The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Trailer Decking

I will need to replace the pine decking on my 18' flat bed soon. Material cost using 2 x 10 treated is in the $212 range plus hardware.

Instead of wood I am thinking of using steel diamond plate but what thickness would be required for a car hauler? 14 Ga (.083) or 1/8".
The 1/8 inch is around 6lb/SF and the 14 ga is 4lb/sf. The treated wood is 77lb/board. This puts the weight savings with the 14 gauge plate at 576lb followed by the wood at 693lb and the 1/8 plate at 864lb.

The cost factor strongly favors the wood as 4.5 (5)sheets (4 x 8) of the plate would be needed. The 14 ga material cost would be in the $376 and the 1/8 inch would be $643. So looking at the cost aspect, if I had to use 1/8 inch for strength requirements, then the wood is the answer as I can replace the wood three times over the life of the trailer for the cost of the 1/8 plate. If the 14 ga is sufficient then over time it would be the better from a cost aspect.

Has anyone out there changed from wood to metal? Any regrets/problems/advice?

Mr. Huston: All of our trailers, tractor, livestock, and such are treated wood. Take care of it and it will last a lifetime. My trailer at home is 1/8 plate Not Diamond tho have to repaint it every 5 yrs.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (Talk to you later)

Most of the higher quality car transport trailers have the steel floor. Is there somewhere that you can go look at some of them and see what the spacing of the braces beneath the flooring is and what thickness of plate they used. Its hard to get good lumber here abouts. When I build my trailer, I am going to find one I really like and measure and duplicate it. I will probably put in a steel floor. All of our flatbed trailers with lumber, have to be re-screwed every few years. The lumber tends to warp and twist and pull through the screws. Maybe because its wo dry here compared to where you are at.
Ralph

My trailer is covered with 4 sheets of 1 - 1/8" tongue and groove plywood. Don't know the weight but the cost was about $160.00. I finished both sides before installing and it is several (15 +) years old and still sound.

Steel diamond-tread (1/8" thick) runs about $350/sheet these days...you sure you want to spend that kind of money??? Plus, you'll need to compensate for the wood thickness versus the plate with more angle between the frame and the plate. Wood deck trailers and steel deck trailers are built differently. When you try to convert a wood deck to a steel deck, what most end with is a bastardized train wreck as a result. Stick with the wood, you'll be glad you did, both for the effort and the end result. Spend the money on some top quality wood planks, and whether they're treated or not, sand them down and finish them similar to how you do a home floor or a patio deck. Repaint the steel on your trailer and rewire, if necessary, first. Then install and finish your new trailer deck. You'll be money ahead in the long run, have a better-quality trailer than what you started with, and have a decking that'll last you as long as ten years, with annual resealing.

Plus, if you haul anything other than cars, a steel floor is a terrible thing to have. Ever drive a farm tractor on a wet steel deck? There's an adventure! Implements tend to slide a bit on steel, too, no matter how they're tied down. Cars will even tend to move a bit on steel. Wood trailers don't have that slippage problem. That's why nearly all of the semi trailers out there have wood decks on them!

I sold trailers for five years, so I have my biases on this.

I have treated wood in mine,, a 16 foot-er,,have owned it 17 yrs and bought it from some-one else used,, bed/wood is still good,,Fred

I to have the wood floor trailer. I busted my butt tooooo many times on a steel floor even with the diamond plates. The first time I rolled the sealer on real heavy. It will suck it up big time if the wood is dry. The key it to really saturate it. After that I just keep an eye on how well the water beads on it and when it doesn't suit me I fill up the sprayer and wet it down good. I've used mine for 6 years now and it still looks good. And of coarse all the grease off the old cars and trucks help keep it sealed to.