I cant seem to locate any. What species works well and which ones should someone definitely avoid when making your own wooden stretchers.

Thanks in advance

Basswood works best. I have some that I would sell you but shipping would probably kill us. I had it sawed 5/8 inch for stretchers.

Just plain old pine boards(3/4") work for coon, fox, coyotes, etc. if you can't find basswood. Just take a simple hand planer and plane down the edges. Pick out he ones that have few knots and those that don't have any pitch bleeding.

I use pine. I plane it down to 1/2 inch for coon and fox and 3/8 for smaller critters. Pine is okay if it's clear. Not optimal, but works fine.

That's white pine, not yellow. If you go with a harder pine it will be difficult to push the pins in.

Basswood is the premium wood of choice, but there is nothing wrong with clear white pine, or any pine with large knots - they have a tendency to "leak" their sap/resin. Yellow pine is notorious for this, plus the fact that it is very hard as mentioned. I have found birch and white cedar acceptable substitutes if basswood is not readily available.

Do you own, or have access to the tools to cut, plane and shape the boards?

If you buy stock lumber, no matter the species, be sure that it is kiln dried (or, at least fully air dried.) If you fashion stretcher boards from rough sawn stock straight from a saw mill, they will probably warp. Try to avoid that, unless you can get it at a good price. Take the lumber home, stick it and store it in your garage loft to "air' dry.

Jonathan

sent pm

3/8 plywood works just fine if you use a staple gun instead of push pins. Belly wedges made of plywood don't break very easy either. Never saw any pitch on plywood and no sore fingers from pushpins. Lots cheaper than buying planks of any kind as well.

Hard to beat the pine . When I first started trapping I made some from spruce boards . I had calises on my thumbs from trying to get the push pins to stick in the wood . I wasn't long going with the pine .Much softer to get the pins in . Like what was said in a previous post ,look for boards with few knots .Here is a few of mine . Coons and coyote are 1/2 thick while otheres are 3/8 thick cat and otter

Basswood

Not good for much else.

Basswood is not readily available around here and is expensive when you can find it.

I buy # 3 or hit & miss 1 x 12 x 16 white pine boards that are only planed on one side. At $0.89 a board foot, it's about as inexpensive a wood as you can find and plenty soft for push pins.

The yard guy at my local supply house calls me when they get a new load in. He allows me to pick through the pile and I can usually find boards with enough knot free areas to make good stretchers.

I plane bigger stretchers (coyote, fox, coon) to 9/16" and the smaller ones to 3/8".

I would avoid using and harder species unless your going to staple furs on. Also avoid any spruce/pine/fir species that might have a lot of pitch.

What is Basswood and what is the the tree it comes from? Duh ya I'm that dummmb. What part of the country does it come from?


It is a lazy man that can't find his wife a second job 2Poor Great Quote! Doesn't apply to my wife though,LOL.

Basswood comes from the tree by the same name !

I have more Basswood tree's in this area then Arizona has Cactus !

Basswood is the type of tree, not sure if you have it in kansas,

Basswood is also known as Linden. Maybe you know it by that name. I have also heard it called something like "bee-tree"

I use plywood just because you can get a lot of board out of one sheet. But I use tacks and a hammer just because its hard to push in thumbtacks.

Everything you ever wanted to know about basswood and then some LOL.

the best wood is FREE wood. all of the above will work,some alittle harder to push pins in .I get what i can scrong up but I do try to use soft pine or ceder

Basswood, then cedar

Yellow Poplar (Tulip tree) isnt to bad if you dont mind using a hammer and small nails instead of pins.

kansas30, there is basswood in your part of the state. there's a sawmill in Belvue, KS that sells it as well as cedar if you want to try that too. they kiln dry their lumber. you can call them at 785-456-8141 ask for Steve. kansas hardwoods is the name of the mill. I worked there for a couple years when we lived in Manhattan.