Aluminum Replacement for Wood?

[TomOfTarsus]

Hey all,

Thought I'd throw this one out there. The trailer that I got with my <gets all thrilled again> new tractor has 2x8's for sides and bottom. Heavy as all get-out.

But several searches of "teh intarwebs" have failed to produce any closed-section extruded aluminum replacements for dimensional lumber. I've found several open sections, like for bleachers and what not, but I was hoping to find a closed section (not solid) that would be much stiffer, better looking, and easy to keep clean & pretty.

Am I dreaming, or do these actually exist? Any help is appreciated!

 

[Diamondpilot]

I am thinking if you did find what you wanted it would cost you a first born son and then some. Probably would not be much less weight if any, and would look good to a thief wanting to sell the scrap. I would not own anything other than a wood decked trailer because they are cheap to rejuvenate and pound for pound wood is very strong.

Chris

 

[brandoro]

I spent some time trying to find an alternative to wood decking, aluminum or anything else. Never found anything that I felt would be suitable. One thing that looked interesting was "Rumber" which is a rubber composite material that doesn't rot. Trouble is that it is still quite heavy and not as strong as wood so requires more support underneath the trailer deck.
When I re-deck my trailer I think it will be treated lumber.

 

[chh]

As mentioned there is Rumber and also Plumber. The main advantage of them is that they don't rot. I have never actually seen an aluminum replacement section for wood. You could check with an aluminum trailer manufacturer though if you really wanted to find out.

 

[wushaw]

You could probably get away with replacing the sides with aluminum and save some weight there but it's hard to beat a wood floor for durability, forgivness and not slicker than snot when wet.

 

[bjcsc]

Don't forget the sides have structural roles...

 

[hockeyhead]

Ryerson has structural extruded rectangular aluminum I wouldn't do it but hey if you want it go for it. It will need some anti-slip feature added to the top.

Ryerson - The Strength in Metal

 

[keeney]

For the floor, you want "Extruded Aluminum Plank" which is avialable in various sizes and rib patterns along with punching and surface texture options. At one point, I had found a company that specialized in utility trailer floors, but I can;t find them with a quick google search.

Its not cheap, and unless you get something like a grip-strut design it can be somewhat slippery when wet.

For sides, you would want a rectangular extrusion, probably 1/8" wall. Nobody is going to stock anything much bigger than 2x6" profiles. You can get profiles up to 12", but the minimum order quantity will be like 1000 or 2000 lbs.

You can also get sheet aluminum formed into C - channels or other open shapes up to about 12' long by most larger sheet metal fabrication shops. Might be a good choice for side planks.

There are also standard formed shapes that look like highway gaurd rails used to build stake trailer and truck sides.

- Rick

 

[TomOfTarsus]

Thanks all, so much! Let's see here, excuse me for not mentioning specific names:

1. Yes, I know the sides have structural strength requirements - I was even thinking of enhancing these somewhat, maybe adding stakeside brackets.

2. Slicker than snot on a doorknob when wet - yes, I was figuring on anti-skid surfacing.

3. Expensive - that may indeed be the killer.

4. Attractive to scrap thieves - a possibility I hadn't considered, which is funny, because my father-in-law takes scrap (legitimately obtained!!!!) to the yard all the time.

Thanks for the help and considerations, all! Funny I didn't think of Ryerson, the company I work for has their catalogs and I've ordered frm them myself.

Ok, big report to get out, gotta run!