Another trailer decking question

[Bigboyskioti]

But not the usual..... I came across some stuff called Rumber, supposed to be stronger than wood. Cost less too. Anybody ever use it? Where'd you get it? Stuff seems like it's the answer to rotting boards.

 

[KeithInSpace]

Dunno. At first glance, I'd lump it in with TREX and most other artificial decking that is NOT particularly resistant to bending and is considerably heavier than wood.

I'd have to play with a piece to get excited about it. My trailer has at least a couple of feet between each cross-member and I'd have to be pretty serious about using this stuff to weld a bunch more steel in my trailer (more weight) just so I can put in a heavier decking board (further diminishing hauling capacity).

Considering my decking boards last well over 5 years (the longest I've owned a trailer and those boards...in a trailer I sold my parents...still look perfect), I think wood works just fine.

 

[radioman]

Hmm - interesting alternative. I just did a google and found the website. After reading it a bit and find its made with recycled rubber and plastics. I can see the benefits of rubber decking,preventing slippage . However keithinspace makes a good point- the instalation instructions says 9 to 12 inches max for span and some of our trailers are a good 2 feet apart.

After thinking about it from keith point of view - if a 16 ft trailer is crossmembers spaced 2 ft apart, that is 8 crossmembers and to fill each halves is only 8 more. perhaps a simple half size of oringinal angle iron would do ? I am not sure- I think Il'll ask for a sample peice if they can spare it and see how heavy it really is.

edit: i included a pic from thier website with thier rumber installed. It looks good to me. however it looks like it been installed as a second layer?!

 

[Bigboyskioti]

I sent them an email. I too want to see it. I asked about dealers. I'm not sure if one place sells it or they have places across the country or what. I'd like to have a full board just to see deflection and such.

 

[martfarm]

I have an American Spirit 3 horse trailer. The floor in the trailer is made of tongue and groove rumbar. It is warranted for 20 years.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have an American Spirit 3 horse trailer. The floor in the trailer is made of tongue and groove rumbar. It is warranted for 20 years.

Warranty or not, you want to do regular inspections on wooden horse trailer floors. Urine can do a lot of damage over time.

I had an open stock type horse trailer that I had picked up used with a 2x8 T&G treated floor. The floor always had that "strong" sound and feel to it. Over time though, I noticed some dry rot even though I would keep it washed out.

A truck driving relative of mine saw a pretty horrible sight one day while out on the road. A horse had fallen through a trailer floor and by the time other drivers got the horse tower to stop, the horses legs were a bloody pulp and the animal had to be quickly uthanized.

But anyway, back to the deck boards. For an alternative to PT or oak, do a search on "apitong trailer flooring". I know that this material has been mentioned before. I do not have first hand experiance with it but if I recall, there are some members around that are familiar with it.

 

[Bigboyskioti]

I don't think Rumber would have a problem with urine. It's made from recycled tires. I have no experiance with it though so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Dallas_Lilly]

We use it here at work to re-deck our 20ton low boys when the apitong decks go bad. The haulers that use the trailers love it. It does weigh more but I expect it to out live the hardwoods by 3 or four times. These guys load 966H loaders and d7 dozers all day and the rumber has taken a real beating and does not have to many scars to show it.
Oh and I am not to sure about the cheaper part, was not for us.