Trailer floor replacement

[Dean O]

I need to replace the floor on one of our plant trailers.

last one I did I removed the old phenolic, replaced with ply and the covered with ali... right or wrong it worked and has lasted well enough.

 

this trailers a bit bigger - it carries a tracked chipper so has to be a robust floor. would it be more efficient to use a 3 mm ali chequer plate without the ply base? ie would it be strong enough alone??

It may well be a silly question - ive got a large list of tasks over the xmas break and this would cut the job in half if it would be sufficiently strong.

 

I'm guessing not and would largely depend on the strength of the bearers but thought I'd think out loud - anyone done this?

 

the alternative at the moment is to take all three of our trailers into an ifor dealer and see what I can get for them against a new larger tipper with ramps that will carry either the stumpy, chipper plus tip arrisings if required...

 

thanks

Dean

[treequip]

Where ply will deform and bounce back (within reason) 3mm ally treadplate will just distort around the bearers and go "wavey".

[Sandworks]

Hi Deano, the composite decks are good for about 7 years with careful use but the trailer flexes quite a bit, i have used 3mm plus the checker on plant and flat trailers with stitch welding, to be honest it is fine but ads weight and stresses the rest of the chassis,

resulting in further repairs, this summer my bobcat polished off the floor of the lm 14 66 flatbed, so i replaced the floor with scots pine 9x2.5 planks from my local mill, about 10 mm gaps using the same style of screws that they originally used for installation, while i was at it i did the spring bushes and checked the slider sides for wear, so six odd months in no cracks no fear of the floor failing, and no worries about compromising the surface, the trailer is firmer loading diggers and skid steers, and lengths of timber can be loaded without fear of damage.

Worst case if you break a board its 8 or 10 screws and its replaced!

also doused all sides with real creosote....

best part is it needs no maintenance, little cleaning.

Side benefit it makes for a very quiet trailer:-))

 

Seasons greetings!

[agrimog]

your alli chequer plate is very slippy when wet and surprisinly doesnt have a lot of strength, it would be a lot better laid over exterior ply or solid timber, the best solution would be keruen, same as is used on truck floors( far eastern hard wood grown in the mangrove swamps, is about 30% silica, and very very hard !!) it would outlast the steel

[david wood]

did my trailer with marine ply and then chequer plate over top - bomb proof so far

[Mull]

did my trailer with marine ply and then chequer plate over top - bomb proof so far

 

 

What type of bomb did you use?

[easy-lift guy]

did my trailer with marine ply and then chequer plate over top - bomb proof so far

 

Good choice, I believe you will enjoy your investment:thumbup1:

easy-lift guy

[david wood]

my usual delicate style, logs dropped in by tractor, hardcore etc raked out by jcb, tracked chippers, road rollers. pretty much whatever i want to lob in.

 

i tend to break most stuff through hard working it and this is lasting a few years now.

[renewablejohn]

I have always used the weldmesh as used on suspended walkways to produce a light strong trailer floor.

[Dean O]

I wouldn't have thought of weldmesh - this would be great for removing the need for cleaning the trailer floor...

 

I can put my hands on plenty of Norway spruce planks (if I mill them), this is pretty light when dry, but would they be strong enough, or durable enough.. say at 1.5 - 2 inch.?