Trailer Deck

[meatc]

Opinions and reasons for different types of trailer deck required.

Need to redeck my trailer. For the past couple of years it has just had a couple of runners on it for my W/C truck to sit on. They need replacing and I am sick of not having a full deck on it, so looking at options.

Trailer is tandem and solidly built so can take a load (you know 2m3of gravel etc) and before I modded it to take the truck, it had 35x50 t&g truck deck timber on it. Can't seem to find this stuff any more.

Options
19mm ply (shiplap joins over crossmembers)
or
2 layers 9mm/12mm ply (joins as they fall but off set, glued together)
or
150 x 50 (6x2)
or
150 x 40 decking
or
3mm core 10 steel

Deck is 1800 x 3000 by the way.

Thoughts?

[crazyclark31]

i'd be going with the 6x2 decking. is strong as bugger,wont move like the 40mm stuff will. Make sure its oregan as pine will shift all over the place. Also take the gauging off the edge. this will square the edges so you get a good tight fit.
we have a timber deck and a steel deck trailer for work and the timber deck is by far the best for tying shit onto. stuff moves around on the steel deck.

[mudlva]

what about 3mm grip tread alloy

isnt as slippery as steel and way lighter than timber especially when the timber gets wet

or hard wood 18mm ply

[nismo26]

I used the stuff in the link on the last trailer I made.

http://www.plytech.co.nz/Transport/Tranz.aspx

http://www.plytech.co.nz/userDocuments/ ... ex_220.pdf

[tweake]

plywood. i will have to go measure the thickness.

6x2 is nice and strong but it weighs a lot. can be prone to warping. unless your carrying small very heavy objects like big rocks all the time, 6x2 is massive overkill. only time i would go 6x2 is when you have a very big distance between cross members.

plus ply is easy to replace when damaged.

[Suza]

Did a deck as a cashier on trailer not long ago and used the 6x2 tgv retaining wall stuff. Worked out real well. Screwed it down with 75mm tec screws and used my 2.2m sash cramps (big heavy cast ones) to squish up each board so they were super tight

[Bruiser70]

Have redone 2X truck decks for an engineering company in chch 6 months ago the guys are blody rough on them Forklift impacts, dropped steel,etc etc.
The decks were 12mm quila ply(no good holds fluid oils etc and becomes slippery when wet) also didnt take bugger all to bust holes in deck. Replaced both decks with 150X50 TnG P/G Truck decking supplied by the local ITM. Dressed size is approx135mmX35mm Not super expensive either and blody tough!

[tweake]

trucks can be a bit different as the gap between cross members can be quite large.
also a commercial truck is going to have a massive amount of use compared to an average light trailer.

[De-Ranged]

I use 16mm treated ply but I don't have any support gaps over 500mm and I've never punched through I have used this on decks on tyre trucks and lasted well and at $50 a sheet ya can't go wrong

[callum007]

Im about to fit 200x50 retaining t&g to my new trailer. I have run it through the thicknesser to take a few mm off each side, then will paint with http://www.epoxyglue.com/timber-sealer.html. stops it absorbing moisture and doesnt shrink as much.

[wjw]

I used 2 sheets of 18mm marine ply and then used some silicone to seal the joints, then used tek screws to attach direct to the steel. Been going for 4 years and have only broken two screws so far. Has a dents and chunks missing now. My thoughts were, wood is great as stuff doesnt slide around and its easily replaced. The Briford trailer I had the steel deck looked awful after a year.

[churchill]

If you do use metal put a bit of urethane (car bond) between all the trailer and deck contact surfaces. This will help stop any rattling.

[Cameron]

What kinda crossmember spacing should i get away with on a 19mm ply deck on a transporter? Any advantage to ply over 50x25 decking timber?
Just removed the 6x2 runners with 19mm ply rotbox shit and wana get my deck height down a tad

[callum007]

You will find ply is stronger that decking anyday. 19mm sounds light for a transport trailer to me. 22mm or even better 25mm ply on 400mm spaced members would be ok. compare it to building a house.. most floor joists are 400mm apart and have 21mm flooring on them.. I wouldn't drive my car in my house.

[rokhound]

I have ex 4 x 1 1/2 (90 x 40) pine decking on my transporter, sits over 3 x 2 steel box section at 500 ctrs. I use the trailer for a 2.5t bobcat and my POS and this works a treat. The timber is sandwiched between the main frame members and screwed down with truck deck screws.

[Cameron]

choice. Yeah mine's 3400 long and only has two crossmembers equally spaced aside of the main ones at the end. will add a couple more of course.
Was just going to 6x2 the whole thing but did a calc or two and I'll gain a hundred kilos easy. Trying to drop the height of this thing a little whilst retaining full deck, good strength and losing a little weight at the same time if possible

[mudlva]

my h/d builders trailer which can carry 1mtr of builders mix and 5 bags cement is lined in 12mm hardwood ply or 400 centers cross runners

the trailer also transports my mini bobcat which weight 1.1/1.2t with the 3n1 bucket on it, and the tray is showing a bit of wear but over all it is still good for its age and still very sound

it you dont want to go for ally then the hardwood ply on 400 center runners would be the lightest and still strong option that i would be susgesting