flooring a trailer

lab man

hey lads, ladies, Im going to put a new floor on a bale trailer that i am doing up i bought inch an a half by six inch lapped larch timber the question is when putting the timber up against each other should a small gap be left for the timber expanding thanks for any replies, lab man

Miname

lab man wrote: »

hey lads, ladies, Im going to put a new floor on a bale trailer that i am doing up i bought inch an a half by six inch lapped larch timber the question is when putting the timber up against each other should a small gap be left for the timber expanding thanks for any replies, lab man

If your putting it in this time of year you won't need to. Timber is swollen about as far as it ever will around winter so the only way it's going to go is to contract or get smaller. If you want to be on the safe side just drop a washer in between each board as a 2mm spacer.

lab man

thanks miname it would be a shame if it cracked the boards, as the timber has cost 550e

Genghis Cant

How were ya thinking of treating the timber?
Larch is a beautiful wood to work with.

lab man

I didn't think I would have to

Genghis Cant

lab man wrote: »

I didn't think I would have to

You don't have to. I have seen timbers treated on trailer beds.Larch was used a lot because of its durability. From Field gates to boats traditionally. I didn't think it was that easy to get it, is it native?

On a bale trailer the floor won't be constricted by sides so there'll be enough wriggle room for expansion. If you drill the holes oversized it will allow all you need.

Years ago lots of bog trailers around us were wooden floored. The floors would start of solid but shrink during the summer.

blue5000

OP where did you get the larch? A neighbour wants some for a low loader floor.

lab man

kilrush co clare could only get 16ft lengths I wanted 18,s

lab man

ill get e mail add if ya want an ph number they have fifty lenghts I think he said in the office

ford 5600

blue5000 wrote: »

OP where did you get the larch? A neighbour wants some for a low loader floor.

Banagher sawmills, which is actually nearer to Cloghan,btw, did do larch for trailer floors, 1 1-2 inch thick and in lots of different lengths. Not sure if they still do , but did for years, and had some 12 mths ago. Have got it for several jobs.

case5130

Paint them with burnt oil two or three times great protection

keep going

Could you use decking for a bale trailer floor , this trailer wont see alot of shed

Miname

keep going wrote: »

Could you use decking for a bale trailer floor , this trailer wont see alot of shed

Most decking boards are the softest muck that can be bought unless your going buying teak or such and then the price comes into play

severeoversteer

I think the auld lad got over 20 foot lengths of larch off woodfarm fencing supplies ahascragh Ballinasloe
http://www.woodfarmfencing.com/woodfarm-timber-products.html

muckit would live near enough I reckon

DarByrne1980

case5130 wrote: »

Paint them with burnt oil two or three times great protection

agreed - we used to mix burnted oil with cresote also. makes application a bit easier.

Kevhog1988

want to redo a rice horsebox floor too. what would ye reccomend?

Miname

theemigrant wrote: »

want to redo a rice horsebox floor too. what would ye reccomend?

Theres a lad out on the n4 or n7 (not sure)out of dublin that sells specialist trailer flooring. its not overly expensive and definately worth putting into a horse box.

DonkeyDick1992

Hey guys

Sorry to revive this old tread.

I am currently putting new floors in my horse box and dog tralior.
The horse box I'm putting 1 1/2 inch and dog tralior I'm putting 1 inch larch

It's treated timber but I'm just wondering how much of a gap.to will I leave for it to expand

Thanks in advance

_Brian

DonkeyDick1992 wrote: »

Hey guys

Sorry to revive this old tread.

I am currently putting new floors in my horse box and dog tralior.
The horse box I'm putting 1 1/2 inch and dog tralior I'm putting 1 inch larch

It's treated timber but I'm just wondering how much of a gap.to will I leave for it to expand

Thanks in advance

We floored 8x5 cattle trailer and 8x4 builders trailer with the same 5 years ago and never thought of expansion gaps, haven’t seen any problems.
Both trailer stored indoors though so floors are dry all the time.

lab man

DonkeyDick1992 wrote:

It's treated timber but I'm just wondering how much of a gap.to will I leave for it to expand

DonkeyDick1992 wrote:

Thanks in advance

DonkeyDick1992 wrote:

I am currently putting new floors in my horse box and dog tralior. The horse box I'm putting 1 1/2 inch and dog tralior I'm putting 1 inch larch

DonkeyDick1992 wrote:

Sorry to revive this old tread.

DonkeyDick1992 wrote:

Hey guys

When we were doing ours here 3 yrs ago I got an uncle who's a carpenter he left no space between there has been no problem at all trailer kept in tho very rarely gets rain, maybe once I'd say

Who2

DonkeyDick1992 wrote: »

Hey guys

Sorry to revive this old tread.

I am currently putting new floors in my horse box and dog tralior.
The horse box I'm putting 1 1/2 inch and dog tralior I'm putting 1 inch larch

It's treated timber but I'm just wondering how much of a gap.to will I leave for it to expand

Thanks in advance

You don’t need to put in expansion spaces this time of year as the timber will have a higher moisture content. If you were doing it in the summer I’d say leave a bit alright.

148multi

keep going wrote: »

Could you use decking for a bale trailer floor , this trailer wont see alot of shed

Larch better than decking