Getting back in the Game

Originally Posted by IamTheGreatest

Planks drain and don't peel from rain. Everybody says they are going to keep it covered and painted, blah, blah and double blah. Drag a clothes washer across it once. Paint/sealer only lasts once. Rough cut boards are nicer, soak up oil and stuff. Preservative. Only thing I recommend is full length long boards. (Put in the lengthwise way, not cross-ways. Otherwise there will be swearing.) Rough cut also don't turn into slip and slide. Around here you can get rough cut pine for 50 - 75 cents a board foot. People say to get oak, but for little trailers, You're going to replace boards anyways. just get cheap pine. They do add a little weight, but you were going to go an inch with plywood, so it's about even.

I also recommend any spray paint projects get done INSIDE the trailer. Cheap free sealer, and nobody cares what the inside of the trailer looks like. You'll waste so much time worrying about trailer condition it's not worth it. As long as it's legal.

Just make sure your rough cut boards are reasonably dry, as they dry out they shrink leaving huge gaps between each pair of boards. I re-decked my crane truck with rough cut fir from a tree that I had cut and transported to a local guy that had a band mill.

Hauling a scrap vehicle won't fall through the gaps.