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Posted by Roger Taylor on July 11, 2005, 11:47 pm
> Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
> ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped
> wood pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking
> for suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
> hardwood (as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went
> to the hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any
> hardwood boards of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large
> as 2x4). But right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4
> foot lengths of fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full
> length fir 2x4s sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about
> 6 times greater (per lineal foot)!
>
> After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told me
> that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
> themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
> brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
> quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
> than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
> hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
> wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much <g>. But what's got
> me writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to
> me how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much
> sturdier than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed
> (apparently) of the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it
> have a designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify
> it by?. Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used
> for house framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and
> lots of money is not)?
Perhaps the wood for the wedges was indeed hardwood, and was simply
mis-labelled by Home Depot. Alternately, some stealthy shopper may have
stuck a fir bar code on a scrap 4 foot length of oak, to get a cheaper
price and get out the door without a chance of persecution. In my
experience, fir is fir, and it is all relatively soft , but probably fine
for a low-stress wedge like you needed.. The kiln dried or pressure treated
fir is more resistant to sawing, but should be easily told from hardwood. My
wheelbarrow frame is made of a true hardwood, either oak or hickory, I
think.
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