aluminum trailer floor

[ccr]

Our 20' aluminum trailer floor is slick and am wanting to use something to help cattle from slipping and falling. If the trailer is full there doesn't seem to be to much a problem, but with just hauling one cow, they slip and slide and on more that one occasion the cow will be down when I get to where I'm going. So far they always have been able to get up, but one of these days one might get down and can't get up.

Don't know about rubber mats or the coating, but have seen pictures of welding "traction bars" to the floor. Has anyone had experience with these "traction bars" and if so how did they work, or did they help? This is a picture of kinda what I'm talking about.

 

[wbvs58]

Those bars look good, just checker plate folded into a tophat shape and weld to floor lengthwise and a bit of 25x25mm SHS in between going crosswise. They would work well and would not be expensive in material cost. Would hinder cleaning out but the gaps would be to let the **** go past.

ken

 

[SBMF 2015]

We use wood shavings or shredded news paper for traction. Adding cross bars might be great, but I bet it's a real pain to clean out.

 

[Nesikep]

that doesn't look like a cow has ever been in it!
I haven't had any trouble with mine, similar floor, I wouldn't weld crossbars, I like being able to clean easily

 

[cfpinz]

I've got the same floor minus the crossbars, no way I'd weld them onto it. Right now you can run a flat face shovel down the rows in between the ridges and get the majority of the mess out, then pressure wash the rest. We use straw most of the time, but shavings work great, too.

I would avoid mats, they trap urine below them and the aluminum will break down over time from it not being able to dry out. My wife's horse trailer has mats over an aluminum floor and I pull them out on occasion, pressure wash and cover the floor in sodium bicarbonate to mitigate corrosion.