Posted 2007-03-31 8:50 PM (#58177) Subject: Help with putting a new floor And now Paint too...
Member
Posts: 8
Location: OR
After doing my research, I bought 2 x 10 pressure treated board and all I need to rust proof any areas on the supports. I started to pull the first board, only to find that they go all the way under the tack room to the front of the trailer. The tack room has, I thought a plywood floor, but that is just over the 2 x 10s.
I had thought that there would be an angle iron support along the slanted tack wall. There is none. All the supports run side to side. The tack wall is welded in place. It is not removeable. The boards have rot along the tailgate to where there is no support and the screws are rusted completely through. I can see road through the holes.
Otherwise the trailer is in pretty good shape. I had the bearings repacked, the brakes rewired, a new breakaway battery installed and it safety checked okay. I had hoped to just pop in a new floor and be ready for some trail riding...
I will call Trails West on Monday, but any tips until then?
Posted 2007-03-31 9:11 PM (#58180 - in reply to #58177) Subject: RE: Help with putting a new floor in a Trails West 2 horse slant
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 402
Location: Lockport, Illinois
Without seeing the trailer this is the only idea I have. It should be easy to remove the rotten boards, make sure that there aren't any wires fastened to the bottom of the boards. Next you will have to determine where to cut a 12" part of the steel rear board support, so you could slide the boards from the back, under the divider, and to the front support. I would suggest laying out the spacing first, I would rather trim a little off every board rather than have a weak 6' wide board to fill in a gap. Also it would be easier if you were to position the removal of the rear board support so you can slide one board to the right, slide the remainder to the left, the last board will fill in the open gap, after that you can weld the support back.
Posted 2007-03-31 9:15 PM (#58182 - in reply to #58177) Subject: RE: Help with putting a new floor in a Trails West 2 horse slant
Member
Posts: 8
Location: OR
I don't weld, so that would be a job for a professional. :) Wood repairs I can do, metal no....
If the tack room wall were moveable, I could do the job. And I liked the fact that it was fixed. I borrowed a trailer with a swinging tack room wall and the shavings from the horse area migrated into the tack room. Now I know why that can be a positive thing.
Posted 2007-04-01 11:19 PM (#58265 - in reply to #58177) Subject: RE: Help with putting a new floor And now Paint too...
Member
Posts: 8
Location: OR
So I went to work on the few little rust spots. There were some places where the previous owner had spray painted spots that the paint had flaked off of. I just wanted to find the edges of the loose paint.... I worked with a wire brush on a drill. I thought I was done and went to pressure wash the whole thing...
Only to have most of the paint come off. 8 8 I have used this pressure washer on my truck and car with no problem. The paint just flew off in sometimes large flakes, up to 3" across. Now I have a mostly bare metal trailer.
Shouldn't one be able to pressure wash a painted trailer and still have some paint left? Yes, this trailer is 15 years old, but the paint was mostly fine looking. I never expected this. Now I need to get it repainted. I wasn't going to do that for a while.