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Location: northern virginia horse country | Hello folks,Here is my flooring repair project on our 2 horse bumper pull trailer. Feast your eyes, looks innocent enough:[IMG]http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr10/dentvet/DSC01442_zps6655b63f.jpg[/IMG] |
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Location: northern virginia horse country | Ok I'm learning about how this forum operates. Apparently no editing, deleting, paragraphing, embedding or linking is possible. At least punctuation is possible:) let me investigate the 'attachment' function now. Sorry for my rough start... |
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Location: Vermont |  No big deal...the loss of editing is a relatively recent phenomena... |
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Location: northern virginia horse country | I'm dealing with the typical sundowner valulite issues. I have been able to remove the aluminum planks after some hard efforts. My steel frame isn't too far gone so my primary concern with it is how to strip the powdercoating off. How ironic that half of the stuff peels off on its own, ruining the frame while the other half is impervious to many harsh stripping methods. So far I have tried methyl chloride paint strippers, wire wheels and flap sanding disks on my angle grinders, and mapp gas scraping, all with dissatisfactory progress. Any suggestions? Thanks |
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Location: Rocky Mount N.C. | http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr10/dentvet/DSC01442_zps6655b63... |
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Location: western PA | Media blasting will remove the coating and prepare the metal for a refinishing |
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Location: Vermont | Hopefully you have an outfit like this in your area... http://www.champlainblastingsolutions.com/?gclid=CIGY_KW3n8MCFU4kgQ... ...They do all the dirty work and even haul away the debris...:) |
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Location: northern virginia horse country | Thanks for the ideas. My next decision is how to deal with the frame. As you folks know the initial problem is the powdercoat layer cracking and trapping rust accelerators. With the coating gone, the rate of rusting should slow way down. No coating should be much better than defective coating. I'm tempted to coat only the top sides of the frame elements where they contact the flooring. The rest could be left to 'breath'. I'm intrigued by spraying the carriage with kerosene occasionally or with this stuff, which is used on offshore oil rigs.http://www.fluid-film.com/products/ |
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Location: Michigan | |
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Location: Michigan | I also had a sundowner valuelite. I had my frame professionally sandblasted. They then sealed it with an epoxy and then undercoated. He found that in the humidity of a Michigan summer the metal frame began rusting just minutes after sandblasting the frame. He would sandblast a foot and then seal it. So I would recommend sealing the frame with something, not leaving it exposed to the elements. My floor luckily did not corrode. |
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Location: Vermont | Fluid Film is GREAT STUFF... Use it on the farm equipment...makes for easier clean up...also, great on the undercarriage of the trucks to protect against that salt slrry they are putting on the roads these days...:) |
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Location: northern virginia horse country | While I'm still dealing with the steel frame, another issue to deal with is the flooring itself...I have some heavy corrosion due to the factory rubber coating delaminating from the extruded aluminum planks. Sundowner says they can sell me some smooth planks for 7.50 a foot.....For the same price as two 14 foot planks, I can buy an entire wooden floor of 2 by 12 southern yellow pine boards. I'm leaning in this direction unless somebody persuades me otherwise:) |
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Location: Leslie Mi | jmey1820, where in Michigan are you located? Can you pass along the shop or person that you took your trailer to? How long ago did you have this done and what are your thoughts on how well it is holding up. Thanks Tim |
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Location: western PA | The yellow pine will work well. Pick through the lumber stacks eliminating any boards with shakes. Asking for #1 instead of the common #2 grades, will result in smaller and tighter knots. Use only treated bolts or stainless attaching hardware. Properly maintained and covered with floor mats, this flooring can last decades. It will also be fairly easy to repair/replace if it becomes damaged. |
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Corroded flooring repair project
