But, when its got to be done...ya just do it.

Replaced utility trailer's wooden floors. A 10' and a 16' trailer.

Almost $500 in boards and screws....felt that one.

I am waiting with mine till I have my sawmill built, then I'll make the boards for the 20 foot car hauler myself and just buy the screws.

That's on my to-do list next summer. Rather than treated, Im gonna go with 5/4 white oak and coat it well with used motor oil. Just seems like the new treated lumber is not what it used to be.

That's smart^^^

Read about the motor oil treatment, but decided against that mess.

If boards are dry the oil treatment isn't bad at all.

... looks like you have to rip that middle one

Everything I have tried to do in my shop lately has been the same way. I can't even buy lumber from a sawmill at a decent price. Steel and Aluminum is outrageous too.

For this project I suggest that you investigate a product called Seal Once, a product called dry oil that has been reported to be excellent as a marine preservative. I did purchase and use three gallons myself this past summer based on recommendations of previous users but have not had any prior personal experience with its long term durability.

Scuba, if you can find some American elm I'd use that for a long-lasting durable deck.

I have oak, hickory, poplar and maple here that are big enough to cut for lumber. The soft woods I have at my place are all to small and the black walnut is a bit over then top for a trailer deck lol. So out of what I have I think oak would be the longest lasting option.

yup, oak for you then...The elm just seems to stand up to abuse even from grousers...

Yeah...had to take a little off the middle boards on both trailers.

I got my trailer in 2002-2003 about 2009-2010 I had to replace all the boards really before that , I just held on with patches of scrap wood, they had put a spray of black paint on them and that did almost nothing to protect them from the place that built the trailer

I just bought 2x6 construction lumber I stained all of them with a grey stain I bought at a hardware store going out of business for cheap and I have one board in 2021 getting a little funny at one end

get a sealer on them and seal them every few years and that wood can last a lot longer

I realize they are treated , but get something on them like linseed oil or a stain sealer in the next year or so and it will make them last longer especially on the end grain

Green treat will warp as it dries, that's why you see one or two wanky deck boards on a trailer. I've used air dried white oak on several trailers and it's held up well even without treating it. Farmers gave been using untreated white oak on their hay wagons for years.

I hope you put a bit of spacing between boards. If pulled tight together, they can push pretty hard when wet weather sets in!

I space mine too^

My neighbor growing up cut pulp wood (the short lengths).

After I moved away, he got into cutting timber using mules, rather than a skidder. He told my dad that sweet gum was the only wood that would hold up to hauling the mules around. I know from personal experience that sweet gum is "one twisted" wood.

greg

The boards were pressure treated but as always it was wet. Not sure what those boards are gonna push against that they aren't already.

Not a lot of freeze-thaw days down here as there is in Kansas.

Your prolly right. This new pressure treated crap I’ve seen, is wetter than fresh cut wood! They will prolly shrink as they dry! I’ve put wood decks on trailers many times, and used dryer wood, and always put a quarter inch space between boards. Funny, in wet weather, it’s a solid floor!

Swamp, they push against the sides of the trailer. It is amazing the power of swelling wood….or freezing ground…freezing water…etc. Trailer mfg always space their boards!