Trailer wood deck treatment: Brush on used oil, linseed oil, sealer stain, unicorn tears...?

[Rock Crawler]

I have 3 trailers with wood planks for the deck and I have been annually brushing on Olympic transparent sealer stain, but each year it flakes off and needs re-applied.

I've seen/read where old timers use used motor oil mixed with diesel or kerosene and brush it on the wood on a hot summer week with no rain expected, and it soaks in to a near dry touch and the wood lasts for decades.

I have also read that oil is not good since it does not harden in the pores of wood and seal the "straw like" pores like boiled linseed will. But the oil users rebuke that since their decks last a lifetime soaked every few years with oil.

I read that boiled linseed dries in 24 hours while non boiled takes a week or more.

I am tired of buying $50 gallons of Olympic sealer stain and getting poor performance from the product for the money. So I am asking if the oil cut with kerosene or diesel has been tried and true for you guys. It seems to be the cheapest option and based on actual use claims, it sounds like the best performing. I am not worried about environmental concerns, so we can keep that out of the conversation and just stick to product, cost, performance and actual experience.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I have heard of the used motor oil, I have been told it works, personally I used new vegetable oil (used vegetable oil can be used too but I don't like the smell) its cheep, it gives a nice natural golden color and make your wood last for ever.

 

[RjCorazza]

Way back when in the fire service boiled linseed oil was the choice for ladders and handled tools.
I also plan to treat my trailer deck this summer, and my "research" always comes back to boiled linseed oil, sometimes cut with turpentine or mineral oil.

 

[BlueKnife]

Find someone with a sawmill who will sell you locust lumber and replace the deck with that. No treatment needed. There's nothing like it, treated or not.

 

[John0829]

I have been using a 50/50 mix of diesel and used motor oil on every trailer I have had and not once have I had to replace a floor. I put it on using a long nap roller on a miserable hot sunny day, it soaks in leaving a slightly brownish color.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I just park it in my shop. We used to use old motor oil at the farm, and it seemed to work well. We didn’t spend much time repairing rotted wood.

 

[ArlyA]

Linseed oil has no antifungal or antibacterial properties. Used motor oil is a known carcinogen which I like to keep off me. I personally like the mineral oil based deck stains with some color in them over water based type. We picked up a new trailer a few years ago and was putting deck preservative on it and ran out. Rain to my favorite HW store and could only find water based. So 1/2 the deck was both stain types. Today the the water base preservative is coming off where as the oil base looks fine.
.

 

[dieselscout80]

My trailer was purchased new in 2003 and I do not know what kind of wood, but it's some kind of pine.

After I owned it about three years, I coated two or three times with a mix of diesel and ATF, and it has sat outside everyday of its life. I do park it where is NOT covered with leaves and gets plenty of sun to dry it out after rains.


Now I have one board that is splintering and needs replacing. However, I may just redeck it and be done with it for my lifetime.

 

[oldballs]

Maybe the rotting and the replacing of deck boards has more to do with what one is "hauling" versus what preservative one uses. ...e.g. I used to go to the local quarry and purchase around 3 tons of gravel at a time for different projects around my place. The gravel was the cheapest kind....that was of assorted size and full of dust. I think it hastened the rotting process...

After three deck replacements in the past 25 years, I don't haul gravel anymore. Now my deck last on and on....using Boiled Linseed Oil every couple years.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Jrasband]

always used motor oil