OT Trailer flooring

[Retroanaconda]

I’d like a set of ramps for mine, but with it being a LM125 it’s only 5’ 5” wide so pretty tight for Land Rovers. I sometimes wish I’d got a 6’ wide one, but then when I have to reverse it into the back garden/yard I’m thankful for its narrowness!

I think mine is a 2006 model and was previously used by a landscaping company who I presume loaded loose soil etc. in on a regular basis hence the galvanising on the sides has been compromised. Was in Ayrshire so could have been by the sea! It’s only surface rust though so other than looking a bit tatty it has no effect on its use. If I ever get bothered enough by it I could get them re-dipped, or just replace the skins with new galv sheet.

The chassis, floor crossmembers and drawbar are all 100% rust free pleasingly so no need for re-dipping. Axles are a bit rusty as they’re not galvanised however they’ll go for some time yet.

[Retroanaconda]

Finished the lights this morning and put the new sheets on this afternoon. Handily the floor crossmembers are spaced such that the joins between the sheets are exactly over them, meaning no unsupported edges at all.

The roofing sealant stuff seemed to go on quite well and covered nicely. Time will tell how it does as a sealant. I was able to fill most of the edges and the two sheet joins too so there shouldn’t be too much sealant required to make it as watertight as possible.

Poor picture due to losing the light, but you get the idea!

Just need a new set of wheels/tyres and then it’s sorted 👍

[Arjan]

Looks very nice !!

[Cynic-al]

Looks good, how did you fasten them down? Drill and screw or...?

Mine had no support at the sides of the board which is obviously why the edges had cracked open and let water in so I've welded some bits in to support the sides. I've got some anti rust primer and glass reinforced chassis paint to put on just waiting for a day when I can get down to work in the daylight to tip it on its side with a forklift and wire brush it and paint it. Really should swap it for an ifor but can't bring myself to spend the money on something that will probably get pinched

Edited November 17, 2017 by Cynic-al

[Retroanaconda]

I used this sort of thing, self drills it’s way through and then taps itself into the chassis frame:

 

[Cynic-al]

Looks worth a try, thanks

[Scotts90]

Tek-screws, come in different varieties of self drilling flavour. We use a lot in the farm for roofing sheets...the ones Mav shows are what we use on z-purlins or box section. Coarse thread for wood available too.

[Retroanaconda]

Indeed, the place I got them from tells me they mainly sell them to farmers who are boarding out the inside of steel-framed sheds with Stokbord or the like. Being countersunk these give a flush finish for this purpose (and mine) whereas the typical roofing variant has a flanged head, often with a rubber seal too.

Damn useful things, saves a lot of faffing about with drilling holes etc. - I found the best method was to use the high speed setting on my battery drill (18v Makita jobby) for the first part and then when it broke through use the slower speed for better control/torque when cutting the thread and pulling it tight.

Only extra thing I had to do was cut the excess off a couple of them where they were sticking out right over the tyres, otherwise a big bump could have caused a problem! 

[Happyoldgit]

I have a trailer that was left outside for an extended period due to my ill health and now the original phenolic ply flooring has suffered and required replacing. Prices for sheets of phenolic ply / Buffalo board have gone through the roof since I last did a trailer floor. Obviously there are local stockists but anyone know of a competitively priced supplier of something suitably long lasting who offers delivery too? I don't want to use chequer plate or standard marine ply. The trailer bed is 16ft x 6ft.

[mickeyw]

Alas Buffalo board has always been eye wateringly priced. I've not looked in recent times - trailer flooring is a job I am trying to put off as long as possible.
I did give a thought to using scaffold boards as someone suggested they might be a cheaper option.

[Stellaghost]

It's a shame you aren't closer I would have given you a couple of sheets of this if it was any good

11' x 5' 3/32 galvanised plate 

It's what I used to do my trailer with, heavy but long lasting,  if you can see a way to get it your more than welcome 

Regards Stephen 

 

[Nonimouse]

I have a similar problem - the buffalo board on my smallest trailer is like sponge. I've bought some used scaffold boards. I'm in the process of planing and sanding them down, then I will soak them in proper cuprinol and old engine oil . I'm going to router them into T&G first though. The Trailer is designed with  5 steel supports running lengthways, so I will run the boards transversely . I've aquired some 12' x 6' traffic signs form work, made form vac formed GRP and resin coated, so I'll cut one down to size to make a sacrificial layer on the top (and maybe the sides)

[Stellaghost]

15 minutes ago, Stellaghost said:

It's a shame you aren't closer I would have given you a couple of sheets of this if it was any good

11' x 5' 3/32 galvanised plate 

It's what I used to do my trailer with, heavy but long lasting,  if you can see a way to get it your more than welcome 

Regards Stephen 

 

The above applies to anyone else with trailer floor issues regards Stephen

[Happyoldgit]

1 hour ago, Stellaghost said:

The above applies to anyone else with trailer floor issues regards Stephen

That's a very generous offer!

[Happyoldgit]

The last trailer I did was one of our previous horse jobs. I redid that in keruing hardwood that I had machined into tongue and groove planks, marvellous stuff but heavy. Around the same time I redid the floor and some of the framing in a 1950's heavy horse tumbrel [tip cart] in the same stuff but got the local sawmill to do most of the machining for both jobs as it's a tough old timber to work with.   

The last horse trailer we had was French, the floor in that was actually plastic so no worries about rotting out.

Current job is my Ifor, plenty of transverse support...

[Retroanaconda]

I refloored my Ifor a number of years back with phenolic ply and it was around £40 a sheet - I see it’s now three times that so would agree that is not a good option.

I wonder if you could get some rough sawn 3/4” boards in larch or douglas fir locally and lay them longitudinally as a deck? With a machined joint if desired.

Or Stokbord? Sit down when you look up the price but it will last forever.

[mpb]

I’ve been looking here because I need to replace mine 

https://www.buildersmerchant.com/product/anti-slip-mesh-phenolic-resin-plywood-18mm/

[Badger110]

19 minutes ago, mpb said:

I’ve been looking here because I need to replace mine 

https://www.buildersmerchant.com/product/anti-slip-mesh-phenolic-resin-plywood-18mm/

I can tell straightaway that is not a good quality phenolic plywood, the picture alone tells you their using a sub standard plywood with dead areas.

I've said in the past on my build thread, don't skimp on buying good plywood if you want it to last.  

 

 

Buffalo board uses a BB graded plywood which is just shy of joinery graded ply...ie it's strong and produced as tight as it can be with correct glues and processing.

Stick with the branded Buffalo Board, not any old brown phenolic plywood which claims to be Buffalo board, it isn't and will fail.

[Eightpot]

It's worth keeping an eye on ebay/facebook marketplace etc for phenolic/buffalo/hexaboard, excess, old stock or damaged sheets come up quite often.  

[Nonimouse]

18 hours ago, Retroanaconda said:

I refloored my Ifor a number of years back with phenolic ply and it was around £40 a sheet - I see it’s now three times that so would agree that is not a good option.

I wonder if you could get some rough sawn 3/4” boards in larch or douglas fir locally and lay them longitudinally as a deck? With a machined joint if desired.

Or Stokbord? Sit down when you look up the price but it will last forever.

Douglas would be best - lasts 40 years without treatment.  Elm board would be even better, but that's rarer than an honest politican

[Retroanaconda]

https://www.uk-timber.co.uk/featheredge-fencing-supplies/162617-british-larchdouglas-fir-yorkshire-boarding.html#/gravel_board_size-3600_x_150_x_22
 

My trailer is 12’ x 5.5’ so I reckon a dozen of the 3600x150x22 boards above would get me a durable deck for less than £100.

It would however be more slippery when wet, and not being a single sheet will in theory not be as strong for point loading of things like cars.

[Happyoldgit]

Doh! I forgot we had an earlier thread on the same subject so have merged the two.

[Ed Poore]

I recently re-did a trailer floor that I use for hauling a little New Holland 1220 around. Had a load of scaffold boards lying around so used those. Deliberately spaced them apart so that any mud and water etc., falls through the gaps.

Treated with the best wood preservative - proper old fashioned creosote. The joys of having a farm and still being allowed to buy the proper stuff.

Dried out the timber and put a liberal dosing on top and it's soaked all the way through the 38mm boards.

Occasionally transport bulk bags in it, don't bother with lose material as that tends to come in dozens of lorry loads nowadays (300 tonnes and counting on the drive so far ).

I did use a sheet of proper Buffalo board for the tailgate as I didn't have time for welding up a mesh one and the metal bars wouldn't have worked easily for scaffold boards. At cost from CLH was I think £120 for a full size sheet a few months back.

[JohnnoK]

Probably going to cost, but what about marine ply?
Waterproof and good quality, seal it with SkiaFlex on the edges, rubber or polyurethane paint on the bottom for chipping/gouging/splashing and oil for the top.

[mickeyw]

Now it is the turn of my LM146 to need a new floor. The boards have all crumbled around the fixing screws and now resemble Pringles. I added some extra self-drilling screws last year, but the original deck is too far gone to hold any kind of fixing.

Slight side note - several of the self drilling screws I used to re-deck our hay trailer have snapped after a couple of years. @Retroanacondahow has your trailer faired with these screws?

 

18mm phenolic coated anti slip birch ply is now £152 a sheet! By the time I have 4 of those delivered + VAT etc I'm looking at close to £800 😮

I had it in mind to use scaffold boards instead, but only found them up to 13' long so far. I'd prefer to have boards the full length of the deck.