I Need to put new wood on this trailer deck. Advice please.

[1693TA]

Around here practice has been to use rough sawed oak. Some will soak it with a preservative of some sort but I'm not going to get in to that

Yup. Delo 15W-40 wood preservative with about 10,000 road miles on it works real good.

 

[crane operator]

I predrill through both the wood and the steel with a slightly smaller bit.

I don't countersink, the screws will pull themselves down.

If its just a 3,500 lbs car trailer, and you're going to be hauling the skid somewhere every day as a landscaper or something, I'm going to guess you're going to be shopping for a new heavier trailer soon. Most of those light car haulers are made for a 3,000lbs car, and don't handle everyday use.

 

[Camshawn]

A 6000# skid steer on 7000# of axel will fail in short order.

 

[ianjoub]

Deck screws, really? Wouldn't carriage bolts and nylock nuts work better?

 

[crane operator]

Deck screws, really? Wouldn't carriage bolts and nylock nuts work better?

There's a big difference between trailer deck screws, and house deck screws. Trailer deck screws is what I hope everyone is talking about.

https://www.amazon.com/16-18x2-Trailer-Floorboard-Screw-Plain/dp/B01G2QFTS8

 

[clydesdale6]

It turns out that the axles are Dexter 5.2k or 6k. I won't know exactly until I pull the outer bearing off. From that point, you can distinguish between the two. But, that is much better news for me.
Yes, the trailer decking screws seem to be the industry standard. They suggest countersinking, but I could always try without it first.

 

[Camshawn]

I just drilled pilot holes on the recommendation of my trailer mechanic buddy. Only issue is now I need to replace the deck, 30 yrs in the rainforest of the wet coast.

 

[JLarson]

I've done more decks and deck reinforcements then I care to think about. I buy however many boxes of trailer floor screws, a box of bits and some new torx bits and we go to town. Put tapping fluid or paste on the screws helps.

 

[hseII]

Around here practice has been to use rough sawed oak. Some will soak it with a preservative of some sort but I'm not going to get in to that

Same here.

 

[gwhammy]

i'm thinking the only difference between 5200 thru 7000 lb. axles is the tubing thickness. The lighter can have six hole wheels also. I built a 24 foot gooseneck in 93 that has a heavy expanded metal floor in it. I still use that trailer and other than a few holes it's still a good usable trailer. Hard telling how many miles on it, probably the best trailer I ever built. Cross members on 16 inch centers. I use pine in all other trailers now and always replacing boards.

 

[clydesdale6]

Well, I need to revive this thread that I started last year. Last year we got behind on this project, but all the lighting is now done and we are planning to put decking on it when the winter is over. The trailer is likely a 10,000 lb trailer and it is 16 feet long. My friend with a mill can cut down oak for me. So, what is my best move? Oak and then soak with sealer, then the self tapping screws? Thanks for helping me get back on track with this.

 

[clydesdale6]

Dmiller stated that he used clamping washers instead of screws. But, I am not sure what those are.

 

[63 caveman]

Do yourself a favor and put G rated tires on it. E rated tire are junk on a trailer IMO.

 

[clydesdale6]

I first gotta get wood on the deck. What are the clamping washers that Dmiller suggested? I cannot find such an animal on the internet.

 

[DMiller]

Can do it any of a number of ways, primary idea is to set the retainer bolts At EDGE of yet not into the Steel Work shelf the wood will rest upon. Larger Diameter Thick cross section washers as a 5/8 SAE on a 1/2" bolt with a secondary 1/2" washer to retain that larger diameter outer edge washer OR a secondary choice, 1.5-2" x 1/8" strap Steel drilled for the 1/2" bolts. This becomes a Pinch system to clamp the board to the flange of the trailer supporting steel.

Seems too simple but works simply and easily, seeing more commercial trailers done that way, NO drilling Steel or using self tapping bolts.

 

[westerner]

I maintained several old equipment trailers. They all had the deck attached as DM shows above.
Dang sure more work to install originally, right? Takes two men.

Too slow, too expensive. Bring on the self tapping screws and a big old kid to push the screwgun....

 

[Carolina Iron Clad]

I used Apitong on my last trailer deck jobs. By far not the cheapest but certainly the longest lasting. The one I replaced had oak and it had rotted through in about 10-12 years.

I actually just saw that referenced last week by a "custom" heavy haul trailer company. My first time hearing of it, they definitely had some big claims for it. Something like 2-3x life of oak?

 

[Delmer]

Apitong is a tropical hardwood. It seems it's harder to find and more expensive away from the coasts, local hardwoods are cheaper and easier to find, so not much market, so it's more expensive, so local is cheaper and easier to find...

 

[Willie B]

We use what wood we have. I cut Red oak in 2007, had it milled 2-1/4" thick for the dump bed on my 26000 LB gross dump (in the avatar). I milled enough to replace it.
2011 we had a 10,000 year flood tore the storage building apart. My extra oak & quite a lot of other stuff went down the river.
2015, I was hitching chain moving blocks for an antique tractor pull. Phone rang, I answered & immediately disappeared through the deck. At that time I decided steel deck was the better solution.
I stood 1-1/2 X 1/4" flat on edge & put 3/16 one piece in to replace the wood.

Pressure treated is extremely corrosive. I would avoid it.

 

[Willie B]

White oak is used here. Black Locust is claimed to last forever, "10 years longer than stone".
I have a pile of black locust to deck a 22500 LB equipment trailer. It is 2006 built, decked with White Oak. Ask me in 17 years how it lasted.