Re-decking trailer

[clemsonfor]

They make special fasteners for that these days.

 

[crazyal]

Call me extreme, but when I redecked my 16' trailer last year I used carriage bolts (2 bolts in each board where it crosses the support). Drilling the holes in the stringers and boards was a pain this time but now that it's done I can reuse the holes each time I redeck the trailer. When I pull the old boards off I'll just use them as a template for the new board and drill holes in the same place.

Yes the bolts/washers/nuts cost me a little more but they will never break off like the decking screws. And they have the added benefit of being able to climb under the trailer and tighten the nut down if the boards become loose for some reason (shrinkage, warping, etc.)

P.S. -- These are what I used. I was lucky and came across a whole bunch of them on clearance at my local Lowe's:
Phillips II - Lag and Carriage Bolts

I had a trailer with carriage bolts once. They weren't stainless and the threads and nut were slightly corroded. The wood had aged so the carriage bolts would just spin when trying to tighten or loosen them. The carriage bolts have a nice clean look to them.

 

[aczlan]

I had a trailer with carriage bolts once. They weren't stainless and the threads and nut were slightly corroded. The wood had aged so the carriage bolts would just spin when trying to tighten or loosen them. The carriage bolts have a nice clean look to them.

Angle grinder will take care of that in a hurry.

Aaron Z

 

[Soundguy]

Angle grinder will take care of that in a hurry.

Aaron Z

especially if the wood is junk...!!!

 

[aczlan]

especially if the wood is junk...!!!

Why would you be removing the deck if the wood is still good?

Aaron Z

 

[Soundguy]

exactly! that's my point.. wood will be junk so no problem cutting hte head off the carriage with a grinder.. or torching it.. etc.

 

[aczlan]

exactly! that's my point.. wood will be junk so no problem cutting hte head off the carriage with a grinder.. or torching it.. etc.

I wouldn't torch it (partly because I don't have a torch) as it would probably be faster to just cut the heads off from the top, pull the boards off then knock whats left of the bolts down through the cross members.

Aaron Z

 

[Soundguy]

angle grinder blades are sure cheaper than O/A too. I usually save mine for cutting or stuck fasteners. .. though in a pince if I only had 1-2 things to knock off.. if my bottles were closer i'd probably use them vs getting an ext cord out.. all depends on what i'm doing. the trialer redeck would be a power tool play day so probably no torch I guess.. unless something hung in the frame maybee..

 

[kebo]

Use what came on it.

Do you know the board bowing trick? I redeck 4 or so trailers a year a year and can do one in under a hour. It takes some people 2 days.

Chris

I learned how to redeck my Diamond C clipper trailer. It is a bit of a technique to bow the last few boards to get them to snap in place. Didn't take me two days to do it either!

 

[Diamondpilot]

I learned how to redeck my Diamond C clipper trailer. It is a bit of a technique to bow the last few boards to get them to snap in place. Didn't take me two days to do it either!

Good deal. Glad it helped.

Chris