Like a lot of the HAMB members, I have a tandem wheel, 16 foot, beaver tail car trailer with a wooden "deck". The trailer was obviously "built to a price" so the wood deck, even when new, was probably made of grade 2 fir 2 X 6 planks. When I bought the trailer I immediately added additional sealer to the top side of the planks in the hope they would last longer. Even though the trailer is only 5 years old the planks are starting to split and get "soft" in places and need to be replaced. I have to cut through some welds to replace the planks so I plan on replacing the entire wood deck while I have it apart. I welcome any suggestions on what to use to replace the wood... a better grade of Fir, pressure treated Fir, some other type of wood? I would like to use something that is more durable without spending a ton of money. Any suggestions?
Are you hauling cars that are rolling? Myself, I'm cheap and drag cars on the trailer so I go cheap wood because I trash it fast anyway. It is also welded in but after I we did it last summer the welds were smaller and spread out more to make replacing wood faster and easier
pressure treated on mine & I used a bottle jack to get the boards out & put them back in. Set the jack near the middle of the board & have at it.
I own and operate a small trailer repair business, and every year we get a few trailer for redecking. I always use pressure treated lumber, and self tapping decking screws. I soak the screws in ATF (automatic transmission fluid) before I insert them in the wood. The screws just plain work better. What I do to get the old lumber off the trailer, I take my floor jack and jack the old lumber up from the bottom side, and hopefully pop the old screws or jack the old lumber up off the screws. We never ever try to back the old screws out. Another method is to take your skilsaw and cut across between crossmembers and then try to break the old screws off by using the lumber as a lever. What screws are left can be ground off flush with the crossmember.
Step up & install more cross members, then screw down 16 ga. sheets of STEEL! You won't have to replace any more WOOD!! Retired trailer mfg.----Don
I have had steel deck trailers and wood deck. I prefer the wood deck as I not only haul cars, I haul parts. Stuff slides less on a wood deck. My steel deck trailers always ended up with waves from loading heavy objects on them. While you have it apart, add a couple of cross members and use pressure treated lumber. I got ten years out of the wood on my last trailer and I abused the hell out of it.
I just refurbed one for my brother exactly as above except we used urethane adhesive on 1/8 diamond sheet instead of screws. It came out incredibly straight [ no heat warpage ] and is very strong We've since that hauled some quite heavy equipment on it. I am now building a small utility trailer that is now being glued together It is very lightweight and strong
I'll take a wood deck over a steel deck any day. Why do you think the vast majority of heavy-haul trailers and box vans have WOOD floors? And they last a long time, too! If you have the $$$, install an oak floor and treat is like you would a deck on your boat or home. It'll last years! Even a pine 2x6 floor will last five to seven years in most climates, if you treat the wood twice a year with a good water-repellant coating. I built my 19' dovetail in 2000 and have had two decks on it. The original lasted until 2007. It's parked outside all the time. Steel decks are OK, but have you ever tried to load anything on one on a rainy day? Try loading a farm tractor like that sometime. The pucker factor goes way up. I sold trailers for seven years. I'll stick with what works.
Coating one side of the planks caused them to fail. They will dry uneveanly. We replace alot of trailer decks and most prefer wood for it's non-slip. Usually the planks are captured under angle at each end. We remove the rear angle and the planks. We install new PT planks with self taping screws and replace the rear angle. Do not coat the new planks. The finish will wear off the top and then you are right back where you started.
I used pressure treated wood and painted it with grey deck paint, top and bottom. Every couple of years I get a grandkid to paint the top. It's lasted 10 years with no problem.
the wood deck on mine is 10 years old and is starting to crack again, but I don't maintain it. The best preservative is to haul s**** engines and the oil that leaks out of them will soak into the wood. Probably not very california EPA friendly though. If you only haul cars on it, you only need a deck on the trailer where the car's wheels are. If you use the trailer for other stuff, you might need a full deck on it.
Good point. If you do paint you need to maintain the paint. In our experience most people will not keep up with the refinishing.
Thanks for all the replies. There were a number of helpful hints on how to deal with the screws and how to get the wood out of the frame. I am going to replace the wood with pressure treated wood this time. I like the feel of wood when I am tying stuff down and on the rare occasion when I am working on the race car parked on the trailer in the hot sun the wood is definitely more user friendly. Thanks again guys, you comments were on topic and definitely appreciated.
When using wood outside for anything check the end grain and install it heart side up "U" and heart side out "[" if you can. It really helps prevent, or at least slow down, warping and splitting. This method has helped a variety of my projects since I learned about it 34 years ago. Ed
Perfect timing. I'm doing mine this weekend and have both sides painted. Gloss on the bottom for what its worth. Mine lasted 7 years and I basically painted it twice with left over interior semigloss. I hope I dont have to cut any metal. Kinda figured the jack part out. Might take, what 2 hours? ahahahahahahahahahahahahaah
If you go with treated pine, its worthwhile to pay a little more and buy #1 dried after treatment lumber instead of the #2 wet stuff. #1 is pretty much completely knot free and doesn't have nearly as much of the real soft sap wood in it, so it holds up about twice as long as #2 in my experience of using both types. You'll also be way ahead to stay away from any of the **** Lowes or Home Depot or any of the other big chains peddle for treated lumber. They create an illusion of low prices but you can often buy better quality lumber from independent builder supply places cheaper than what you'd pay them for their **** quality wood. Good advice from Ridge Runner on how to orient the growth rings too. I built a 16x32 deck at my house a few years ago. Floored it with 5/4 x 6 treated. Mistakenly laid one board with the growth rings facing down, and within one year it was cupped up a quarter inch or more at each edge while all the other deck boards remained flat as can be. Pulled that one up, flipped it over and renailed it, and it flattened itself out within a few months. Now, if you want to replace the deck and forget it for the rest of your life, use apitong. Apitong is an optional deck wood for most any flatbed semi trailer manufacturer, and can normally be purchased thru places that do semi trailier repairs. We've got a couple flatbeds at the shop with apitong decks, both 30+ yrs old, and the wood on both of them is as solid as it was the day they were built.
Just another opinion. Mine has an open center and diamond plate runners. The cross members on mine are under the frame rails and therefore I was able to plank the center and not have it even with the deck it's about 4 1/2" below it. This makes a perfect place to haul motors or whatever without any problem of sliding off the trailer. For what it's worth my trailer is 20 years old and still has the original diamond plate on the runners and it's not buckled. IMO the buckled plate is caused by not having enough cross members supporting it
Apitong is the way to go, I just put another apatong deck on my 18 ft equipment trailer this spring that I decked in 1990. It only needed a couple boards but after 20+ years we replaced it all. Its pretty pricey but worth it IMHO Bud
Howdy Marco: Say if you decide to stay with a wood deck may I recommend. By a dedicated garden sprayer. Just a gallon size plastic one will do. Then buy Thompsons water seal in the 5 Gallon can. Its inexpensive and very easy. You just spray it on with the garden sprayer a good wet coat. Let it sit for a day or more if possible. Its easy to control the fanspray and even if you get a little overspray on the Structure no big woop. It dries real quick and will protect the surface the whole year. You can reapply it anytime you feel its necessary. If you get gunge on the deck just clean it off with pressure washer or some laundry detergent and a scrub brush. This method is ridiculously easy and doesn't take hardly anytime at all , even if you have to clean the deck and let it dry. There are advantages of using a wood deck and hears one. I have had to haul some irregularly shaped items. Or in one case haul a Drag Race Altered with no rear end. No prob. Just brought some dimensional Lumber , a saw, and a cordless. Measured and fabbed a stand for the rear and screwed down to the deck. This way I could strap with confidence on the strap angles etc. Nothing like heading down the road with some pc of mind. Have used Thompson s for years and as long as you apply it as you see necessary it works friggen great. Obviously you will have to keep your local climate in mind. On my open trailer I have Steel ATP on the wheel width and the trailer finished in wood. In fact it is getting repaired this summer as I can get to it. The deck was still ok just changing a few things. Good luck and have a great summer Luke
We always used rough sawn oak from a local lumber mill. It's almost as tough as steel and the rough finish isn't as slippery as planed lumber. We treated it with used oil by making a tray with plastic sheeting to soak it in. Once on the trailer, we sprayed it every year with used oil, top and bottom. One that we built in 1974 still had the same wood on it last year when I saw it.
Thompsons water seal is almost worthless. Get a gallon of mineral spirits and a gallon of boiled linseed oil. Mix equal parts and roll the mix on with a cheap paint roller. It dries slowly and penetrates the wood to seal it from the elements.
I have 2 30 year old ladders. 3 pairs of 15 and 25 year old sawhorses. The deck of a 1976 trailer that would say different. Its pretty benign also. Whatever. You are correct Linseed oil is great. My Dad would use it often. But beware not to have rags or such around with it on.
Apitong is the way to go. Unfortunately it costs so much to truck it here nobody will pay for it. We have trucks 25 years old with solid apitong beds.
i use pressure treated boards, and put a generous amount of water sealer on all sides. then 1 a year or two cover the top with water sealer again.
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