best way to treat wood truck and trailer floors?

[George2615]

I bought a new leftover 2013 PJ 22' tilt bed wood deck trailer a little over a week ago. The deck wood had dried out pretty good from sitting on the dealers lot for over a year. Last Saturday I used a 50/50 mix of used oil and diesel and applied it with a 3" brush. I laid it on heavy to let it soak in. Took about 2 gallons to coat the 22' deck. On Sunday I undercoated the trailer with spray on rubberized undercoating. That took about 10 cans. Best time to do that is when it's still new. While it was up in the air I got all the axle tag info for future reference when I need brakes.

 

[Ed of all trades]

I oiled mine every time i changed the oil, How often do you all oil yours?

 

[Stimw]

I used old motor oil mixed with used mineral spirits from my parts washer on this older floor.
The sun will bake it in if you do it in the right season.

 

[94BULLITT]

Thanks, for the replies. I did some searching and found that most people said to use 50/50 waste oil and diesel. Some said 75/25. One bad thing I read about the used oil is some people said that that if your clothes touched the trailer deck it would get your clothes dirty. I'm not sure if they used any diesel or if the put too much on either. Anybody had problems with this? The boards for the truck bed were sawed out just about a year ago. They have been in a building so I'm not sure how dry they may be. I was thinking about treating them before they were put on the truck but IDK if I will. StimW your trailer looks good. I'm still not going to rule out the boiled linseed oil either. I also read were someone on another forum recommended this.TWP Total Wood Protectant - TWP Stain 100 Series by Amteco | Lowest Online Price George thanks on the suggestion on the undercoating. I also read about undercoating the underside of the boards. I may do that on the trailers.

 

[Ed of all trades]

On my truck it took a few days and a little use to get the gunk off but I used pure old motor oil and put it on pretty thick, I think a little diesel would help a lot.

 

[George2615]

Thanks, for the replies. I did some searching and found that most people said to use 50/50 waste oil and diesel. Some said 75/25. One bad thing I read about the used oil is some people said that that if your clothes touched the trailer deck it would get your clothes dirty. I'm not sure if they used any diesel or if the put too much on either. Anybody had problems with this? The boards for the truck bed were sawed out just about a year ago. They have been in a building so I'm not sure how dry they may be. I was thinking about treating them before they were put on the truck but IDK if I will. StimW your trailer looks good. I'm still not going to rule out the boiled linseed oil either. I also read were someone on another forum recommended this.TWP Total Wood Protectant - TWP Stain 100 Series by Amteco | Lowest Online Price George thanks on the suggestion on the undercoating. I also read about undercoating the underside of the boards. I may do that on the trailers.

I wore older clothes when I did the deck and undercoating. Diesel, oil, and undercoating have a tendency to stick, stain, and smell on them. I used a brush on the deck but you could also use a deep nap paint roller to make the job go quicker.

 

[94BULLITT]

I wore older clothes when I did the deck and undercoating. Diesel, oil, and undercoating have a tendency to stick, stain, and smell on them. I used a brush on the deck but you could also use a deep nap paint roller to make the job go quicker.

I should have said that differently. I'm not worried about getting dirty while treating it. I'm worried about getting dirty when I put a car on the trailer and lay on trailer.

 

[George2615]

I should have said that differently. I'm not worried about getting dirty while treating it. I'm worried about getting dirty when I put a car on the trailer and lay on trailer.

I don't think that's a problem. I mounted a winch on my trailer this week so I've already been sitting and laying on mine since coating it last week and no stains. What I put on has soaked into the deck. Maybe thinning the oil with diesel lets it soak in better. I rained all day today and the water beaded up and rolled right off.

 

[94BULLITT]

Maybe thinning the oil with diesel lets it soak in better.

From what I've read it does.

 

[clemsonfor]

i use about 50/50 used oil and deisel. It takes a while to soak in and it will give off the smell for a while. Also very slick for months when it rains on it. It keeps it looking good for a while as it gives it a stain. It also attracts dirt and dust as well. I put mine on with a pump up sprayer like you would spray round up with. Coat it once or twice with it. it soaks in pretty fast. After a while maybe 2-3 months it wont do anything if you lay on it. A few weeks after you coat it you can get some stianing on you depending upon how heavy it was and how much the wood soaked up.

Treated lumber dosent last as long as it use to and the wood it self is worse than it was 30 years ago as there is a larger proportion of early or sap wood in the rings which in pine rots really easily and is so soft. This is cause we have fast growing genetically modified seedlings and we manage them to grow as fast as possible to get to saw log size. PS i am a forester.