Time to re-deck my trailer

[J_J]

Eddie,

Nice job on the trailer. Just about 99% of all trailers have the angle on the back. you really did not have to take it off. As far as holding water, the water runs off through cracks, and doesn't hold water anymore than any other piece of angle on the trailer that touches wood. Two thirds of those boards will just slide in under the angle. We rounded off the corners of the others to help them slide in, and used the lift method for the last three. I believe the angle iron is there for support, not only to keep the boards in place, but for pulling things over the end without ripping out parts of the lumber. Lawn mower decks hang low and will catch on that open edge of the wood, As far as the sealing the deck, I have sealed many a deck with Thompson water seal. Most people don't put down enough. You need enough coats to let the sealant absorb and fill up the wood to a certain depth. Three or more coats may be required. Every year, add another coat.

When I was doing landscaping, I replaced a lot of tail light bulbs, due to vibration, pot holes, etc. After installing LED tail and stop lights, never had any more trouble. Initial expense is higher, but worth it.

 

[Renze]

Does anybody have a good idea on what I can put on the wood to help it last longer?

In my previous employment at a trailer builder, we coated the hardwood decks with yacht coating oil. Ordinary laque makes a film on top of the wood, which will chip off.
the yacht oil will penetrate so it wont chip off and look ugly.

For my farm trailers i use either carbolineum, old engine oil or a mixture of both. I park the trailer in the bush, get a bucket and a street sweep and rub it in, then park the trailer under roof when the oil is dry and stopped dripping.

 

[coobie]

Thanks for all the great tips. I bought a tube of silicone when I went to Lowes this morning to get the crown nuts. I used it on both sides of the hole, and where the wires hung down while going from side to side for the tail lights, I also siliconed them to the metal frame.

The PT wood was a bit thicker then the wolmanized wood, so I had to sand off the edge of the wood on the front side. The wood has to go into a slot.

I then drilled and bolted the 2x10's to the cross members at three location. Two bolts per cross member. On my first bolt, I realized that the crown nuts were too tight and caused the head of the carriage bolt to spin in the wood. I tried to hold it in place with a pair of vice grips, but did't care for that method. I had already bought regular nuts, so I used them first. One lock washer, the a regular nut, then after that was tight, I added the crown nut. I figured that at the very worst, the crown nut will help lock the standard nut in place.

I thought of loctite, but knew that if I had to tighten up the nuts at a later date, that I'd break the seal on the loctite and have to start all over with it. The bolts, washers and nuts are galvanized. The crown nut is zinc plated. Since the PT wood is above the cross member, the only thing touching it is the bolt. They are 5/16's bolts.

I used two bolts per cross member at three points. Before, there was two self taping screws used per board. Six bolts versus 2 screws.

By the time I was about done, I got to wondering about that angle iron that goes over the ends of the boards. I really wonder what it's advantage is? Does it protect the wood, or does it just hold the wood in place?

What if I put two bolts through the wood and cross member?

I drilled the holes and added the bolts. This gives me 8 bolts per board.

My thinking is that the angle iron catches and holds moisture in it. The trailer is tilted to the back, so when it rains, the water runs down the boards and under the angle iron. This means the end grain is kept wet for longer periods of time then the rest of the wood. Since my wood rotted out from the end grain at the rear of the trailer, I think that the angle iron holds the moisture that caused this problem. If there is no angle iron, then the wood should last allot longer.

I drilled two more holes at the ends of each 2x10 and bolted them to the cross member. That gives me 8 bolts per board.

It's all back together and ready to haul my tractor to the job that I need it at. It wasn't a project that I wanted to do, but it wasn't very difficult either.

Does anybody have a good idea on what I can put on the wood to help it last longer?

Thank you,
Eddie

Behr products makes a great sealer for wood.I treated my with a mix of # 2 diesel & 10W-30 it worked great on my trailer wood.Someone on this board posted the mix & ratio.coobie

 

[funkydaddy59]

I redid the floor of my 5 x 12 ft trailer last summer with pressure treated 2 x 10's. The result was well worth the effort as I had the metal frame repainted at a body shop as well. I used two stainless steel bolts per plank per cross member and placed the wood with the concave side of the grain facing down as this will make cupping easier to live with. The hardest part of the two weekend job was getting the old rusted bolts out of the metal framework without breaking them off. I think I used about 60 bolts. My trailer was about 12 years old when I replanked. Good luck!

 

[MarkLeininger]

Helps to put a strip of rubber on top of every cross support before you put the wood down. They make products like this for wood decks, it comes on a roll and has one side sticky so it stays in place until you screw the deck in place. You can also use self adhesive rubber flashing material that's made to flash around house windows when they're being installed. Water gets wicked between the wood deck and the metal cross supports and has no way to dry out. So it causes rust and gets absorbed into the wood and rots it. The rubber acts like a seal to prevent a lot of that.

 

[2manyrocks]

That seems like a great tip.

 

[Hematite]

OK, am I missing something here? Why do some people put used motor oil or diesel oil on wood decks? Petroleum oil softens wood, eventually, and damages it. Anyone that stands a well oiled gun upright in a safe finds that out.

Worse yet, aren't tractor tires made of rubber? Motor oil and diesel oil destroy rubber except the special rubbers made to resist oil damage and tires are not made of that kind of rubber.

Wouldn't it be better to coat the wood with an actual WOOD protectant, stain, or paint?

 

[radioman]

OK, am I missing something here? Why do some people put used motor oil or diesel oil on wood decks? Petroleum oil softens wood, eventually, and damages it. Anyone that stands a well oiled gun upright in a safe finds that out.

Worse yet, aren't tractor tires made of rubber? Motor oil and diesel oil destroy rubber except the special rubbers made to resist oil damage and tires are not made of that kind of rubber.

Wouldn't it be better to coat the wood with an actual WOOD protectant, stain, or paint?

perhaps. but considering the amount of time most trailer doing, it's just sitting there waiting to be used again. the benefits of protecting wood outwieghts the cons of ruining rubbers. I don't think anything with rubber stays on trailer coated with diesel and oil long enough to ruin the rubbers.

its cheap, used oil is free, old timer's protection protects wood longer then no protection. Can't argue with that.

As for the angle iron, if you really wanted to put it back for strength of ends, then why not drill holes on lower end of angle for weeping holes for moisture and air to dry better? better then nothing.

 

[Duffster]

OK, am I missing something here? Why do some people put used motor oil or diesel oil on wood decks? Petroleum oil softens wood, eventually, and damages it. Anyone that stands a well oiled gun upright in a safe finds that out. ?

When the local post treating plant treats fence posts what they use is mostly #3 diesel fuel/fuel oil

Wouldn't it be better to coat the wood with an actual WOOD protectant, stain, or paint?

To slippery

 

[Hematite]

When the local post treating plant treats fence posts what they use is mostly #3 diesel fuel/fuel oil




To slippery

Didn't know about diesel fuel used for treating fenceposts, although there are a number of compounds that can be used to do that.

I have to confess, though, I would think that a wood deck with diesel or motor oil on it would be FAR more slippery than a deck with paint or stain on it?