I decided to get back on the ball about fixing up my 25' dual tandom g/n trailer (5' dove) and I have to replace the floor. What type of wood should I replace it with? I think I've seen that #2 pine is commonly used, but not sure what they're gonna have at the lumber yard when I price everything. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

personally I would use rough cut oak

 

No wood will hold up all that long. Your best bet is Hickory or some kind of red oak, or rock maple if you can get it.

jh

 

I'm guessing no matter what type of wood I get, I should treat it with some type of sealant. What type of sealant would yall recommend?

 

atf works good. treat your deck yearly and it will last my buddy long hauls with his truck and trailer his trailer is almost 12yrs old and if you ask some one how old you think it is they would say a year or two.

 

go to your local sawmill (stay away from the lumber yard) IMO , you should be able to get oak (white oak would be the best) for around $1 per board foot. Put it down green with the boards touching and when they dry out there will be a 3/8 to 1/2 gap in them. Then treat them with oil atf would be good but used motor oil works well, but don't look as good. You could put your used motor oil in a pump up sprayer and treat the underside. the floor in my dads stock trailer was done that way since new and the wood is still soild as a rock it's a '82 model

the new traliers are floored in pine mostly. You could do pine, it would be easier to get but it wouldnt last near as long.


jmo

 

Pressure treated lumber? If not I'd vote oak.
What do the trailer mfgs use in the big van trailers (48s and 53's) might be worth a phone call to them.

 

that would be wabash that floors then , they are in my home town ( harrison ar) they use kiln white oak cut down to 1x 1 1/2 then glued up to planks that are 1 1/2 x 12 with a lap joint for exspansion. we have got a lot of there drops and 2nds. it would be great but the glue dont hold up to weather

 

How about some steel catwalk mesh?

I would stay away from pine... is more likely to cause you problems when it ages and you run a piece of heavy equipment onto it...... not fun to try to pull a skidsteer up through a trailer deck.....

 

Up here Fir is better then Pine and it lasts longer...wood of any kind will breakdown, warp or get damaged. Planks are easy to replace.
Buddy of mine did steel straps but then you have a sort of open deck and little feet can get caught in it.

I have also seen wood planks with some steel straps on top. Helps to keep anything that your sliding on the deck from digging into the wood.

Scotty

 

Especially at 65 MPH.

 

We use roughcut (non-dimensional) Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir or White Oak.
Treat with Tung Oil when dried. Do not use pressure treated in a closed trailer-it's ok on flatbeds.

 

Marine grade plywood and treat it...or marine grade planks

 

If your going to change it, I would not use wood. I would put a honeycomb
fiberglass composite in. Its about 80% lighter than wood and three times as strong. There are many composite boards you could use in your trailer. It will mount the same way as the wood. A little more expensive, but water will not bother it.

Can provide more details if your interested.

Dave

 

As nice as that sounds, I think that composite material is a tad over my budget. I priced untreated planks today at all the local lumber yards, and the best so far is Home Depot. It looks like its gonna cost me around $200 or so to replace the floor.