Trailer deck refinish

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
Joined
Dec 14, 2011
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My trailer was getting ratty and nothing is more pitiful than a ratty trailer, especially after you bought it new and don't like seeing your stuff get ratty.

I have been using linseed oil and a pigment in years past but quite frankly, it just doesn't last more than a solid year.

This year, I sanded the boards and used "Deck, Porch and Patio floor paint."
I hope it holds up better, hopefully a couple of years.

what do you guys use?

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I hope that works, I, too, am not impressed with linseed oil
 
I have a friend who uses Thompson's Water seal. His trailer is at least ten years old with the same floor it came with.
 
IMO Linseed oil is probably as good as you can get. You might try thinning it with mineral spirits to allow it to penetrate the wood fibers better.
Yote
 
I gotta do my trailer soon I'm not sure what to use as of yet .
 
My trailer looks ratty from the POS sitting on it.
I need to pull the motor and trans, and take the rest of it up to my farm, so it can finish rusting.

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TrailBeast said:
A rented trailer, because the tires, license, upkeep and storing when not in use costs more than renting. :D
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I could not do that unless rentals come with a winch.

you might notice I have a truck bed box on mine with a hole on the front. There is a mega thick steel plate under the box that is custom welded and a winch in the box. The cable comes through the hole in the front and there are J-hooks attached to the ends.

With my size, there is absolutely no way I am going to pushing cars onto a trailer (usually by myself) this way I am in and out like a towing pro LOL ....J-hooks around the K- frame or control arms and WIRRRRRRRRR....flat tires and all (if necessary).
 
Paint rarely holds up on wood left outside.

For a bare wooden deck an oil stain soaks in where paint just sits on the surface.

So when painted wood absorbs moisture & then heats up in the sun, the water in the wood turns to steam & blisters the paint off the surface over time.
 
I don't treat the deck on my trailer. It is a 2003. It's fine. But I will say, one thing that does last......oil drips from an engine. That would be the best soak you could do in my opinion!
 
I'm no help here, my trailer deck is boiler plate steel! It is covered with a 3 part epoxy coating like they use on the floors of Home Depot, because the guy I bought the trailer from did all of the Home Depot floors and gave me a few extra cans!!
 
Is the steel deck slippery when it gets wet?
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
I could not do that unless rentals come with a winch.

WIRRRRRRRRR....flat tires and all (if necessary).
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It's been only the last few years I've had a winch, because I'm getting old and feeble

For DECADES I used a pair of come-a-longs. Now these are not HF ones, but they are the "smaller size." These are "dual cable" IE a snatchblock, but the SLIP HOOKS which they come with are useless. I replace the hooks with GRAB hooks, and when loading a car, stretch out a chain from the front so I can "leapfrog" one over the other as they run up out of cable.
 
gdrill said:
I don't treat the deck on my trailer. It is a 2003. It's fine. But I will say, one thing that does last......oil drips from an engine. That would be the best soak you could do in my opinion!
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I always treat the floor with used engine oil. call me polluter!?? I do it every year or when it looks "thirsty"... creosote works well but I thought they claimed it to cause cancer?? not even sure it can be purchased. messy and stinks.
I have had car trailers with steel tread plate floors. I have heard people claim them to be slippery, but I have never had a problem myself. but I have the moves of a squirrel too.
I have moved to Tx. Seems everyone here runs tags on their trailers. I bought my last trailer new in "95 or 6. I never sent in the cert. of origin for title! or tag. ha

I wonder if Tx will believe it was an on the farm trailer and let me send off for a title and tags!? ha
 
^^Depends on the state^^ In Idaho a typical flatbed car trailer HAS NO title. You go in, describe it, first time you either declare it's value or show "what you put into it" whether bought or built and they tax you on that (once) then fee for tags, which is minimal. I buy my trailer tags "10 year" tag.

I still have the "built" certificate for my locally built Fox trailer, which I bought used, but when I reworked the tongue, the plastic glue on sticker "that is the VIN" got melted LOL

I converted it..........

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..........into a tilt setup......

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...........One of my brighter ideas if I do say so........

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Rainy Day Auto said:
I could not do that unless rentals come with a winch.

you might notice I have a truck bed box on mine with a hole on the front. There is a mega thick steel plate under the box that is custom welded and a winch in the box. The cable comes through the hole in the front and there are J-hooks attached to the ends.

With my size, there is absolutely no way I am going to pushing cars onto a trailer (usually by myself) this way I am in and out like a towing pro LOL ....J-hooks around the K- frame or control arms and WIRRRRRRRRR....flat tires and all (if necessary).
Click to expand...

Yep I saw it all set up nice and I'm sure it's a heck of a lot easier for you to own one.
One of my friend's has two, a non winch and a winch that he lets me borrow when I need one.
Every time I use it I bring it back clean and with a case of Corona with a bag of limes.
Kind of surprised he doesn't ask me to borrow it sometimes.:D
 
TrailBeast said:
Yep I saw it all set up nice and I'm sure it's a heck of a lot easier for you to own one.
One of my friend's has two, a non winch and a winch that he lets me borrow when I need one.
Every time I use it I bring it back clean and with a case of Corona with a bag of limes.
Kind of surprised he doesn't ask me to borrow it sometimes.:D
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you must be like REALLY good buddies. Every single time I let a friend take this trailer out (three times total) something came back messed up ......so now I don't even let my relatives use it ...except one.

The first time it came back with wrecked fender. the excuse "so sorry, I am not used to driving with a trailer and I forgot to turn wide" I ended up footing the bill to fix it because he wanted to have a back woods hillbilly friend of his take it (and probably use it) and weld on a new fender. HOW ABOUT NO, so I just fixed it myself.

The second time one of the ramps came back messed up and one of the battery cables for the winch was melted and of course no one saw anything and no one knows anything....I got the blank stare like "ramp, what's that!?!?!" "the cable was like that" (yea right)

The third time it came back and the spare tire was missing .......again no one saw anything, no one knows anything, "what's a tire".... I ended up having to replace it, out of my own pocket.

So now I just say NO....if they think I am an *** ...oh well, but no one takes it out of my sight. LOL
 
^^Yup^^ In the early seventies a "friend" borrowed my trailer, I told him "I want you to repack the wheel bearings." "OK"

Monday he comes into work and tosses a dead beat hot bearing on the counter.

"What's that out of?"

"You REALLY SHOULD grease the bearings in your trailer once in awhile", he says

"Didn't I TELL you to do that?"
 
I loaned my enclosed trailer to a good friend one time, it come back with a bent fender.
He offered to pay, I refused, but nobody is borrowing any of my trailers ever again.
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
you must be like REALLY good buddies. Every single time I let a friend take this trailer out (three times total) something came back messed up ......so now I don't even let my relatives use it ...except one.

The first time it came back with wrecked fender. the excuse "so sorry, I am not used to driving with a trailer and I forgot to turn wide" I ended up footing the bill to fix it because he wanted to have a back woods hillbilly friend of his take it (and probably use it) and weld on a new fender. HOW ABOUT NO, so I just fixed it myself.

The second time one of the ramps came back messed up and one of the battery cables for the winch was melted and of course no one saw anything and no one knows anything....I got the blank stare like "ramp, what's that!?!?!" "the cable was like that" (yea right)

The third time it came back and the spare tire was missing .......again no one saw anything, no one knows anything, "what's a tire".... I ended up having to replace it, out of my own pocket.

So now I just say NO....if they think I am an *** ...oh well, but no one takes it out of my sight. LOL
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We have known each other for a really long time because he used to own the other major computer repair place in town.
We have worked together because I hired him to help with some of the jobs that required two people, like setting up a virtual remote network where there are two locations to set up and larger jobs where I just wanted some help and paid him $80 an hour for his help.
We have partied together, camped together and off roaded together and all he ever knew of me was I was good for my word and could be trusted, so I'm sure that made a difference.
In reality I only have two people I call friends, and all three of us are like that with each other.

I remember the post about a torque wrench you loaned out and couldn't get back, and I think that one would have done it for me.
 
The floor on my trailer is 1 & 1/2 inch thick plywood. I use old motor oil on it twice a year. I carry some cardboard with me for when I have to lay under the vehicles to put the tie downs on it. It also has a 12000 pound winch on it which makes things a lot easier.
 
Jadaharabi said:
The floor on my trailer is 1 & 1/2 inch thick plywood. I use old motor oil on it twice a year. I carry some cardboard with me for when I have to lay under the vehicles to put the tie downs on it. It also has a 12000 pound winch on it which makes things a lot easier.
Click to expand...
mine is ribbed alum. out of a fruehoff trsailer, never do anything to it .
 
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