Trailer boards....

[inkjunkie]

Have to replace the boards on the car trailer and the little utility trailer. Will be using pressure treated lumber. Both trailers have these style
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053#.UNtfXaOjW-c
goofy a** bolts. On both trailers half of them are busted. Thinking about just using hex head nuts/bolts & washers. Any disadvantages other than the bolts heads potentially hooking on the pallets that our heat (Pellet Stove) comes on?

 

[lou3500]

Carrage bolts is what i would use,the dome type headed bolt with a square part under the head to grab the wood when tightened.like these just a larger diameter shank. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...&langId=-1&keyword=carrage+bolt&storeId=10051

 

[Bad Sport]

Thinking about just using hex head nuts/bolts & washers. Any disadvantages other than the bolts heads potentially hooking on the pallets that our heat (Pellet Stove) comes on?

I would use carriage bolts, you know the ones with the rounded head. That's what is on all three of my trailers. Nothing to hook on. Once you snug them down the head will draw into the wood some and will not bother in any way the sliding of things in and out.

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

I also use carriage bolts. I don't recall where I got them but I found galvenized carrage bolts and nuts like used on chainlink fence but longer.

 

[Bad Sport]

Also when you drill the hole in the wood leave it small enough to catch the square part under the bolt head, it will keep it from spinning when you put the nut on.

 

[inkjunkie]

I also use carriage bolts. I don't recall where I got them but I found galvenized carrage bolts and nuts like used on chainlink fence but longer.

Hardware up her is so damn expensive. I need to get some hardware for some shelves, the trailers and a cart/stand for the two Big Green Eggs so I was just going to order it from http://www.boltdepot.com/Default.aspx
Last time I checked prices I could get two 100 piece boxes from Bolt Depot for the price of 1 100 box locally. I was hoping to go to the surplus store in Glendale AZ last time I was there and stock up on things but just did not have the time. Marks sells stuff that I have not seen up here. I looked into getting a longer torch for the welder I just got, for what they want locally I can get a pair of them on line. Kind of frustrating how this stuff works out at times.....

 

[65Val]

Problem with carriage bolts is...when you try and remove them a few years down the road and the nut rusts solid, the whole bolt just spins. You have to grind the heads off to get things loose.

Im would counter-sink regular hex-head bolts into the wood planks...that way you have something to grab when you remove the planks next....similar to this...

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

Hardware up her is so damn expensive. I need to get some hardware for some shelves, the trailers and a cart/stand for the two Big Green Eggs so I was just going to order it from http://www.boltdepot.com/Default.aspx
Last time I checked prices I could get two 100 piece boxes from Bolt Depot for the price of 1 100 box locally. I was hoping to go to the surplus store in Glendale AZ last time I was there and stock up on things but just did not have the time. Marks sells stuff that I have not seen up here. I looked into getting a longer torch for the welder I just got, for what they want locally I can get a pair of them on line. Kind of frustrating how this stuff works out at times.....

That is a heck of a place to buy the galvenized carriage bolts. I book marked it because I have a huge chain link fence to do and I can save some $$$$ ordering from them.

Problem with carriage bolts is...when you try and remove them a few years down the road and the nut rusts solid, the whole bolt just spins. You have to grind the heads off to get things loose.

Im would counter-sink regular hex-head bolts into the wood planks...that way you have something to grab when you remove the planks next....similar to this...

That is why I use galvenized carriage bolts. Never ran in to a rust issue with them. The counter sunk bolts leaves an area for water, snow and ice to get in causing the wood to fail quicker. I have removed chain link that had been up for 30+ years and reused the bolts and nuts on another fence.

 

[65Val]

The counter sunk bolts leaves an area for water, snow and ice to get in causing the wood to fail quicker

I usually protect all sides of the wood with multiple coats (6-10) of wood preserve/stain/water repellent etc. before I bolt them down. Works for me, and we get lots of rain up here.

There is also that "plastic wood" available, you know,sized planks made out of recycled plastic? You'll never have to replace those!

 

[dartman1965]

Anti seize helps on the rust issue also.

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

I usually protect all sides of the wood with multiple coats (6-10) of wood preserve/stain/water repellent etc. before I bolt them down. Works for me, and we get lots of rain up here.

There is also that "plastic wood" available, you know,sized planks made out of recycled plastic? You'll never have to replace those!

Sealer would certianly help. My sister in law has the plastic boards and they sagged due to lack of support being they ran the cross boards on 24' centers. I will be the first to say all the work done at her place was done crappy.

 

[inkjunkie]

Sealer would certianly help. My sister in law has the plastic boards and they sagged due to lack of support being they ran the cross boards on 24' centers. I will be the first to say all the work done at her place was done crappy.

Do you mean 24" centers?? Hope so....I will be building a cart for our Big Green Eggs and was thinking about using the plastic boards on the top of it. I am aware of the sagging issues, a neighbor has them on there deck and they look like hell. Was thinking about Carriage bolts just hate having to wrestle with them when the need arises to take things apart again.
If I was not using the trailer to pick up pallets that need to be slid on the trailer I would not be to worried about using hex bolts. The counter sink idea will work for me, just have to remember to seal the boards every now and then. Hmmmm......

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

Do you mean 24" centers?? Hope so....I will be building a cart for our Big Green Eggs and was thinking about using the plastic boards on the top of it. I am aware of the sagging issues, a neighbor has them on there deck and they look like hell. Was thinking about Carriage bolts just hate having to wrestle with them when the need arises to take things apart again.
If I was not using the trailer to pick up pallets that need to be slid on the trailer I would not be to worried about using hex bolts. The counter sink idea will work for me, just have to remember to seal the boards every now and then. Hmmmm......

Yes 24" centers and they look like **** from sagging. I haven't seen any job done with them that has held up without some sagging. I thought alot of it is from our long heat waves the last few years.

I hated the self drilling screws my trailer was put together with. Where the wood wasn't bad I had to cut the wood in sections and then split the boards if I still couldn't snap the screw off. Then I had to take a grinder to clean everything up again so the surface would be flat and then prime and paint the raw metal. I was doing it by myself so the carriage bolts were great because I put all the wood in and spaced it, then drilled all the holes so the bolts would be just where the bolt would slide through the angle iron and be lined up. I taped the heads down with a hammer and then I crawled under the trailer and installed washers and nuts. It would have been easier with two people but I wasn't that lucky at the time.

 

[74DartSwinger360]

There is also that "plastic wood" available, you know,sized planks made out of recycled plastic? You'll never have to replace those!

They are Garbage! The warp badly and to keep from warping you have to support it every foot and a half.
I will grab a pic of a picnic bench I made last sumer it is the shape of a U and cant be used. Both seats and the top warped in a period of 6 months. I was not impressed. Especially when regular wood dont warp for a few years and it doesnt warp much

 

[inkjunkie]

I talked to a carpenter friend about the plastic wood and he is not to fond of it. He said that he has only used the least expensive of them and has had a lot of sagging issues with it. He used it at his place about 45 minutes north of here where they get a boat load more snow then we do. Was on 16" centers and after the heavy snow in 08 had some troubles with it. Years ago I fixed my parents deck and just used pressure treated stuff form a lumber yard. Close to 20 years of Jersey weather, with 0 care given to it, and it was holding up great. Seriously doubt the pressure treated lumber of today will hold up as well......the stuff I will be putting on the car trailer has been sitting in our yard for close to 5 years now and still looks new. But it did not come from a box store, it came from a lumber yard.....

 

[inkjunkie]

They are Garbage! The warp badly and to keep from warping you have to support it every foot and a half.
I will grab a pic of a picnic bench I made last sumer it is the shape of a U and cant be used. Both seats and the top warped in a period of 6 months. I was not impressed. Especially when regular wood dont warp for a few years and it doesnt warp much

Please do get a picture of it, I would like to see it. I was planning on using it for the top of the Egg cart but.....Thanks for the heads up.....

 

[clhyer]

Do you have a Tractor Supply in your area? You can buy carriage bolts in bulk there, also the nuts and washers.
How thick will the boards be that you will be using? 5/4 is good (a full 1" thick), 2 by is better (1 1/2" thick). Better yet, if you have a source of hardwood lumber is white oak - not red oak...
C

 

[inkjunkie]

No tractor supply, but there is a BIG R that sells in bulk. Will be using 2 by.....but even buying them in bulk from Big R they cost more then going online....shipping vs tax included....