Dump Trailer

[patrick_g]

If you want the bolt holes to not rot there are several things you could treat the ID of the holes with prior to tightening the bolts.

There is the "West" system of epoxy saturation. ...or...

You can buy a product called "GitRot" or some equivalent. It is a thin viscosity two part epoxy resin. It soaks into dry wood pretty well and when it goes off the wood is pretty much rot proof. The product was sold to treat dry rot in boats and other wood. You treated the damaged wood turning it almost into a fiber glass board which would never rot again.

As a preventative you don't have to treat the whole board to make the wood last a lot longer, just the places likely to rot first/most. You do have to have your application organized as the stuff I used had a relatively short pot life. ONe time a small squeeze bottle of it went from OK as I was using it to really hot and had to wrap a rag around the bottle to hold it and then it just turned solid. It was a hot day. Now I know to coll the stuff before mixing on really hot days.

These thin epoxies are good for treating old windows and doors plagued with rot as well. My prev house was built in 1928.

Pat

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I considered all the recommendations and settled on the floor varnish mostly because I already have it.

I clamped the long boards for the deck and sides together and I clamped the short boards for the front and tailgate together. I spread the varnish on one side. See the pictures below.

When that dries, I'm going to flip the assemblies over and do the same with the other side. Lastly, I'll lay the boards all out and varnish the wide surfaces in much the same manner.

 

[MrJimi]

I considered all the recommendations and settled on the floor varnish mostly because I already have it.

I clamped the long boards for the deck and sides together and I clamped the short boards for the front and tailgate together. I spread the varnish on one side. See the pictures below.

When that dries, I'm going to flip the assemblies over and do the same with the other side. Lastly, I'll lay the boards all out and varnish the wide surfaces in much the same manner.

Will that method make your boards stick together ? and leave an edge?
I think it will, good luck and the edge can always be sanded off

 

[patrick_g]

If epoxy is going too far to keep the bolt holes from rotting out before the boards are very worn then maybe you'd consider at least some caulk/bedding compound under the flat heads (countersink side.)

Few folks around here do anything to protect the bolt holes in their wood floored trailers and of course they just can't understand why the bolt holes rot out way ahead of the rest of the boards. The way most folks discover something is rotted out is when the load breaks through the floor. Nothing like having your load, i.e. gravel, dirt, tractor or whatever trying to get to the ground THROUGH the trailer sub structure. Most embarrassing with a tractor, truck, or car but still not a good thing with any load.

In your case maybe a a few leaves or such so probably not a big deal, if you are lucky.

Pat

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Will that method make your boards stick together ? and leave an edge?
I think it will, good luck and the edge can always be sanded off

Where I'm only putting one coat on here initially, I'm not too worried about it sticking them together.

In fact this morning I went to turn each assembly over to varnish the opposite edge. The boards slipped out of the clamp and fell helter skelter all over the basement floor. I take that as a sign that the varnish is not sticking the boards together too badly.

In addition to making the varnishing of the edges faster and easier, I chose to clamp the boards together to eliminate drips accross the working surface of the boards. I guess it's the trade off with the edge on the board.

Thanks for the heads up, though. I'll have to pay special attention to the edge tonight when I pull them apart to start the first coat accross the wide surfaces. If I have to do some sanding, I will.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

If epoxy is going too far to keep the bolt holes from rotting out before the boards are very worn then maybe you'd consider at least some caulk/bedding compound under the flat heads (countersink side.)

Few folks around here do anything to protect the bolt holes in their wood floored trailers and of course they just can't understand why the bolt holes rot out way ahead of the rest of the boards. The way most folks discover something is rotted out is when the load breaks through the floor. Nothing like having your load, i.e. gravel, dirt, tractor or whatever trying to get to the ground THROUGH the trailer sub structure. Most embarrassing with a tractor, truck, or car but still not a good thing with any load.

In your case maybe a a few leaves or such so probably not a big deal, if you are lucky.

Pat

You sure seem to be pretty concerned about these bolt holes. You've almost got me convinced I need to do something different.

Let's debate it a bit...

Tell me your concerns about the varnish over the tops of the bolt holes. Why won't this keep the moisture, etc. out?

 

[sandman2234]

Probably won't keep moisture out due to the abrasive action of cargo in the bed taking the coating off the top of the bolt, thereby allowing water to penetrate the joint between the bolt and wood. Storing the trailer indoors would go much further towards protecting it than any sort of bed coating that is anywhere near "affordable", but inside storage space also costs a bundle, so maybe just figure into your costs the price of a new bed every couple years would be easier.
David from jax

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Probably won't keep moisture out due to the abrasive action of cargo in the bed taking the coating off the top of the bolt, thereby allowing water to penetrate the joint between the bolt and wood. Storing the trailer indoors would go much further towards protecting it than any sort of bed coating that is anywhere near "affordable", but inside storage space also costs a bundle, so maybe just figure into your costs the price of a new bed every couple years would be easier.
David from jax

Storing the trailer indoors is not practical for me. I see your point about the abrasive action of cargo removing the varnish.

The wood costs me nothing for now as long as I have old crates to recycle. I still have at least 100 bf of good usable lumber. There is a time factor to tear the crate apart and prep the wood so it's a balancing act between what is more valuable, my time and money now to calk, fill, or plug; or my time later to re-deck if the need arises.

Like Pat said, Where I'm not really carrying any high value items and I'm not going too far, the worst case scenario is really not that bad.

 

[patrick_g]

Storing the trailer indoors is not practical for me. I see your point about the abrasive action of cargo removing the varnish.

The wood costs me nothing for now as long as I have old crates to recycle. I still have at least 100 bf of good usable lumber. There is a time factor to tear the crate apart and prep the wood so it's a balancing act between what is more valuable, my time and money now to calk, fill, or plug; or my time later to re-deck if the need arises.

Like Pat said, Where I'm not really carrying any high value items and I'm not going too far, the worst case scenario is really not that bad.

The cost in materials and effort to seal the ID of the bolt holes is a very good investment with a high return. The time you use to put a $ or two in the holes (at most) will make the bed last a lot linger and save you the hassle of taking out rotted boards and replacing them with more varnished boards. Remove, varnish, replace, repeat.

Bolt holes expose end grain which takes up moisture from dew, precip, wet loads etc and promotes rot. Hauling dirt and vegetation debris will provide the organisms to promote rot and having unsealed end grain will provide a moist habitat.

I'm sure you have fun building the bed but what would you prefer to do, have fun rebuilding it (perhaps multiple times) or have fun doing something else?

Rot never sleeps! The worst case scenario may be having to rebuild an old project instead of building a new one. Protecting all end grain of wood used outside is a good idea, including the ID of bolt holes.

Pat

 

[sandman2234]

Since you have the wood and varnish, have you considered building a top for it? I would prefer one made out of a tarp, but if you can cover it in some way, it will cut down the long term repairs. A lightweight top made out of tongue and groove or some variation of that might be enough to keep the snow and rain out, thereby prolonging the time before repairs are necessary.
Another way would be to put a thin sheet of aluminum/stainless/steel over the wood. Not thick enough to add weight or strength, but enough to reduce the rot factor.
David from jax