Stock trailer floor

[danl]

I am replacing the floor of my stock trailer. Almost found out the hard way the old one was bad.
We had used rough red oak about 15 years ago and it looked good but had dry rotted. While I was loading some cattle to haul across the road a 800 pound steer broke through. Sure glad it happened while we were sitting still.
Shook me up to think what could have happened.
Anyway am replacing it with treated pine. I know it is not the best, but all I could come up with quick.
I replaced quite a bit of metal also, including the angle iron that sits on the ends of the boards.

Now the hard part, does anyone have an ingenious idea for bending 1 1/2 angle iron in a half circle? Without me buying a $10,000.00 machine?
Or something other than angle iron.
I want it to fit snugly up against the walls.

 

[dun]

Take it to your local welding/blacksmith shop

 

[dieselbeef]

if u want a radius you hafta cut notches out every so often to make the room for the metal to bend. if ya want a 90 take a 45 out where ya want it to bend...only on the one side of the angle obviously..

rolled will be difficult depending if you need it on the flat or on the angle

 

[agcntry]

I've seen guys use rebar at the front of stock trailers as well. I personally have never tried it though. Just a thought

 

[tytower]

I guess the front of your trailer is curved like a horse trailer.
Bending angle iron is hard . Cut and weld is the usual method but i suppose you could try levers

Anything like this can be bent with two bits of pipe big enough to fit over whatever it is and by welding a handle to each bit of pipe you can use the leverage of one on the other to bend what they are around.

Move each time you bend a bit, to get a gradual curve. Works well on pipe or reo bar and flat section too

 

[danl]

The rebar is an idea I had not thought off. which caused me to think of some chainlink top rail I have. I have a pipe bender. I think I will try a piece and see what happens.

I don't know of anyone around here that has a blacksmith - welding shop that does that kind of stuff. I may end up cutting short sections of angle iron to hold the boards down. I am trying to keep manure from getting down there and rotting it again. The way it was before was angle iron welded at angles around the front of the trailer and was impossible to totally clean it out.

And yes it is round at the front like a horse trailer. wish it was not..

 

[danl]

maybe I need some of that 4" rubber cove moulding they put around floors in commercial buildings

 

[jedstivers]

Don't use the pine, find a sawmill an get some red oak or in a few years you'll drag a cows foot off. That is one of my biggest fears in hauling cattle.

 

[novatech]

Take it to your local welding/blacksmith shop

I'm with dun on this. A shop can put a curve in angle or pipe in a short amount of time if they have the machine. The plus is that it ends up looking a bit more professional than re-bar.

I am trying to keep manure from getting down there and rotting it again.

Manure will make it rust faster but the fact that it takes a long time to dry out is the main issue. Any water that got behind the cove will take months to dry. Urine is probably worse. Moisture ( manure tea, urine, water) gets traped between the wood and metal frame. Your best bet is to coat metal that will be covered by wood with lots of paint or anything else that will protect the metal.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I am trying to keep manure from getting down there and rotting it again. The way it was before was angle iron welded at angles around the front of the trailer and was impossible to totally clean it out.
And yes it is round at the front like a horse trailer. wish it was not..

Dan
you will be better off by funning a board down the center or actually 2 of them equally spaced from the sides on top of your other boards and not put any ANGLE along the sides of your trailer to hold the floor in as the angle is causing the trailer to hold moisture and waste and not letting the ends dry out
and creating rot
angles down the sides of a trailer to hold the boards down were they WORST idea trailer manufactures ever came up with

 

[KenB]

White Oak will last a lot longer then Red oak or Pine on a trailer floor.

 

[Gunner]

Refloored my stock trailer with lumber cut from used telephone poles. You can have it cut to a full 2" thick and the cresote impregnation does a good job of controlling the rot.

 

[hurleyjd]

I am replacing the floor of my stock trailer. Almost found out the hard way the old one was bad.
We had used rough red oak about 15 years ago and it looked good but had dry rotted. While I was loading some cattle to haul across the road a 800 pound steer broke through. Sure glad it happened while we were sitting still.
Shook me up to think what could have happened.
Anyway am replacing it with treated pine. I know it is not the best, but all I could come up with quick.
I replaced quite a bit of metal also, including the angle iron that sits on the ends of the boards.

Now the hard part, does anyone have an ingenious idea for bending 1 1/2 angle iron in a half circle? Without me buying a $10,000.00 machine?
Or something other than angle iron.
I want it to fit snugly up against the walls.

Redneck trailer supplies has the angle 1/8 thick by 1.25 x1.25. website: http://www.redneck-trailer.com/2009/H/H6-H9.pdf

 

[deenranch]

I am trying to keep manure from getting down there and rotting it again.

We take some of our burnt oil and pour around the insides of the trailer... This seems to help with the metal rusting and rotting away... If you pour it on the wood flooring it will keep it from dry rotting...

 

[SaddleSore]

I'll need to replace a trailer floor in the near future and was planning to make a trough of some sort to pour used oil into and soak the lumber in it for a few days to get maximum penetration before putting it on the trailer. I'd suggest you paint any metal surfaces with POR15, it's really popular with people that resore old cars to prevent rust. If I remember correctly, POR 15 needs a top coat to protect it from sunlight.

 

[3waycross]

Refloored my stock trailer with lumber cut from used telephone poles. You can have it cut to a full 2" thick and the cresote impregnation does a good job of controlling the rot.

Isn't that still pine? I have access to used power poles all the time but I think they are all pine.

 

[stephenpeter4]

Material safety data sheets and safe handling guidelines are required by law to be provided by suppliers of wood preservative chemicals and treated wood products. This information should be obtained and reviewed before handling and using wood preservative chemicals and treated wood products

 

[danl]

I probably should have used some sawmill oak, but for now I have already cut and installed the treated pine.
I will just keep a close eye on it. I had thought about the used oil also. but didn't know if it could actually cause the wood to break down.

The Redneck trailer was good information, it looks like a 6' nose piece is only about $23.00. now I just have to get to the nearest dist. and get one.

I agree with the angle iron being the problem. But if I put a board down the sides or center, ,my middle gate wont swing.
My trailer stays inside a shed, so if I can keep it clean and dry it should hold up a while.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I probably should have used some sawmill oak, but for now I have already cut and installed the treated pine.
I will just keep a close eye on it. I had thought about the used oil also. but didn't know if it could actually cause the wood to break down.

The Redneck trailer was good information, it looks like a 6' nose piece is only about $23.00. now I just have to get to the nearest dist. and get one.

I agree with the angle iron being the problem. But if I put a board down the sides or center, ,my middle gate wont swing.
My trailer stays inside a shed, so if I can keep it clean and dry it should hold up a while.

Dan
Rednecks headquarters is in Springfield on west Bypass you can also call them and they will ship it directly to you