# Replacing trailer floor help please



## Shellinch (23 August 2012)

Hi there guys I have an old rice pony trailer that needs the floor replacing. Can anyone recommend where you buy the wood flooring from please. 

Also can anyone give me rough costs of buying the wood to just taking it to a trailer place for them to do please.

Kind regards


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## rockysmum (23 August 2012)

Probably about £500 if you take it to a trailer place.

If you want to do it yourself you first need an angle grinder.  Grind off the old bolts and remove the old floor.  Be careful when you are undoing the ramp spring and the electrics as they fasten to the floor.

I would then wire brush the chassis and check that it does not need any welding.  I always used to paint the metal with red oxide primer and hammorite before putting the floor back in.

Dont use ply for the new flooring. Rice trailers where not designed for it and there is too big a gap between the supports.

First lay tongue and groove floor boards front to back and bolt them in place.  Reattach your ramp springs and electrics.  The top floor used to be side to side hardwood planks.  You can replace these with thin ply to spread the weight.  A few bolts to hold it to the under floor are all you need (makes it easy to lift the ply regularly to check what going on under it)

I used to buy the tongue and groove from a second hand timber merchant.  As long as they have come from indoors they are excellent, better than new.  Thin ply can come from any wood yard, price up the cheapest on the internet.

You might want to put some thin rubber matting on top as well.

Its easily done by someone with a basic knowledge of DIY and a few tools.  You can hire things like angle grinders but they can be a bit dangerous if you are not used to power tools.

The last one I did cost me £120 but it was 4 years ago. 

Took me a weekend, but it was not the first one I had done


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## ROG (23 August 2012)

Might be worth pricing up the cost of putting in an aluminium floor instead

When the new floor is in remember to take it empty to a weighbridge to see if the unladen weight has altered


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## lazybee (23 August 2012)

I've repaired an old Rice with scaffold boards. First I welded in a few extra angle iron supports; as Rocky's mum says the original spacing is too far apart. I bought the boards second hand from a scaffolding company mega cheap then steeped then in wood preserver for a few days. I used coach bolts fix the boards to the chassis; I then covered with rubber matting. The matting came from a rubber supplier, so I cut out the middle man.


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## Shellinch (23 August 2012)

Thanks for your advice guys  will have a look around for suppliers in the morning


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## moosehunter (23 August 2012)

Marine ply/ wisadec (sp?) and aluminium chequer plate with rubber over worked well in our ifor williams, although ifors are easier to replace bits on and weld. Good luck! check springs/ elecs whilst you under there!!


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## KarlyHT (28 March 2013)

Rog do you know anywhere local that would replace a wooden floor with aluminium and rough cost?


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