trailer walls

Eric_Phillips · May 20, 2015

I have a 16' car trailer that has a 1ft high railing around it, no stake pockets. I got some PT 1/2" plywood and ripped it in 18" widths to make a short wall around the trailer for hauling loose items like rock and mulch. My question is how to attach the plywood to the trailer. I took some perforated metal strapping, wrapped it around a railing brace. I then used 1/4" bolts to attach that to the plywood. Should work to get the gravel I need on Friday but was looking for better ideas. The top railing is 2.25" dia if that makes a difference.

s219 · May 20, 2015

May not help if you have a round top rail, but for angle-iron rails, in the past I have used blocks of wood as "cleats" that screw to the plywood and "bite" down on the rail (so the metal is sandwiched between the block and plywood, thus holding the plywood in place). Can rip a rabbit in the cleat to clear the thickness of the angle iron if you want it flat and snug. See attached sketch.

Screen Shot 2015-05-20 at 8.53.22 PM.png

tractchores · May 20, 2015

I did something similar. I used 2x4's at the corners to hold them together and then just used screws to hold the 2x4's to the trailer. If you have stake pockets yoou could put a 2x4 in there and screw the plywood to that. I made mine removable so I could put a car on the trailer and still open the doors. Just be careful that you don't hit the walls when dumping stuff in, they're decent for forces pushing out, but not on ones pushing in...

newbury · May 21, 2015

Eric_Phillips said:
I have a 16' car trailer that has a 1ft high railing around it, no stake pockets. I got some PT 1/2" plywood and ripped it in 18" widths to make a short wall around the trailer for hauling loose items like rock and mulch. My question is how to attach the plywood to the trailer. I took some perforated metal strapping, wrapped it around a railing brace. I then used 1/4" bolts to attach that to the plywood. Should work to get the gravel I need on Friday but was looking for better ideas. The top railing is 2.25" dia if that makes a difference.

What are the vertical members like which hold the railing?
I built this:

And then this:

Using flat U bolts.

For fastening around your railing I think the proper size ubolt would be excellent. If your vertical members are flat you could add a flat ubolt where they are.