Wood for trailer body

Bitten & Hisses

I have an old tipper at home with timber sides which are now looking a bit tired to say the least. They look like 3" or 4" x 1" tongued and grooved board. What timber would be suitable for this kind of application?

reilig

Bitten & Hisses wrote: »

I have an old tipper at home with timber sides which are now looking a bit tired to say the least. They look like 3" or 4" x 1" tongued and grooved board. What timber would be suitable for this kind of application?

Traditionally, most trailers were done with larch. Its a good hard wearing timber. If its treated and stored inside, it will last a very long time.

blue5000

ya Larch is the best. Douglas fir is a good substitute. coilte sawmill in dundrum Co Tipp should have it.

vanderbadger

ya used douglas for floor of cattle trailer..seems like god enough stuff

denis086

if your just using the trailer for jobs around the place and not renovating it then it might be an idea to get the local welder to get sides folded for it and a the floor done we did it for an old abbey 12ft trailer and it was the right way to do it but it had steel sides and a timber floor originally but there was a steel floor put on top of the timber we have a dooley 15 foot half the age timber grain and silage trailer and the floors gone already so steel is a good job and will last longer than the wood if kept inside aswell our abbey was outside 90% of the time the dooley didnt spend one night outside just my experience

Bitten & Hisses

Thanks for the feedback lads. The floor is steel plate on a steel chassis, so it's only the sides I need to re-timber. It has spent a lot of time outside, but I'm now in a position to keep it housed after it's sorted out.

roosterman71

denis086 wrote: »

if your just using the trailer for jobs around the place and not renovating it then it might be an idea to get the local welder to get sides folded for it and a the floor done we did it for an old abbey 12ft trailer and it was the right way to do it but it had steel sides and a timber floor originally but there was a steel floor put on top of the timber we have a dooley 15 foot half the age timber grain and silage trailer and the floors gone already so steel is a good job and will last longer than the wood if kept inside aswell our abbey was outside 90% of the time the dooley didnt spend one night outside just my experience

Punctuation would add more credence to your post

blue5000

Punctuation would add more credence to your post

FFS WHAT ARE YOU A FEKKIN ENGLISH TEACHER OFF FOR THE SUMMER:mad:

Casinoking

blue5000 wrote: »

Punctuation would add more credence to your post

FFS WHAT ARE YOU A FEKKIN ENGLISH TEACHER OFF FOR THE SUMMER:mad:

Well it would make it a bit easier to read at least.

roosterman71

blue5000 wrote: »

Punctuation would add more credence to your post

FFS WHAT ARE YOU A FEKKIN ENGLISH TEACHER OFF FOR THE SUMMER:mad:

No

pakalasa

I've got to agree with the point about puntuation.:rolleyes:
A lot of, what I gather are, younger people are using a lot of this, so called, "Texting English". I find it difficult to read too.

We had an old English teacher in my day, who would "beat 10 shades of ****e out of ya", if you got as much as a coma in the wrong position.:D

Ford4000

Ah for god sake this is a thread about timber for a trailer !!!!
Not everyone may be as educated as those who have condemned denis086, he made a good point and leave it at that.

I used larch on my own trailer, treated it a few times with cresote before fitting it, where the timber meets steel at any place i packed plenty grease into it and its lasting really well !

roosterman71

I've built 2 trailers and used larch in both. On has it on the floor as well as sides. The other has a steel floor. Both are lasting very well, and don't always be left inside. Larch is very resilient and ideal for this job

blue5000

roosterman71 wrote: »

I've built 2 trailers and used larch in both. On has it on the floor as well as sides. The other has a steel floor. Both are lasting very well, and don't always be left inside. Larch is very resilient and ideal for this job

You left an e out of the word one. Sorry for being a bit over the top earlier.

cjpm

Larch is great alright. We have a few larch stakes around the place that must be about 40 years old!!

P.S Thanks to Denis for a good reply above, although I'd agree with the comments on grammer. Even just adding full stops makes reading posts a hell of a lot easier for everyone.

pakalasa

Old engine oil is great too. I add it at the start of every winter to trailer floors, especially around the edges where it will seep down to the steel underneath and stop that rusting too.
It will take a few weeks, but will dry almost completely.;)

Ford4000

pakalasa wrote: »

Old engine oil is great too. I add it at the start of every winter to trailer floors, especially around the edges where it will seep down to the steel underneath and stop that rusting too.
It will take a few weeks, but will dry almost completely.;)

Yeah tis great stuff the blacker the better !!!!!

iano93

Need to put new sideboards on the trailer at home and came across this tread..used tongue and grooved boards before they were grand and easy to fit but took little or no abuse
Could anyone tell me is this larch timber available readily?
IS the doughlas fir alternative just exterior shuttering plywood?

Username John

pakalasa wrote: »

Old engine oil is great too. I add it at the start of every winter to trailer floors, especially around the edges where it will seep down to the steel underneath and stop that rusting too.
It will take a few weeks, but will dry almost completely.;)

It will almost dry completely - but adds a nice slippery element to the floor. So when yer "making the load" of bales the next summer, the first few bales in every load are fun, trying to stand up and move em around

Muckit

iano93 wrote: »

Could anyone tell me is this larch timber available readily?
IS the doughlas fir alternative just exterior shuttering plywood?

I know near me only one sawmill does Larch, most others only do softwood (spruce). Even those that do softwood may have douglas fir logs come in on a load, so might be worth checking out.

Douglas Fir can be got in planks the same as larch. Usually hard to tell them apart from larch anyway. They're very similar and equally hard wearing. Also, if you could, get them pressure treated if they offer it. Well worth the extra money.

Shuttering ply is exactly that, for shuttering. It's not worth a damn on the floor of a tractor trailer, except for maybe a quick fix.