Diamond tread steel or wood deck.

[4570Man]

I’m probably buying a tilt trailer in the near future and and for a marginal cost difference I could “upgrade” to steel. I think I’m sticking with wood because of how slick steel is. This trailer probably won’t have an easy life but neither does my gooseneck and it’s holding up pretty good. Any thoughts on the issue?

 

[3Lfarms]

The steel isn’t as slick as you probably think...as long as it it diamond plate.
I loaded up my tractor with 3” of snow on my 22’ steel tilt deck. Of course I had to put it in 4WD and it has R1 tires, but it went up.
A little rust reformer and black spray paint every once in a while, and it still looks new.
Down side is chaining the tractor down makes a ton of racket

 

[4570Man]

I’ve used diamond plate decks. A machine that leaks oil or a loose chain is super slick.

 

[Beltzington]

I have an aluminum car hauler and a utility trailer with metal decks. When I buy a different trailer it will have a wood deck, because you can easily attach wood blocks or additional attachment points. Likely the same reason you will find wood decks in most OTR transport trailers.

 

[two_bit_score]

I’ve used diamond plate decks. A machine that leaks oil or a loose chain is super slick.

Have you checked out the Blackwood decks. Diamond C uses them a lot. Also PJ.

Blackwood Lumber – Blackwood Lumber

 

[4570Man]

Have you checked out the Blackwood decks. Diamond C uses them a lot. Also PJ.

Blackwood Lumber – Blackwood Lumber

I’ve never seen that before. It’s probably not in the budget, but I’ll check it out.

 

[crazyal]

If you plan to keep it then you'll wish you bought steel when you have to replace the wood. Steel dents if something heavy is dropped on it and it'll be there for the life of the trailer while you can replace a broken board. Steel can be slippery (try loading a dozer onto a steel deck). But it'll last for the life of the trailer. If you are looking for better traction then find an old rubber conveyor belt and attach it to the steel and you'll have something better than wood.

 

[blackdog2086]

" If you are looking for better traction then find an old rubber conveyor belt and attach it to the steel and you'll have something better than wood."

Or apply a Line-X or Rhino liner type of coating to it when new. I haven't used any of the home kits but several members here have claimed them to be very good and cost effective. I had Line-X applied to the inside of my utility trailer when new and 6 years of hard use later it's still in perfect shape.

 

[skipperbrown]

I had a metal floor utility trailer and it was slick as ice when wet and it had some mud on it. My FIL told me to put a coat of paint on it with a roller and then sprinkle sand it while it was still wet and then roll/sprinkle again. Holy cow, what a difference. It was like walking on sandpaper and it lasted a very long time, a lot longer than the wood deck on my FiL's trailer.

 

[Renze]

I glued 3mm aluminium diamond plate over the phenol resin coated plywood. This floor should last untill i retire (and im 35 now )