Time for new decking. Also time to upgrade the flimsy crossmembers over the tires. I'm thinking channel laid flat will be better than the angle that's there now.
Low,strong or easy pick ONE.
I think I'd use a piece of 2 inch 1/4 wall square tube there
I'm going to need to do the deck on my tag. Look forward to seeing yours
I don't understand what you're referring to.
No tubes! Anything that can hold moisture/dirt is a big no-no. It'll hold salty dirt and rust out in no time. I need to use something that is open on one side. I have some 5" channel that should work if I lay it flat.
Good,fast,cheap or easy pick one.
Sounds like a old commercial from the 70's, I'm always chasing rainbows, because I don't understand either
Fill them with fluid film. If your really concerned about that use solid stock!
Fluid film lasts about 10 minutes in the winter around here. I already have channel anyway
Looks like it's ready for a thinned out coat of Rust-Oleum paint.
How's this
Finally...
Looks great! ready for another 20 years of service
Looks good, how did you fasten the decking ?
Trailer deck screws. Local trailer store wanted $2/ea for the screws, this place 18¢ each. Torx T40 Trailer Deck Screws in 5/16-18 2-1/2" Partially Threaded TrailerDecking.com provides pre-oiled torx T40 in 5/16-18 2-1/2" screws with thread-cutting tips for trailer floor fastening. www.trailerdecking.com
Nice job
Like last call she's pretty as long as it's dark out
Trying to figure how you found the original screw holes? Drill up from frame hole with smaller bit then screw down from top?
I just drilled new holes. The old screws came off with a 3 lb sledge
Apparently I never re-torqued the lug nuts after doing the decking and paint work One stud was cracked and broke when I torqued it, so I decided to replace all the studs on that hub. I was planning to replace the lug nuts with acorn style to keep the threads from getting rusty like they always do, but I didn't realize the cone seats angle was 90 degrees instead of the typical 60 degrees. So now I have 32 lug nuts for sale...
That's a good tire!
What happened there?
Not exactly sure. I noticed it when I picked up the Mecalac on Saturday. The driveway at that job is 3-4" crushed stone so a bit rough, but I wouldn't expect it to tear up a tire that badly. I'm surprised it still held air. I was a little nervous getting close enough to it to remove the valve core. Chinese tires only last so long I guess. These tires were on it when I bought the trailer in 2020 so I can't complain too much. The wheels are getting a bit rusty and the other tires probably won't last too much longer so I'm considering upgrading to 17.5" wheels and tires. I imagine they would wear a lot better and handle full loads better.
BTW did you use 2x10's or 12's? and what kind of wood was used?
5 year old ***** tires are *****! That is an interesting slippage.
The middle plank is 14" wide, the next on either side are 8", then 10" and the outer two on both sides are 12". Oil soaked hemlock.
Hemlock, never thought of that I'm looking around at where I can get rough cut lumber, because I really need to redo the trailer
My asterisk translator isn't working, does that say "5 year old black tires are round"? We could turn this into an mad-libs game...
I had milled this years ago and it was stored inside/under cover. It still shrank a fair amount after I installed it from the trailer sitting in the sun all day every day.
If your channel clears travel of the tires, you are good. You've violated your own rule about trapping salt, slime & water. Lets call those components over the tires expendable. You'll be my age when you need to replace them. I offer nothing in sandwich form to the salt demons. All steel is one layer only. also goes for wood over flat steel. I do sandwich steel sometimes, coat both surfaces with a barrel of Texaco Rustproof Compound L. I've hoarded it since 1974. No rust exists where it is displacing salt water.
Same word, twice. begins with S and ends with T. NOT SALT!
I see, must be "short" tires. I'll get taller ones next time
The 9 ton I used to have used an odd size tire, I owned it with a partner. He put Carlyle tires on it, Loaned it out first day it was roadworthy. Borower hauled it empty to Pennsylvania with electric brakes turned to the maximum. New tires were flat spotted octagonal. Local tire dealer talked me into Blue Star (Chinese tires) went through 12 (two sets) triaxle singles in 2000 miles. Sidewalls would blow out. I would tighten Dayton lugs each trip. Last trip I lost a wheel. I sold it. Current owner hauls a 3-1/2 ton excavator, reports no problems. My current trailer I've owned several years. 3 7500 LB axles plus tongue weight, with good tires they are holding up.
My brother hauled my Kubota over to his friends house for some driveway work and putting up one of those fabric shelters. I hate those fabric shelters but anyway, he told me it’s finally time to re-deck the 20’ equipment trailer. Been treating it for years but some boards are finally gone. Need to find some rough cut hemlock. Think I know who to call.
I laid hands on Black Locust logs, had them milled.
So far so good. Yes it's not ideal having that much flat metal with wood on top. But at least it's accessible for repainting if the planks are taken off. Box tube is not accessible on the inside with any method I am able to use. I haven't heard of that Texaco compound. Is it still being made?
Found a steal of a deal on 17.5" wheels for this trailer. Just had to go to Cape Cod to get them.
I don't know. In the 1970s my then brother in law found the product. If I recall the gun to spray it was very expensive. He borrowed the gun, did all the family vehicles in one or two days. I don't have the gun. I use a putty knife, body putty spreader, or warm it to liquid & paint it on. Stuff is like bubble gum. My 1971 Jeep was showing its age around 1976. Sprayed that on, it arrested the rust. Jeep took a wild ride down a wild river in 2011, but was road worthy & messy until then. I have heard of a new to market product it's a grease product with solvent. Comes in aerosol cans with a long flexible hose, with omni directional nozzle. You stick it through a drilled hole, pull it out as it sprays. I'll see if I can find it again. In your trailer frame, you'll have to replace the planking again, replace the rusted hollow sections then.
Are you talking about Woolwax? Thats what I use, I still have some Fluid Film left but the smell from that stuff makes me sick. Not to mention, the Fluid Film washes off easily.
Sounds like good stuff. There aren't any hollow sections on this trailer. With the decking off, all metal surfaces are accessible from either the top or bottom side. Obviously that doesn't mean they won't rust out, but it makes maintenance a lot easier.
I'd slobber any horizonal surface with some grease. When I decked the 9 ton I sold, I used pressure treated. I coated everything touching pressure treated with compound L. It must be 15 years, no rust.
Stopped by a local saw mill and their wanting to sell me on Poplar, I'm thinking because it's cheap an they have it. They said that's what I have on our trailers. I'm thinking just use treated lumber if I go poplar. Might see if I can get some beach
I wouldn't use Poplar for a trailer floor, it's fairly strong but also soft. Also in my experience it's only rot resistant in vertical applications and where it's never allowed to stay wet, such as siding, fence boards, etc. White Oak is the only native lumber around here I'd use for a trailer floor, very strong and fairly rot resistant.
Yes I have a saw mill and have tried about everything. White oak is the best. Then yellow pine. Yellow pine will last about 2.5 to 4 years if you get boards with little outside grain. Number 1 select. Treat it with oil. Popular is a horrible choice and it ruins quickly. I even tried select red oak boards. Bought expensive sealant and did the bottom of the board and tops. Once the heat from the sun hits the board the grain opens up and it lets in moisture. Red oak rotted out within 2 years and it was not worth the time it takes to cut it and deal with it. I cut all boards a full 2"s thick. You can mix the deck. I will just use 4 nice white oaks boards where the tires hit (2 each side) and fill the centers up with yellow pine. I have 4 white oak boards that have lasted a long time. I oil them every now and then and they still won't take much if any. The grain stays tight even in the sun. Full 2" white oak across the deck also increases your trailer weight. I switch to 1.5" yellow pine for the center boards. To cut back on weight. I have 4 bigger trailers with wood decks. One particular trailer the white oak has not failed been on there years and had lots of abuse. I would drive 100 miles to get it, it's that good.
The Poplar (we have here) would be a very poor choice. Soft, rots, twisted grain. Very weak wood…soaks up water like a sponge.
White Oak is a good choice to avoid the corrosive chemicals in PT yellow pine. I am trying Black Locust I had some milled, haven't yet put them on the trailer. Black Locust is said to last ten years longer than stone. I'd like to sandblast it & paint in the process. Did a cosmetic sandblast & paint several years ago when I bought it. I believe my trailer is 2006 model year the White Oak deck has a hole in center near the head board where it got loaned. otherwise, it looks good but it is getting weak I believe. Don't want to lose a tractor through it.
Guess I can't really complain, my trailer has a mix of pine and white oak. The pine is falling apart and the oak is splitting and curling and the trailer is almost 20 yrs
Finally got the new wheels and tires installed: They are a little wider than the 16" tires, but still clear everything ok: The only issue I had was with the studs I replaced in post #22. Those studs are a little shorter than the originals, but they were just long enough for the 16" wheels, but the 17.5" wheels are a bit thicker so I had to replace them again. Now they are plenty long.
Looks good and hope the oil level shows with the axle above level;
It was actually a little over full, but I'll keep an eye on it.
Keep an eye on the tire rub when loaded. I had an Economy triaxle. The linkage of the spring mounts seemed strange to me. Passing over rough terrain you might have a great deal of difference in the height of axles. I couldn't find good quality tires, only ones available in the size were Blue Star from China. I sold it to a guy who planned to haul half as much weight as I did, far less than manufacturers rating. He failed to adjust the pintle ring height, ran it way too low in front. Rubbed the front two tires on every bump. Ruined a pair of tires. Present owner tows it level, 5 ton mini excavator, he's happy with it. I now have a CAM Superliner triaxle 21500 LB, no problems in years.
Lignum Vitae--very hard was used as bearing material with propeller shafts on ships.
Harder than these 17.5" tires??
Lignum Vitae--unfortunately is a restricted wood. With a Zanka hardness of 4,390 lbs, very heavy/dense, insect resistant, resistant to the elements, has it's own oil and rot resistant. Unlike other wood sold by the BF, LV is sold by the pound. Hard on cutting tools.
Socket chisels, froes, and a few other woodworking tools should be struck with a mallet or beetle(like a short club) Lignum Vitae was prized for this duty. It also was/is used for contrasting inlay work.
Dam rust strikes again.
Got a little vibration when braking with that?!
Didn't notice any vibration, but did notice the smell of hot brakes. It was binding going forward but free in reverse. I'm thinking about converting to electric over hydraulic. Does anyone have experience with E/H brakes?
I have electric over hydraulic disc brakes on my Diamond C gooseneck.
What type of hydraulic actuator does it have? Some of the ones I've been looking at seem to only work with certain brake controllers on the truck.
I will take a picture here in a bit. my truck has the E/H option to switch between brake systems but I don't know of that matters because I didn't know it had that for a couple of years and the older trucks I have don't have it and it seemed to work fine. They are very different than the other style of brakes so much that when my friend hauled my trailer for the first time he told me they weren't working and proceeded to use the manual switch to engage on the hwy full blast and said see, I smacked his hand as quickly as I could and said when we get to a stop I will show you how they work. Some people don't like them because they don't "react" like what they are used to. I like them for that reason, they don't lock up, they act more like your truck brakes
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Other than the pads, the rust doesn’t look half as bad as it could be.
It would be a job to convert to E/H . I don't know if you could find the plates to fit your axles. Then run all the hyd lines. Looks to me like you just need all new shoes. What are you pulling this with the blue IH? Got the ability to go air brakes? Because that would be my choice if I was going to the work of converting.
I did some research and looked at those hydraulic actuators. More pricey than I thought they would be.
Just enough rust to pop the lining off the shoe.
I ended up just buying replacement shoes for the electric setup. Unfortunately with all the other things going on right now I don't have money available for upgrading to anything. Yes I do pull it with the IH most of the time, but occasionally with the 550, so it would be nice to keep it electrically controlled. And, the IH doesn't have trailer air so that would be a job to add also.
The previous owner put the brakes on the wrong sides. I wonder if that's why they were always over tightening themselves. More better:
Is this the drivers or passenger side of the trailer? You would get very poor braking if they were on the wrong direction.
This is the right side of the trailer.
I have a 1961 British IH B275 utility tractor. It has an unusual design disc brake set up. 2 clutch style discs each side, in between, are two cast discs with pockets to accept 3/4" balls. Rotate the discs against each other, the balls roll out of the pockets. Like power brakes on one side, like power brake on the other side in reverse. If it hasn't been used in a while the surfaces get rusty & grabby. With a bush hog lifted off the ground, pointing uphill, touch the left brake, it swivels 180 degrees faster than you'd think possible. Makes for a wild ride! These days that tractor mostly runs the wood splitter.