What did you do

[Spoiled]

I bought a used open trailer. It is currently in rough shape paint wise with wire mess floor.

Could I take the floor up and replace it with lumber?

If not worth it since the floor is in good shape with no holes just the trailer is a little rusty and 2 ft walls what should I use to close that off?

Just some 2x and bolts to the posts? Would that be good enough?

I am also goign to make a sign for the rear gate out of plywood and prime it and paint it with a phone number.

I want to increase sales next year and have not ever really done advertising for it is a part time thing for me on MY schedule. With my daughter going to school in August I though that I can up it and be busy with both kids now goign to be in school.

I have to upgrade my mower as well this year for the currect front line has been run ragged.

Thanks for the input guys.

Travis

[Spoiled]

Never thought of putting plywood on the floor to add alot of stability! That is a great idea.

Yes it is only a 4 ft gate which is not that big with angle iron and would have to work around it for a sign.

The sidewalls are angle iron 2 ft tall so I could get some 2 x 4 pressure treated and paint like you said and make it enclosed up to there.

I am about to make a blower holder as well.

[MASTERMOWER]

Here is a picture of my old trailer. It had an expanded metal (wire mesh) deck which I beat to hell. I needed to upgrade to a larger trailer, so I fixed this one up to sell. Looks new eh?



Ended up I sold it for more than I originally bought it for, even with the 'restoration' expenses added in.

So here's how I went about it.
1) pulled the expanded metal off - some cutting might be necessary
2) used an angle grinder to grind down the welds holding the expanded metal to the trailer frame
3) roughed up frame paint with wire brush
4) cleaned trailer frame and repainted
5) used pressure treated decking lumber for the trailer floor (cheaper than 2x's), cut to fit and bolted in place. Warning, extensive drilling is required!!!
6) applied 3M DOT approved reflective material and pin striping to give it that "new" feel.

[Spoiled]

MM, what did you use to paint it with? I mean this trailer is pretty rough in the looks department.

I bought it used out of the front yard of a hispanic in the neighborhood for only 350 bucks so I could not be that picky.

It does have the wire mess floor and is pretty sturdy and no popped at any welds. I am wondering if it would be worth just putting plywood over it and bolting it down?

When you pulled it up did you have channels or grooves for the boards or did you bold them down to the frame it is had to tell in the picture.

Yes, looks dang great by the way! I like fixing and selling stuff for more money that I had into it! That is the great ol amercian way!

[Spoiled]

Nevermind on the one question, Yes I can see that you used two screws on the top and bottom and one at each cross. I am sure tht thing was definetly sturdy after that!

The gate is one thing as well. It has swing attachments, I will get some pictures today and let you guys tell me what to do with it to get it back to Excellent condition.

[TRANSMAN]

Why rip the floor up????

I bought a used open trailer. It is currently in rough shape paint wise with wire mess floor.

Could I take the floor up and replace it with lumber?

If not worth it since the floor is in good shape with no holes just the trailer is a little rusty and 2 ft walls what should I use to close that off?

Just some 2x and bolts to the posts? Would that be good enough?

I am also goign to make a sign for the rear gate out of plywood and prime it and paint it with a phone number.

I want to increase sales next year and have not ever really done advertising for it is a part time thing for me on MY schedule. With my daughter going to school in August I though that I can up it and be busy with both kids now goign to be in school.

I have to upgrade my mower as well this year for the currect front line has been run ragged.

Thanks for the input guys.

Travis

Personally if the wire mesh is not rusted through why waste time ripping it up or covering it with plywood?????

Plywood rots pretty fast TO BEGIN WITH PLUS IS NOT VERY STRONG SO THATS THE LAST THING I WOULD USE IF ANYTHING ....

plus IT WILL HOLD MOISTURE AND CAUSE UNDERLIEING METAL TO RUST 10 TIMES FASTER THEN IF YOU LEFT IT ALONE OR PAINTED IT WITH NON SLIP PAINT......

If your gonna use anything use some pressure treated lumber because the space between each plank will allow air to dry the underling steel and is a lot stronger then crappy plywood that will creek , snap , crackle and pop apart....

Either paint it with the sand mixed in for traction or go with pressure treated but definitely forget plywood because iv seen this mistake , its weak and you wont be happy......

Pictures of what your working with would help i guess so at least show us what your working with!!!!!

PUPPY

[Spoiled]

Yeah, i was thinking that on the plywood after I woke up!

Here are some pictures. The gate is actually a 3' tall gate. See the hinge/lock fro teh gate? Not very good. I am going to call a trailer company and see how much to install a 4' gate and hopefully they don't charge an arm and the leg!

Here are the pictures of what I will be working with...

Again, thanks for all the help. Tight budget means I have to do it correctly the first time.

[Spoiled]

Here, I hope this link works, I have never used photo bucket before.

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff138/spoiledv6/

Thanks again guys for all the help!

Travis

[MASTERMOWER]

Take your existing ramp to a welding/fab shop and have them add on an extra foot, install better hinges, and enforce any welds that need it. The trailer company will just rip you off. Otherwise, it looks like that ramp should suffice for what you'll need it for. It's not like you'll be driving a two ton skid steer onto it.

Looks like you'd be able to leave the expanded metal decking for now, but I haven't seen a trailer with it that withstands the test of time. Though your trailer has better bracing which will prevent the expanded metal from sagging under load....which ultimately should extend the life considerably.

[TRANSMAN]

Everyone uses photobucket except me

Here, I hope this link works, I have never used photo bucket before.

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff138/spoiledv6/

Thanks again guys for all the help!

Travis

I think the easiest way for you is to set up a photbucket account and send your pictures there....

If you look up above at member Mastermowers post i think if you right click your mouse on his picture you'll be able to figure how to put the little IMG things around the link then the picture should show up....

It may take you a few tries after setting up your account and the worst thing that will happen is you'll have till try a few times until you get it to show...

Down below in the Computer related section off the main page if you search through there you should also find an explanation of how it all works......

Personally and im sure everyone else has it because its included with your Internet provider fee there is usually a toolbar on top of your screen that will have listings for things like WEB - MAIL - Protection - TOOLS - GAMES etc , etc and if you select Toolbox drop it down select PERSONAL WEBSPACE and you can transfer your pictures directly from your pictures folder over to your storage area and then type in the picture with the [IMG]picture[/IMG] crap on each side and poof the picture will pop up here once you put the name of the pic with the [IMG] crap on here in the box your doing the describing on....


Ahhhh , i just repeated myself a bit but im not sure whats best for you or the best way to explain.....

Anyway if nobody explains better then me which should be easy just search through the computer site below as i said and there's directions on how to setup the photobucket thing and post the pic.....

I just use my own site because i get 100 MB of storage included so im not really up on the photobucket method.........

That other guys advice about welding some good steel as a ramp is the best idea as wood will not cut it for a ramp running mowers up and down all day so find a friend with a welder and save a hundred bucks if $$$$ tight and you might sell it anyway.....

Personally i bought my tandem 16 footer for $895 or maybe less brand new with the tag so i wouldn't want to put a lot of money in somthing old and rusty unless its a real good heavy duty trailer to start out with so dont get taken.....

JMO and good luck looking forward to the pictures.....


TRANNY

[Spoiled]

Take your existing ramp to a welding/fab shop and have them add on an extra foot vs. buying an entirely new one.

Looks like you'd be able to leave the expanded metal decking for now, but I haven't seen a trailer with it that withstands the test of time. Though your trailer has better bracing which will prevent the expanded metal from sagging under load....which ultimately should extend the life considerably.

Okay, I have a buddy with a welder so we may do that. Is it really necessary, I may remove the gate and clean it up and paint it to see how the rest is going to be. Use it as the test!

ALso, what about the locks/latch for the trailer? Any advice on those. They don't make me too happy.

[Spoiled]

What other than angle of approach does a 4' gate have over a 2 or 3' gate?

[Spoiled]

Take your existing ramp to a welding/fab shop and have them add on an extra foot, install better hinges, and enforce any welds that need it. The trailer company will just rip you off. Otherwise, it looks like that ramp should suffice for what you'll need it for. It's not like you'll be driving a two ton skid steer onto it.

Looks like you'd be able to leave the expanded metal decking for now, but I haven't seen a trailer with it that withstands the test of time. Though your trailer has better bracing which will prevent the expanded metal from sagging under load....which ultimately should extend the life considerably.

What hinges should I get as well as will it move it closer to the deck thus I can make a better lock for the gate?

[MASTERMOWER]

Okay, I have a buddy with a welder so we may do that. Is it really necessary, I may remove the gate and clean it up and paint it to see how the rest is going to be. Use it as the test!

ALso, what about the locks/latch for the trailer? Any advice on those. They don't make me too happy.

You'd want to remove the ramp before you weld on an additional foot anyhow.

That latching method for the ramp is fairly common place. No, it's not my favorite, but it works well....just a pain in the butt to screw with.

As for the advantage of a longer ramp vs a shorter one. All depends how high the ass end of the trailer sits really. Will it sit a foot off the ground when mated to the truck, or 3'? IMO you will probably be just fine with what you have, but I can't really make that judgement without knowing all the details. Even depends on the eqt. you plan to drive up it. I have mowers where some of them scrap the hell outta my ramp and others don't. It's all too variable...

The disadvantage of a longer ramp? A huge wind sail which will cost you more fuel to get from job to job.

[MASTERMOWER]

What hinges should I get as well as will it move it closer to the deck thus I can make a better lock for the gate?

Something like this...http://www.floeintl.com/images/rampshieldpin.jpg

You can easily craft this out of steel tube and rod yourself and shouldn't cost much at all.