Mobile cabin timber choice

[Peat]

I have a commission to build a cabin on a trailer. Its going to be a stud frame and pretty small timbers e.g 2"x2" or similar and it will be on the road.

 

I'm going to be milling the timber and was planning on building the studwork out of poplar as it is lightweight and I can get the sawlogs for barely any money. Also I'm keen to make use of neglected species where possible and I've been impressed with the poplar i've milled in the passed, very light and very stable in wide boards. But its seeming like it might be a bit trickier to get than I hoped and also I read that hybrid poplar is a weak timber. This stuff was planted for bryant and may matches, what variety is it likely to be? I also have access to norway spruce and scots pine. I have milled some of the spruce before into batten and it was very weak having been fast grown and this bit was fairly knotty so in batten sized pieces it wan't up to much. But if I graded it better is it likely to be strong enough. Or should I go for the scots pine? 

 

Any advice very welcome.

[billpierce]

Id use larch, will withstand damp and weather much much much better and is pretty light. Cedar lap boards would also be dead light and durable but perhaps not a choice for structure.

You'll find larch easily. But make sure it's European ( I believe Japanese is less durable?)

With cabins it's inevitable they will leak at some point in their life or will have condensation/dampness so personally i would stick to something durable.

[Peat]

Larch is 95% of what we mill and is generally my go to timber. I was aiming for something lighter but with the amount of timber involved maybe it won't make much different. And we have Larch by the mill and it means I can crack on...

[CDMR]

Morgan and Marcos used Ash in their frames. Could go for that for a strong frame and then a more lightweight and weather resistant cladding? Like fibreglass or aluminium  

[Peat]

The client has specified sweet chestnut waney edge (which is pretty much as light as larch). If I used Ash i'd have to make the studs narrower to still keep 2 inches of insulation bit still get the weight down. Don't think I could get away with 2x1" Ash studs! I plan on using Ash for the curved roof ribs

[CDMR]

On 2/24/2018 at 20:06, Peat said:

The client has specified sweet chestnut waney edge (which is pretty much as light as larch). If I used Ash i'd have to make the studs narrower to still keep 2 inches of insulation bit still get the weight down. Don't think I could get away with 2x1" Ash studs! I plan on using Ash for the curved roof ribs

Ah. Good point. Not much insulation on a Morgan!

[Peat]

Taking some curved Ash logs to the mill tomorrow for the roof and then i'm going to do the rest of the structure in Larch.

 

Ta

[billpierce]

Make sure you post some pics