Thoughts on wood floor for new dump trailer?

DanHen · Apr 8, 2019

So after many years I decided the time was right to purchase a new 14’ SureTrac low pro dump trailer. It’ll be used for several projects from hauling bulk materials to hauling debris, brush, trash, roofing, rocks, and other hard fill items. I’d like to keep the bed floor as nice as possible and am considering adding treated wood to help prevent damage. I’m considering using silicone to hold it in, that would eliminate drilling holes and still be removable. I’ve ordered 3/4” T & G treated plywood from the home center but it’s come in damaged twice. Considering using decking or maybe even composite decking instead.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated

jaxs · Apr 8, 2019

All you will get is opinions,here's mine.
#1 The best thing you can do for your trailer (and most anything else) is keep it inside a building or at least under cover while not in use.
#2 From experience with covering pick-up beds,any protection from dings,scratches and wear are offset by rust from trapped moisture and constant grinding by sand trapped between bed and cover material.
#3 Goof balls at material yards take delight in dropping loads into nice looking trailers from high as loader will reach. The sooner a trailer is scratched up,the sooner they stop trying to "christen" it.
#4 Sprayed on bed covers seem to give best return on investment.
#6 I don't have a #5 but I'm sticking to 1-2-3&4

Beltzington · Apr 9, 2019

DanHen said:
I壇 like to keep the bed floor as nice as possible

First -That is a very nice trailer.

Second - Why do you want to keep the bed nice? It's a dump trailer

If you decide to sell it sandblast the bed and repaint it.

Third - I'm sure others will disagree.

Fourth - An actual answer to your question.

As the previous poster mentioned anything you cover the metal bed with that is not airtight will allow rust to form and you are back to sandblasting and painting. A wood floor will result in more friction and could very well turn your dump trailer into a non-dump trailer. I have not found an adhesive that will keep wood attached to anything over time, especially when you consider the trailer will flex and the vibration caused when dumping heavy hard objects into the bed.

4570Man · Apr 9, 2019

The worst thing I’ve found for beds is hauling big stumps, logs with knobs on them and dropping big rocks with the loader. Don’t haul big stumps, don’t drop big rocks and saw the knobs and not much else is going to hurt it. My dump truck has had plenty of all 3 done to it and it’s got a wavy bed but it doesn’t hurt anything. Also park your trailer uphill so water runs out of the bed. The last dump truck I bought had the bed propped up but the owner went overkill and had it like 1/2 way up and now the cylinder has rust. My equipment stays inside but I don’t have enough building to keep my trucks and trailers inside.

L47TLBwannabe · Apr 9, 2019

I don't see how you can not bolt in a wood floor when hauling in rough stuff, I've seen guys try to be cheap and not bolt or screw in polyethylene full size dump truck liners and end up dumping the liner with the load. Lol I use to work for a company that did residential excavation work and we frequently hired in a guy with a couple extra dump trucks on some of our larger hauling jobs. In this area we have particularly sticky mud and over the years many people have come up with different ways of dealing with it and this particular guy would line the bottom of his tandems with rough cut oak boards and on the sides he would use 3/4" or 1" plywood. He tried cheaper planking in the past for obvious reasons but nothing ever lasted as long as oak in terms of taking any abuse. At the end of the bed he would take a sheet of steel and it would overlay the edge of the Oak boards about 12" so any concrete, rock, or other rough material wouldn't break off the ends of the boards on its way out. And in an effort to keep any mud from sticking he soaked the boards with a mixture of used engine oil and diesel fuel kinda slopped in with an old mop and allowed to soak in to the wood. The official story was 'we used fish oil, you know to protect the environment'. This also worked very well to keep snow from sticking to the truck box in the winter as he did a lot of snow removal work.....Just my 2 cents.

Professor Marvel · Apr 9, 2019

i was wondering if Trex might not work for your application. it seems slicker than wood so should have less friction

grsthegreat · Apr 9, 2019

On my steel dump trailer, the floor and side walls are showing damage from loads. Im very very careful loading it and im still seeing damage. The metal used on these trailers is pretty thin. I like all my equipment to look nice for as long as possible. Its too late on mine, but i wish i installed an HDPE plastic poly liner on the bottom. It would have to be slick or the material will stick. When the wife loads up cut plants, landscaping trimmings, etc, im lucky if the stuff comes out at all. BUT THEN AGAIN...IT IS A DUMP TRAILER. I sure love the looks i get at the landfill when i push a button to dump load while all the others are pulling their crap out of the trailers or trucks by hand.

Snobdds · Apr 9, 2019

I am not a fan of lining the bottom, but if I was to...I would use HDPE plastic sheeting. Tough and virtually indestructible while staying slick. The problem is getting it to not hold water between it and the steel floor. If you make the floor rust out faster, what did you accomplish?

1/2" x 24" x 48" HDPE Sheet | U.S. Plastic Corp.

I wish these trailer manufacturer would use High Abrasive AR plate for the floor, that would eliminate all need for anything...

xring100 · Apr 9, 2019

My neighbor started with just wood but found that the firewood would not slide out it would stick. He then screwed plastic down but since the plastic expands and contracts its always buckled. Its not pretty but nothing sticks to it. If you put a sprayon bed liner i would imagine everything will stick as well probably worse than wood.