Anyone put a new deck on a trailer?

[RockMonkey]

The wood on my trailer is in bad shape. It's all expanded and uneven now. Has anyone ever put a new deck on one? How much work am I looking at? One afternoon with a drill, some bolts, and a circular saw? Or am I looking at a weekend project here? What kind of wood should I get? Where? How much $$? What should I use to seal the wood? I don't want to do this again any time soon, so I want to do it right the first time.

 

[Caleb]

The wood on my trailer is in bad shape. It's all expanded and uneven now. Has anyone ever put a new deck on one? How much work am I looking at? One afternoon with a drill, some bolts, and a circular saw? Or am I looking at a weekend project here? What kind of wood should I get? Where? How much $$? What should I use to seal the wood? I don't want to do this again any time soon, so I want to do it right the first time.

we did a couple traielrs at my old shop, we always used uncut lumber (I think thats what it was). It was thick and held up to our abuse very well. It was pricey though and sometimes hard to find. I can't remember the actual type of wood though, but I would guess redwood would prolly work good. We did a LARGE semi trailer and a couple regular flatbeds. The hardest part was getting the old stuff out cause you usually had to cut a channel off the trailer but still not that big of a deal. The regular flatbeds would take a days work (8-10 hours) with one guy working on them. They were all 22 ft trailers.

 

[Meat_]

Depends on the trailer. Most have the ends boxed in to the point you have to cut some steel to get the new wood in (saw works great to get the old out )

You can make a notch out of the steel big enough to fit a 2x10 or 2x12 depending on which your trailer had (easiest to get it full again if you use the same size) and just drop them in and slide them over.... then you have a smaller section to reweld/paint

Edit: I build my trailers with a bolt on end

 

[Meat_]

we did a couple traielrs at my old shop, we always used uncut lumber (I think thats what it was). It was thick and held up to our abuse very well. It was pricey though and sometimes hard to find. I can't remember the actual type of wood though, but I would guess redwood would prolly work good. We did a LARGE semi trailer and a couple regular flatbeds. The hardest part was getting the old stuff out cause you usually had to cut a channel off the trailer but still not that big of a deal. The regular flatbeds would take a days work (8-10 hours) with one guy working on them. They were all 22 ft trailers.

Do you mean Rough Cut?

 

[Caleb]

Do you mean Rough Cut?

prolly...I honestly cant remember, but that sounds about right

 

[Meat_]

prolly...I honestly cant remember, but that sounds about right

Rough Cut is well, rough The surface is rough and the sizes are usually different than pressure treated wood.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Depends on the trailer. Most have the ends boxed in to the point you have to cut some steel to get the new wood in (saw works great to get the old out )

Most manufactured ones I have seen just "slide-in", and your average 2x8 or 2x10 will bow enough in the middle to stick both ends enough...

Now when your removing the old deck, your not gonna waste your time trying to pull all the screws out, simply make some cuts, yank the boards, and knock the screws out of the supports. When it comes to installing the new deck, bow it, or slide it... either works.

I am in the middle of re-decking mine right now, we may use some laminated "plank" as it holds up way better than your average lumber. Still checking on prices... and sandblasting...

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Isn't a 2x4 rough cut, actually 2"x4" versus 1.5x3.5 for a "finish cut" lumber. The rough cut isn't cleaned and true though (not that any lumber is that true anymore)

 

[Hickey]

Go steel and be done with it.

I have heard that the darker you paint your lumber, the longer it will hold up to sun damage, just what I heard.

 

[RockMonkey]

Go steel and be done with it.

I have heard that the darker you paint your lumber, the longer it will hold up to sun damage, just what I heard.

I wonder what that would cost...

 

[fullsizeyota]

Go steel and be done with it.

depends on what your doin with the trailer.....

being around heavy equipment all my life, i know that steel is bad for a deck. it lasts long and wears like iron -litterally (am i funny or what? ) but its heavy and when its wet it's slick as a poop....

steel track'd machines are especially scary on a steel deck, but where your just driving a rubber tire'd wheeler up it, it may not be a big deal for you...

other that steel is $$ and it's heavy.. look at the capacity of your trailer and the weight of your rig, you might have enough of a cushion to use it, but that first slide off your feet and onto your skull will make you think otherwise

 

[fullsizeyota]

i use linseed (sp?) oil on mine... i use a siphon sprayer to apply it... it makes a huge mist of linseed oil outside, but it works well..... also a rag works, but put the rag in a can, is will spontaniously combust

i usually apply it every year just for good measure

plus it's cheap

 

[Hickey]

depends on what your doin with the trailer.....

being around heavy equipment all my life, i know that steel is bad for a deck. it lasts long and wears like iron -litterally (am i funny or what? ) but its heavy and when its wet it's slick as a poop....

steel track'd machines are especially scary on a steel deck, but where your just driving a rubber tire'd wheeler up it, it may not be a big deal for you...

other that steel is $$ and it's heavy.. look at the capacity of your trailer and the weight of your rig, you might have enough of a cushion to use it, but that first slide off your feet and onto your skull will make you think otherwise

Wet wood can be just as slippery. 500 lbs, max. When I built my trailer I found that Wasatch sold 1/8" diamond plate in 4x8 sheets and 2x8 sheets. the 2x8 sheets were quite a bit cheaper per square foot. They called it tread plate. Yes it will be more expensive, but you will only do it once.

 

[rockdog]

Don't use redwood. If you want a strong wood deck, use douglas fir. Most lumber yards will have that. Trust me on this one. I framed houses for ten years. You may pay a little more for it than a hem fir wood or something else, but the strength is worth it. There was a reason why it was used for floor joists and load bearing headers before tji's and such came along.

 

[RockMonkey]

Wet wood can be just as slippery. 500 lbs, max. When I built my trailer I found that Wasatch sold 1/8" diamond plate in 4x8 sheets and 2x8 sheets. the 2x8 sheets were quite a bit cheaper per square foot. They called it tread plate. Yes it will be more expensive, but you will only do it once.

With the price of steel these days, it seems like a steel deck like that would cost more than a new trailer. I'll check on the price of that before I buy wood though.

 

[BCGPER]

Go Redwood, and be done with it. It'll be exatcly twice as much, but you'll never replace it. Rough sawn wood will be 1/4" thicker then your present deck, so you'll have to do a little work on it where it slides in to hold it down.

Go steel and be done with it.

I have heard that the darker you paint your lumber, the longer it will hold up to sun damage, just what I heard.