Stock trailer rebuild

[bgm]

I have an older stock trailer that has rusted thru the sheet metal in the front and a few small holes along the sides. I'm going to cut out and weld in new pieces to replace the bad sections. After the entire trailer will be sand blasted and repainted. My question is this. What is everyone's opinion on using the bed liner material on the inside like I've seen on some new trailers?

I can only think of one bad side to using it, if it ever rusted out again I have no idea how you would ever get the area clean enough to reweld a piece in without a tremendous amount of work. On the other hand it should stop most of the rust out problems.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

I think if I were in your shoes, I'd either use undercoating or rock guard (the stuff they spray on the outside of cars on the rocker panels). Either can be painted over, and each should give you plenty of protection. Best of all, it can be ground off should you ever need to replace more sheetmetal.

Rod

 

[MillIronQH]

You'd probably have to sand blast it off. I thought about that one to. I'm getting ready to put a new floor in my 18' trailer. I don't know yet if I'll have to do any bodywork or not. It doesn't look like it right now. when I get done I'm going to have it Rhino-lined. I've got a quote of $400 to do the floor and up the solid part of the sides and front. The man said he could do it at that price because they didn't have to cover anything up. Hopefully it will be the last floor I have to put in the dern thing.This one only lasted 12 years.

Also if the rust doesn't run to high you might think about jusy cutting it out and putting 2x6 angle iron in it's place. That's what we did on this trailer the last time we rebuilt it.Z

 

[KenB]

You'd probably have to sand blast it off. I thought about that one to. I'm getting ready to put a new floor in my 18' trailer. I don't know yet if I'll have to do any bodywork or not. It doesn't look like it right now. when I get done I'm going to have it Rhino-lined. I've got a quote of $400 to do the floor and up the solid part of the sides and front. The man said he could do it at that price because they didn't have to cover anything up. Hopefully it will be the last floor I have to put in the dern thing.This one only lasted 12 years.

Also if the rust doesn't run to high you might think about jusy cutting it out and putting 2x6 angle iron in it's place. That's what we did on this trailer the last time we rebuilt it.Z

What kind of wood will you use for the floor?
What will keep the floor from rotting on the bottom and between the boards?

 

[MillIronQH]

What kind of wood will you use for the floor?
What will keep the floor from rotting on the bottom and between the boards?[/quote]

Treated 2x6s.. Most of the rot problems come from the manure and pee acid. If you have time to clean and wash the trailer out every time yo use it the floor will last a lot longer but you need to do it before the acid has time to soak into the wood Yea right. We all have time to wash our trailers every night when we might be hauling for a week straight. If I was a rich man I'd used 2x6 full demension oak that's been saturated with used motor oil. But then I'd have to heavier axles under the trailer.Z

 

[MikeC]

I wouldn't use 2X6's for my own personal use. They might not be strong enough if the floor joists aren't close enough together.

Have seen a big cow or bull put it's foot through the floor with 2X6's. 2X8's or 10's might be better.

JMHO

 

[MillIronQH]

This trailer has three 3" angle iron trusses? running 18" apart the full length to the trailer. I don't see anything putting a foot thru it.Z

 

[MikeC]

This trailer has three 3" angle iron trusses? running 18" apart the full length to the trailer. I don't see anything putting a foot thru it.Z

That should work. Some stocktrailers only have 2 runners on 24" centers. I would use more than a 2X6 on them.

 

[MillIronQH]

Yea... That's what this one used to have before the last rebuild except they were 1 1/2 inch and since we were doing abunch of other welding anyway we changed that to. This time it's going to get pretty extensive. cutting off the running boards and fenders and putting brush fenders on it. cutting off the back half of the top and putting hitch ball on the top edge for loading cattle in the pasture. I've been threatening to put a single 7500 pound torsion axle under it but the wife says no. She doesn't have to pull it around in the pasture.Z

 

[bgm]

I'm going to have it Rhino-lined. I've got a quote of $400 to do the floor and up the solid part of the sides and front.

I guess I'm cheap, I was more thinking the $89.00 brush on kit from Tractor Supply.

 

[MillIronQH]

The kit is made for an eight foot bed. A 16' trailer will take at least two and maybe more. That's $180 and no warranty. If your prep work isn't just right and it starts to peel you either live with it or start over.Z

 

[cmjust0]

This trailer has three 3" angle iron trusses? running 18" apart the full length to the trailer. I don't see anything putting a foot thru it.Z

That should work. Some stocktrailers only have 2 runners on 24" centers. I would use more than a 2X6 on them.

So, you guys are saying that your trailers have runners going lengthwise, and that your lumber goes in parallel with the axles?

Mine appears to have "factory" steel runners parallel with the axle, as though the lumber should run lengthwise.. It looks like, however, that somebody added some thin strapping across the top of those and then installed the lumber parallel with the axles, over the thin strapping..

I ask because I'm gonna be replacing the floor soon and I thought it should go lengthwise like you see on 16' utility trailers -- opposite the way it is now. Now y'all have me wondering if that strapping is factory, and if the lumber that's in there now is actually oriented correctly..?

 

[MillIronQH]

Some of them are made one way and some the other. When my wife and I first met she was pulling a 16 ft. Imperial TB combo trailer with the boards running length ways. Besides it being 7 ft. tall with a full flat nose that worked like a sail in reverse and weighing nearly 2000 lbs. more then my 18 ft. trailer the biggest problem was that it would "float" the mats right out under the back gate. Finally talked her into getting rid of that anchor.

How far apart are the cross braces. If they're of about 2ft. apart I'd guess it was built for the lumber to run cross ways but that they skimped on the braces using strap instead of angle iron.Z

 

[sidney411]

We replaced the floor boards last year in our stock trailer. We added more angle iron supports also. Our wood runs parallel to the axels. We also cut 2x4 in half so they are @ 1x2 and screwed those to every other floor board to help with the cows slipping and sliding in the trailer. My grandpa staples down a cattle panel but I think that is harder to keep clean and they slip more with that too.

 

[MillIronQH]

The cattle panels can jerk the shoes off of a horse in a heartbeat to.Z

 

[cmjust0]

I guess I'd need to tear the old floor out to get a better look.. Only problem is, I need the trailer to haul the new lumber. :lol:

I'm hoping I can deck it lengthwise with 2" thick, 16' long green oak in various widths.. My lumber guy charges something like $.90/board-foot for that grade of wood.

 

[KenB]

I guess I'd need to tear the old floor out to get a better look.. Only problem is, I need the trailer to haul the new lumber.

;-) Your trailer should be able to haul the lumber with the old floor out of it.

 

[bgm]

The kit is made for an eight foot bed. A 16' trailer will take at least two and maybe more. That's $180 and no warranty. If your prep work isn't just right and it starts to peel you either live with it or start over.Z

I have no intention of doing the floor in the stuff, just the walls. I'm not sure that sealing the wood that way wouldn't cause more problems then it would cure. So if I'm only doing the walls and cross members, one kit would be more than enough. As far as warranty, I'd seriously doubt if they would warranty it for this application. If it works it going to work warranty or not and I'd rather keep the money in my pocket. As far as the prep work, I've read the directions, I can understand what needs to be done and I'm not too lazy to do it right. I do want everything under the floor and at the walls coated with something so there's a layer of protection between the metal and any new flooring I put in. I would like to be able to use ACQ, but know how it'll eat bare steel. I keep thinking the bed liner is the way to go and just wanted some one with expierence with it to give an educated response.

 

[J. T.]

My trailer was floored with untreated pine 2x6's that were tongue and groove. Until the rot started, the floor didn't sag due to the tongue and groove. The boards ran crossways in the floor. When I refloored it, I used treated 2x6's. The floor was supported, partially, by the inch wide thin strapping and sagged under a load. I nailed 2x6 supports under the floor boards to spread the weight over a large area and the problem has been solved. The floor is extremely stout and there's no sag.

 

[DrDave]

I redid our smaller trailer a few years ago, both dealing with rust issues and replacing the factory floor in it. I used a do-it-yerself bedliner kit for the interior of the trailer and the exterior surfaces that were getting rock-chip from the truck. I used a rust-prep on the rust-pocked metal that converts iron-oxide (rust) into a zinc-oxide coating (galvinization) before covering it. I also coated the supporting angle iron. I used 2x8 green doug fir. I was told that one of the best ways to keep the floor from rotting out was to NOT butt the boards up to each other, so that moisture wouldn't be held in those spaces....air flow was important to allow for drying. After the wood had been in the trailer for a couple of months, and summer heat had hit, I cleaned the trailer out, let it dry for a few days, and used an oil-based deck stain to treat the wood. I've got my mats screwed down to the floor with lag-screws to prevent slippage