Help on Upgrading a Trailer

[yooperdave]

I bought a 6.5' x 16' trailer which has a wood deck.

Everything but the wood deck seems to be in good shape.

The wood boards are rotting and/or rotten so I thought I would go and put on a new wood deck /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. The problem is that I do not see how the deck was installed. It appears that all the boards were placed next to each other, AND THEN a steel plate was welded over the top at the front end. This is great until a board(s) need to be replaced.

Am I missing something here, or do I have to burn off the old welds just to get my new deck boards in, and then weld the plate back over the top?

Is this a standard or typical detail? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I hope the new boards last for many years. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Thanks for any help.

Yooper Dave

 

[bgott]

"Am I missing something here, or do I have to burn off the old welds just to get my new deck boards in, and then weld the plate back over the top?"

Yes.

Look and see if the back of the boards aren't held by a welded on piece of angle iron. This usually has easier welds to grind or burn off. Once you cut off the angle you change the boards and weld it back on.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

So you're looking to upgrade from a wood deck to a wood deck? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Did you ever give any thought to going with a steel diamond plate floor? It would be more of a true 'upgrade' and shouldn't be that big of a project if you're going to be grinding and welding steel, anyhow. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Robert_in_NY]

In his area I would take Wood over steel any day. Winters are terrible and steel decks are extremly slippery. Wood is not as bad and if taken care of the wood deck shold last a long time.

 

[yooperdave]

What do you think of the pvc - wood fiber hybrid decking products?

It looks like wood, but should not rot or weather check.

It is pretty pricy and I do not yet know what kind of loads it can support.

Any other ideas?

Thanks

Yooper Dave

 

[cowboydoc]

I wouldn't use the wood fiber. Not alot of load strength and I'm sure not impressed with the decks I've seen made with it.

Premium grade green treated lumbar should last you a long time. The problem with that deck is that they probably didn't use green treat or used low quality.

As far as the replacement do you have a pic of it? There are a couple ways those were put on.

 

[Bird]

Dave, I agree with Cowboydoc. I checked into using that wood fiber for decking and was told by the lumber yard selling it that it required more floor joists than wood; just not as strong (and of course this is just what I was told by the seller; no personal experience).

As for removing and installing new boards on the trailer, you may need to burn or grind off welds, but there's also another possibility. How wide is that angle iron under which each end of the boards go? Try removing all the bolts first and then see if the angle iron isn't wide enough that you can slide a board all the way forward (or backward) and then lift the other end out. To put new boards in, you simply reverse the process; slide a board all the way forward, cut it to barely fit down, then slide it back half the distance of the width of the angle iron and put the bolts through the other cross members.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Robert,

I certainly agree with you on the traction factor of wood over steel but I find that once you introduce ice, snow or slush into the mix whatever surface you have can be dangerous.

I've gotten to the point where I hardly have a reason to be on my deck anyhow. If I'm going to be hauling my tractor I just drive it around to the rear, tilt the trailer deck and let the Warn winch do the "loading" work for me.

 

[Von]

Dave, If you want a tight floor and you are using pressure treated wood, once you get your wood wait at least a 3-4 weeks for it to dry out and shrink. I didn't and put my floor down as tight as it could go. Now I have gaps as big as 1/2" between the boards! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I didn't think it would shrink that much. Makes it hard to haul sand with those gaps! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[yooperdave]

The existing boards were perfectly fit and wedged between continuous steel plates front and back. There are no other connections between the wood and the steel.

There is not one bolt on this trailer. Everything is welded.

The old boards did not need much coaxing to get them off of the trailer - just a big hammer and a attitude /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The rot helped in the removal. I just figured that when constructing, SOME CONSIDERATION should have been given to easily replace some boards at a future date.

I noticed that Menards has pressure treated lumber on sale.
The inside dimension is 81.5" - I guess I need to rip a board or get creative for a nice fit.

The cross angles vary in spacing from 24" to 36" o.c. The widest spacing is adjacent to the tandem axles /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

The old wood deck seemed to be ok even when rotted. A new wood deck should hopefully do even better.

Thanks for all the help.

Yooper Dave