How to protect wood floors on trailer from SH spills?

JDhomeservices

JDhomeservices

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Okay, so I have this trailer rig that I bought used a few months back that turned out to be a bad investment. The pressure washer that came with it never really worked well, and the 200 gallon tank is not hooked up to anything. It is not centered over the axles anyway, so with my plans to hook up two 4 GPM pressure washers to get 8 GPM, I don't think this current setup will work. You can't tell from this picture, but the whole thing is covered with rust and the wood floors are starting to turn to mush from SH spills. I have another in the trailer just like it that is still in good condition so I'm going to try to salvage what I can off of the old trailer, and just use it for light duty towing. Question is, how do I prevent the same thing from happening to the newer trailer? Is there some kind of coating I can put on the wood floor to help prevent SH from eating through the wood? I definitely can't afford to convert the floor to stainless steel or anything like that. I have also considered just putting the chemical tank and roof pump in the bed of my pickup instead of putting it in the new trailer, but I don't know if that would be a better idea or not. It's possible that if I did that it would leave room in the trailer for a hot box in the future, but I don't know if that would be a viable option anyway for 2 machines with no charging system. Any suggestions?
 
Kiloman said:
The cheapest way is to pour used motor oil on the wood and mop it on the entire floor.
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Sorry, but comes across as an environmental issue to me. Open trailer + Florida rains = toxic runoff.

Anyone know how Thompson's Water Seal holds up to SH?

Something I have been thinking about is using expanded metal for the entire floor. Diluted SH isn't a bio-hazard to me.
 
That shows how stupid you are asking about thompsons water seal.Once the oil is in the wood its not going anywhere.I was down your way a month ago and couldnt find a number for you i wanted to see you face to face.Do you have a website or number,cause you have a smart ass mouth for sure.I let it slide the last post but no more.BTW metal and a number 8 material dont mix.Thats why they dont ship it in metal barrels.
 
JDhomeservices said:
So you're serious about the used motor oil, Hal? I thought you might have been messing with me like lol. Maybe I'll give that a try then. Won't be pretty, but it's better than having rotting wood.
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"Like lol" I love auto correct typos...

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Kiloman said:
That shows how stupid you are asking about thompsons water seal.Once the oil is in the wood its not going anywhere.I was down your way a month ago and couldnt find a number for you i wanted to see you face to face.Do you have a website or number,cause you have a smart ass mouth for sure.I let it slide the last post but no more.BTW metal and a number 8 material dont mix.Thats why they dont ship it in metal barrels.
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Stand back folks, I think I'm under attack here. (I apologize in advace Josh, but I fear your thread is about to get derailed)

Sounds like you have a beef with me Hal, but for what, I haven't a clue. Why would you want to meet face to face with me in the first place? It appears you want to beat me up or "teach" me a lesson. And as for my "smart ass mouth" where does that comment come from? Did I offend you in some way? (I'm not going to waste my time re-reading through posts to figure it out)

Why would you call me stupid for asking a question that I honestly don't know the answer to? Which "last post" did you let slide?

Who do you know uses full strength SH and lets it stand on ANY metal surface? Expanded metal also comes in a rubber (plastic) coated version (if you were unaware). A simple rinse down after each job will eliminate most of the corrosive effects. I would much rather have a diluted SH mix seeping into the ground water than motor oil. Also, an open air trailer provides for quicker drying times through evaporation.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that what gets in the ground water comes back up through a well pump. Everyone around me has wells so there's no telling what crap is being recirculated.

My enclosed trailer (nearly 8 years old) has no signs of rot (NONE!). I rinse my trailer out thoroughly once every couple months and lightly after each use. This is what prompted my question about TWS. The wood floor has a waxy sealant on the exposed side (underneath) which shows zero wear (after 8 years). So I assumed the interior must have been sealed with something as well (I could be wrong). It may even be pressure treated wood for all I know.

I would prefer to keep this thread on Josh's topic, but if you want to engage personal attacks, then so be it... LET'S GIT IT ON!
 
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Josh, if the boards are that bad already then when you get a chance, remove them and have the trailer sandblasted and painted then use the bedliner material to paint it with and it should hold up for a few years then repeat the process.

SH is also a gas which will help corrode the metal, even if you don't spill it too often.

I have not heard of the used motor oil on the wood thing so I don't know if it works or not.

I would do the bedliner stuff on the other trailer and boards as well, I have heard of a lot of guys putting several coats on the floors of the trailers and box trucks and it holds up good for a few years.

You can use that tank in the picture for both pumps (belt drive or gear drive.....call and ask Russ or Paul first before buying them to make sure they will pull from a tank for the gear drive to be sure) then you can "T" them together for the 8gpm.

As for the hot box, you can get the 115 volt hot box and put a generator on your trailer to supply voltage, no problem, you need at least 2000 or 2500 watts.

I would put the tank over the axle and the machines in front of the tank then figure out the rest so not too much weight on the tongue of the trailer but not all the weight at the axle either.

With 8gpm running, depending on where you are working, you might need to run 2 supply hoses to the tank as some places have good supply and some are not too good. I would get the Hudson float valves so the tank does not overflow when you are working.

If you have the SH on the trailer all the time, rinse off spills quickly so they don't sit there and do damage but make sure all containers are tight all the time so nothing spills when driving, little spills when driving you will not see and then soon the metal and wood is rusting and rotting away.
 
Josh i tryed to help you when you called me about a machine.I have one thats a little big for what i primarly wash.I offered to you helping you out and you sayed it was to far to drive i said no problem.I wouldnt steer you wrong or tell you stuff just for the heck of it.Think about it have you ever tryed to wash oil off concrete well wood is alot more pourus than concrete.Everytime i change my oil i pour some of it on my box truck floor.It protects it very well,i am here to learn and help others when i can.You could have had a heck of a machine instead of the stuff you bought just saying.Good luck with your trailer and machines.
 
Kiloman said:
Josh i tryed to help you when you called me about a machine.I have one thats a little big for what i primarly wash.I offered to you helping you out and you sayed it was to far to drive i said no problem.I wouldnt steer you wrong or tell you stuff just for the heck of it.Think about it have you ever tryed to wash oil off concrete well wood is alot more pourus than concrete.Everytime i change my oil i pour some of it on my box truck floor.It protects it very well,i am here to learn and help others when i can.You could have had a heck of a machine instead of the stuff you bought just saying.Good luck with your trailer and machines.
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Yeah, after I sold that mower, I was looking for a machine. Had a few I was looking at, but ended up going a couple months without hardly any work. That money, which was supposed to go to buying equipment, instead went to paying bills. What you see in the picture is stuff I already had. I only ended up with a few hundred left over to buy a used 4 GPM machine on craigslist, a kit to connect my two machines from Russ, and some plumbing.

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You could always remove the floor boards and replace it with trex decking. It still won't solve the spill problems from getting to the springs and axle but the floor will hold hope longer. I just replaced my axle last week for the second time in 4 yrs. SH will eat up everything in site. Its just the nature of the business. With that said, I don't recommend putting it in the bed of your truck for obvious reasons.
 
What Chris said, also what Larry said. The marine plywood will help keep chems off the axle and it wouldn't hurt if you accidentally sprayed a bit of oil on it. Keeping it organized and setup so you can wash it off a couple times a week as needed is a good idea.
 
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