New decking on my trailer

[dieselcrawler]

Removed rotten decking from my trailer about a week ago... original boards, about 10 years old. Seemed to be oak.






Finished product... PT 2x12's I've had stored for about 3 or 4 years, ironicly, longer than I've had the trailer.

No pictures while in progress... sanded the hidden/covered crossmembers and primed and painted before decking install.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Noticed a crack in the frame/tounge once I got decking off...




Welded crack both top and bottom, then added gusset plate. Also added spare tire carrier while I had the welder out.

 

[mikehaugen]

looks good! only 10 years from oak boards? That seems premature, but i guess i wouldn't know. Did you go ahead and add the reinforcement to the other side as well?

 

[Knight9]

Greg,

Were you able to drop in the boards or did you have to do the whole "bend the middle up" to fit the ends in?

 

[dieselcrawler]

I did gusset both sides of the frame. The other side was starting to crack as well.

Here is the spare tire



Tire holder... one on each side. Hindsight... wish they didn't hang so low, I can foresee them dragging while crossing creeks in and outta hay fields.




All the boards I had were 8' and only the dovetail boards are captive on one end.

 

[terryknight]

looks good greg

 

[dieselcrawler]

Thanks Terry...

Now that the deck is so nice I hope I can paint the parts you can see... really starting to look sad.

 

[JKR]

Nice. I like the two spare tire holders

 

[5030]

I believe I would have sandblasted the frame when the deck was off and repainted it. I bet you have issues with rusting underneath where the suspension mouts to the frame. I did. I flipped mine over on it's side and blasted it and I had to do sone fish plating and welding on the underside where the suspension mounts to the frame rails from water/salt corrosion.

Whatever you do, never use that bed liner stuff on a frame. Looks nice but if you ever have to weld anything it becomes a PITA to remove and it must be removed to weld.

Trailer renovation is always a job. Looks good. I prefer green white oak over PT. If you allow the green oak to dry and then seal it, it will last for decades. I had our Talbert 48 foot single drop redecked with PT and I'm sorry I did. I should have used oak or apitong. The PT is not strong enough to resist puncture even with crossmembers on 12" centers. I have to be real careful where I set machinety and how I crib it.....

 

[dieselcrawler]

I completely agree with oak being better... but having the stack of PT, being short on time and funds... I was only able to do what I did. It will last a few years, and handle the hay and equipment I haul well enough. I will be stockpiling oak or other suitable lumber as I fell and mill logs from my property in the future.

I do need to check the axle mounts more closely, but overall, aside from the crack I found, the trailer seems very sound structurally. Much easier to inspect while deck-less! And I gave it a good look from end to end.

 

[LD1]

Is it a homemade trailer? or an older MFG'd one? Cause I notice the MH axles....

As to the lumber, yea, I prefer white oak. But if you arent hauling anything really heavy or anything that puts lots of load between the cross members, pine is fine. Treated pine will last a long time. And is lots lighter than oak.

But you should have gotten more life out of the oak if it was white oak. I re-decked my trailer. Boards "looked" not so good on the outside, but were still very solid. I re-decked it anyway cause it was done like you did. Combination of 8' and 12' lumber to make the span of 20'. So where two boards meet over a thin 2" cross member didnt leave much meat around the screws/bolts. And the boards were coming loose and warping.

So I got full 20' lengths of white oak. Enough to deck a 20+5 trailer 8' wide for a tad less than PT would have cost me. ~$300

 

[dieselcrawler]

Likely red oak boards... were still kinda solid in places, bigger issue was that they were coming lose, and gaps between were large enough that my chains would get cought in them.

Its a mfg trailer, 2004 Mastertrack, made in Gaithersburg MD. Dexter axles with brakes.

 

[LD1]

Looks like I am wrong. Took I didnt look close the first time, but they sure looked like MH axles.

Either way, red oak isnt good. Not as rot resistant as white oak.

Gaps and uneven boards and coming loose is why I went with full length pieces for the flat deck.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Axles are the MH style, 14.5 rims with 5 wedge washers held by studs/nuts, but DOT highway rated tires, good wheel bearings, and brakes. Not a MH one-time-use, low-quality, anti-seize-for-grease bearing axle with open brakes.

Full lenth boards would have been nice, to avoid the seam. But with dimensional lumber being reasonably consistent in thickness the seam is almost smooth. It will work for now.

 

[weldingisfun]

If your seam begins to warp, would it be possible to cap the ends of the boards with pieces of angle steel? Seems to me that would solve the problem. Just a thought. Looks good, hope it serves you well.

 

[Nightforce]

I think your refurb came out great! :thumbsup:

What did you use to weld, MIG or stick? Just curious....

 

[dieselcrawler]

Stick welder at work... lincoln buzz box with ac/dc settings. Ran 6010 on the inside of the channel where I couldn't get in there to get a nice groove with the grinder, and just wove back and forth over the crack. On the accessible side, I ground out the crack to make a groove to fill, and used 7018 there then ground smooth.

At work we have 50 lb cans of 6010 & 7018 so that's what gets used for everything. 6010 for dirty rusty ugly stuff, 7018 for clean nice strong stuff. MIG for thinner light stuff.

 

[Nightforce]

Stick welder at work... lincoln buzz box with ac/dc settings. Ran 6010 on the inside of the channel where I couldn't get in there to get a nice groove with the grinder, and just wove back and forth over the crack. On the accessible side, I ground out the crack to make a groove to fill, and used 7018 there then ground smooth.

At work we have 50 lb cans of 6010 & 7018 so that's what gets used for everything. 6010 for dirty rusty ugly stuff, 7018 for clean nice strong stuff. MIG for thinner light stuff.

Thanks Greg!

 

[Rocky Hoffler]

I'm thinking about painting by trailer deck with deck over as seen at home depot any thoughts.

 

[Panik]

I'm thinking about painting by trailer deck with deck over as seen at home depot any thoughts.

Check around, but if I remember correctly that stuff doesn't have a great deal of flex to it. I looked at it for redoing a deck on a house I was selling and decided against it because of some of the reviews I read. YMMV