You could try a short cut to this end fastening, and use nails instead. But no ordinary nails will do. Use the old fashioned cut nails, and yes they are still in manufacture. You can get them from the Tremont Nail co. at http://www.tremontnail.com. You can use their 2″ flooring nails for face nailing between the joists, or go up to the 3″ floor nail when hitting the joist. You should pre drill for these also. These flooring nails have small head so that they can be set below the surface (then filled), and would be suitable for hardwood plank. But for pre-sanded (sanded at the factory with beveled edges, but no factory finish applied) softwood plank floors you might be better off with Tremont Nail’s rose headed nails pounded just to the surface and not filled. You’ll have to install these after any final sanding, and several, but not all coats of finish are on the floor. Just screen buff the floor before you pound in the nails, and this way it will save having to buff around the rose heads. Apply the final coat of finish over and around the nails. This makes things a little more forgiving.
Speaking of floor finish, this is a good place for Oil Modified Poly, with it’s greater moisture sealing properties. Much better than any oil/varnishes, or water based finishes. And in most climates you might consider applying at least one coat of this good finish on the underside of the boards before a week before you install them. The slower the moisture migration in and out of these boards the better. This would be especially important if you have a damp basement or crawl space under your plank floor. Cupping and crowning problems occur when the two surfaces of the board have different moisture content. The more moist surface will curl up on itself. Moisture from below will cause a crown or convex effect. Excess moisture on the surface (too little finish and too much mopping) will cause a cupping effect.
You may not be able to avoid this slight warping of the surface with these wide boards. So I would suggest you use a satin or low luster polyurethane finish instead of a high gloss. In any case the lower luster finish will look better, longer and within the same brand it has just about the same durability.
Now the last and worst plank floor installation is the prefinished plank floor. Most people assume that you can install this floor without screws or pegs and a 3/4” subfloor is quite adequate. And that is what all the manufacturer’s suggest. But nothing could be further from the truth. The standard 3/4″ plywood is not quite thick enough for a plank floor. I would like to see you staple 1/4″ waterproof underlay plywood with 7/8″ narrow crown staples (every 6″ square). What you want to accomplish is a vapor barrier under the floor. You understand that the 2″ flooring cleats you will be using will penetrate 7/8″ into this subfloor. Without this extra thickness they will go right through the subfloor and expose the underside of the hardwood to possible dampness or at least a different humidity level from below.