Treated wood splitting

Discuss park gauge trains and large scale miniature railways having track gauges from 8" to 24" gauge and designed at scales of 2" to the foot or greater - whether modeled for personal use, or purpose built for amusement park operation or private railroading.

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Springhill-RR
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Treated wood splitting

Post by Springhill-RR »

Our treated 4x6's are splitting badly on RR. Is there a way to prevent this? They were dry when we stained them a dark color.
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NP317
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Re: Treated wood splitting

Post by NP317 »

What species of wood did you use, and with what chemical were they treated?
RussN
Springhill-RR
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Re: Treated wood splitting

Post by Springhill-RR »

Southern Yellow Pine. Ground contact treated.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Treated wood splitting

Post by Bill Shields »

Rotting or just splitting?

Picture?
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
rkcarguy
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Re: Treated wood splitting

Post by rkcarguy »

Pine does like to split, I’d suggest pre drilling any spike or screw holes undersize to help prevent this.
Glenn Brooks
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Re: Treated wood splitting

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Lot of work but you can soak in water/ oil and rehydrate the wood. Better to drill pilot holes and use lags and angle washers rather than spikes
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Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge

Ahaha, Retirement: the good life - drifting endlessly on a Sea of projects....
Springhill-RR
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Re: Treated wood splitting

Post by Springhill-RR »

We drill pilot holes for everthing. The wood is not splitting around the screws but elsewhere.
Glenn Brooks
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Re: Treated wood splitting

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Yikes. Maricopa LiveSteamers has a same problem in the desert around Phoenix Arizona. The extreme dryness of the wood, coupled with direct sunlight causes the ties to dry out beyond limits and they split and crack. Now, in Phoenix MLS people cover their all their ties in quarter inch minus sand mix crushed rock up to maybe 1/4” deep. This helps stabilize the moisture content of the wood and prevents the sun from delivering extremely surface temperature to the wood. Do it doesn’t split. Also, I suspect, the wood that is buried in this manner retains more moisture thereby relieving the stress on the on the cellulose and the inner grains of the wood.
Moderator - Grand Scale Forum

Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge

Ahaha, Retirement: the good life - drifting endlessly on a Sea of projects....
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Bill Shields
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Re: Treated wood splitting

Post by Bill Shields »

Something about staining them dark also seems to ring a bell as creating problems with drying and splitting when exposed to a lot of sun.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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