporting the Canoe since it is lightweight and the hull is rigid ans stiff. I was more worried about transporting the lumbers which are not stiff at all. But as Ron advices, using a ladder should solve this ;o)))

By the way, they are different "shools" about joints and I was wondering about distributing the joint position on the hull. I understand that for butt joints a large distribution is needed, but what about scarf joints ?? They are more robust, even more robust than the wood itself (am I right ??) so I was wondering if I could do like this:

---------------------------
(scarf joint) /
---------------------------

---------------------------
(scarf joint) /
---------------------------

The idea behind is that if I cut all my lumbers to 12 feet, I can make two 18 feet strips with three 12 feet strips. I optimise the use of the wood but I loose in joint distribution possibilities. The other way is to make two 22 feet strips from two 12 and two 10 feet strips. It is more consuming in wood but there is a large choice is placing the joint.
What do you think ??

Thanks
I wish you all a Mery Christmas and a Happy Stripping New Year ;o))
Ludovic
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