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Trailer Deck Plywood

59K views 18 replies 14 participants last post by  radissimo 
#1 ·
I just bought a Triton trailer that needs to have the deck replaced. I have checked around and nobody in my area has 5/8" marine plywood. I can order new sheets from Triton, but they want $110 per sheet for new wood. That seems a little crazy to me. Has anyone else replaced there decking and ordered sheets of marine plywood through the mail? Prices seem to be a little bit better, but shipping adds a lot. Or have you tried anything else? Not sure what other options there may be other than just forking out the money. bang your head
 
#5 ·
Go to Home Depot or Lowe's for 5/8" Pressure treated plywood, buy 3 quarts of Motor Oil and a Paint Brush. Apply Motor Oil on the plywood so it can act as Water Repellent.

Did mine (Purchased my Aluma LTD trailer brand new 2 years ago) and still looks like brand new these days. :wub: :D :thumbsup:
 
#6 ·
3/4" treated ply on my trailer, and a new coat of deck sealer every other year has kept it in great shape. I also treated the under side with sealer right after I built it. Probably needs that again.
 
#7 ·
what i would do is check your local lumber place(lowes, homdept etc) and check where they sell the sheets of paneling and they have this rubberized sheet 4x8 and i would attach that to the pressure treated plywood the side that is going to be on the bottom of the trailer should slow down the weathering of that plywood for a long time!!
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the help! But I do have one problem though. Below you will see an email that I got from one of the Triton reps.

"Thank you for your inquiry and also owning a Triton trailer. The plywood thickness was and still is 5/8”. In the event you are about to venture to your local Home Depot and purchase replacement lumber I want to advise you of a couple things. (1) You may have a hard time finding 5/8” plywood as it is not very common. (2) Make sure it has a “CCA” grade or less treatment (industrial). Most plywood found at your local supply sources is of a residential grade AC2 (Q) treatment that has a high volume of copper azal, it’s a type of pesticide. This will eat up your aluminum and weaken any welds and point of structural rigidity that it makes contact with weakening the trailer frame. (3) Most local supply sources also only carry sheet of plywood from Yellow Pine stock. Yellow pine is very soft, the edges will curl and the boards will warp in between the cross members in due time. The recommended wood is Douglas Fur, it will stay flatter, longer."

The part that concerns me is "pesticides" used and what it could do to the aluminum trailer. Are you guys using "CCA" grade or have you not payed attention to it? Just curious. Thanks again for the help. Much appreciated. :beer_cheers:
 
#9 ·
The e-mail you got from Triton sounds a little like a scare tactic, but that is just my opinion. Another option that you may want to look into is plywood that is called ADVANTEC in my area it is used alot in subfloors of new homes. Builders put it down before they put on the roof. I have personally seen some that has been out in the elements for over a year and water still beads up on it. Just a thought anways.
 
#10 ·
A year or two ago they had to change the chemicals in pressure treated wood due to environmental concerns. He may be right, he may be out to lunch. I usually steer away from the big box stores for lumber anyway. I don't like the quality of the wood they sell, and the limited selection (that sounds funny for a big box store). I would recommend looking into a "real" lumber supplier and see what you can get from them.
 
#11 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ZRrrr @ Nov 9 2006, 01:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
A year or two ago they had to change the chemicals in pressure treated wood due to environmental concerns.[/b]
Yes, that's right... I wonder if it will also take 40 years for them to realize the new stuff has also been poisoning rivers & lakes and water supplies too.

Hopefully the new green stuff doesn't persist and breaks down harmlessly.

It's due time for everyone to evolve from the 50's to 60's kind of thinking & ignorance about persistant toxic chemicals.
_________________________________________

The copper-based green stuff isn't a pesticide or insecticide, it's a 'bacteriacide'. Bacteria is what rots the wood and breaks it down, not insects.

Either way... If anyone reading this lives in the country and enjoys drinking their well water, please be careful about what you end up drinking.

Anything you spray on your lawn, fluids that leak from vehicles, preservatives in wood, etc... If any of these can't biologically break down into harmless states, they end up in the water table. They end up in your well too.

Used motor oil is a known carcinogen. Many additives in new motor oil are carcinogens as well.

If you drink your well water you will get regular small doses of these pesticides, bacteria-inhibitors, motor oil/automotive fluids, etc. Even the stain on your siding or decks can end up in your drinking water.

People wonder why cancer runs rampant these days. Many who drink their own well water never make the connection to things they're releasing into the the water table feeding their well. Just because the human eye can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't happening.

Sorry for getting off topic folks, AB's comment about the motor oil made me think of the connection to drinking water from well sources, as that's what my water supply is. But it's really not a good idea to release toxic substances into the environment anyway, even if you have a municipal water supply.

:chug:
 
#12 ·
ACQ treated plywood is not good in direct contact without breaking the contact like putting anything betweeen it and the trailer to insulate it from. CCA plywood is still widely available as I order it everyday for the lumber companies I service. Up a couple of posts someone mentioned Advantec, I couldn't agree more. I used to cut up pieces and put it in a bucket of water to advertise it. I had the pieces in that bucket for up to a year with no problems. Retail is roughly $23/sheet or lower right now (US). Other names just as good is "top Notch plywood", "Weyerhauser gold plywood" they all do the same purpose and they are tongue and groove mostly but can be had in straight edge.
 
#13 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (A G @ Nov 9 2006, 07:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
People wonder why cancer runs rampant these days. Many who drink their own well water never make the connection to things they're releasing into the the water table feeding their well.

Sorry for getting off topic folks, AB's comment about the motor oil made me think of the connection to drinking water from well sources, as that's what my water supply is. But it's really not a good idea to release toxic substances into the environment anyway, even if you have a municipal water supply.

:chug:[/b]
:oops: Now, I'm thinking of my dad who had succumbed to Kidney Cancer. Yes, He had drank well water all his life despite good health all of his entire life until the age of 61. However, I couldn't pinpoint if well water is to be blamed for his death. Some speculated that it could be due to the number of the years of operating Heavy Equipment machinery which had been pounding on his lower back cavity.

AG, I certainly agree with you on the toxic substances being released into the environment isn't a great idea, but the percentage factor of my situation on the motor oil application to my trailer versus many corporations/factories is very minimal almost next to nothing. I dunno
 
#14 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ArcticBoy @ Nov 9 2006, 07:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
I couldn't pinpoint if well water is to be blamed for his death.[/b]
No one can pinpoint it. It's a balancing act between the immune system and amount of exposure and that varies a lot from person to person. More exposure over a lifetime, regardless of where it comes from can be avoided in situations where you have control... We can control what we allow to drop into our own land - well/drinking water. If we were conscious of it and were careful, we can at least avoid exposure from our own doing on our own property. With any luck, less exposure helps the immune system in the balancing act.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
AG, I certainly agree with you on the toxic substances being released into the environment isn't a great idea, but the percentage factor of my situation on the motor oil application to my trailer versus many corporations/factories is very minimal almost next to nothing. I dunno[/b]
Yes of course. We have little or no control over exposure from corporate activities. But we have all the control on our own property. Less exposure is better, so why give up what little bit of control we have in our own lives? It may just be enough to keep the immune/exposure balance good. Saying the corporations are the problem, and then poisoning your own well water anyway really isn't a very logical thing to do.

Giving up and not taking control when they can might just be enough to get cancer for some people. No one knows for sure, it varies from person to person. But we do know for sure less exposure is always going to improve our odds.

Remember, it's a balancing act between amount of exposure & the integrity of our immune system. If we can reduce how much we poison ourselves on our own property, it can only help. Exposure can't be 'un-done'. Corporations aren't poisoning the well water on private properties, the owners themselves usually do that. That's the part that can be avoided.
 
#15 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (A G @ Nov 9 2006, 06:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Sorry for getting off topic folks, AB's comment about the motor oil made me think of the connection to drinking water from well sources, as that's what my water supply is. But it's really not a good idea to release toxic substances into the environment anyway, even if you have a municipal water supply.

:chug:[/b]
I hear you AG, When we lived at the Condo we pressured the corporation to stop spraying. The only control we had was over our 20 sq ft patch of grass. I ran for a position on the board but I guess my agenda was too well known. We passed out flyers but people just don't seem to care.

Now living in a thriving agricultural area, the field behind me gets sprayed, the tree nursery beside me is highly chemical dependant, they roundup the fence line, around hydro poles just so it's easier to cut the grass I assume. The dog wont go near it afterwards. The other neighbour also does 2 or 3 sprayings a year, they must hate all our dandelions. We are all on well water. Our well is 33 feet deep and artesian (overflows) The runoff must certainly affect the water but municipal testing doesn't test for all that.

We put in a reverse omosis 5 stage system, which we only hope gets out some of those nasty chemicals. I know this is way off topic, sorry guys. :chug:
 
#16 ·
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (04 F6 efi/snopro @ Nov 8 2006, 11:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
what i would do is check your local lumber place(lowes, homdept etc) and check where they sell the sheets of paneling and they have this rubberized sheet 4x8 and i would attach that to the pressure treated plywood the side that is going to be on the bottom of the trailer should slow down the weathering of that plywood for a long time!![/b]


when you start layering things you will have the problem of watter getting trapped and then could cause premature rotting
 
#17 ·
Marine grade plywood would be the best choice as it will have the most water resistant glue, no core voids and most likely be Douglas Fir. Douglas Fir is much stronger than Spurce, Pine and Balsam Fir. All pressure treated plywood will be exterior grade, which means water resistant glue, but not all sub floor material will be exterior grade. You could ask the local lumber yard if their PT plywood is CCA treated, or ACQ. You could use strips of rubber or vinyl as separators between the wood and aluminum. Roofing contractors will often have strips of EPDM membrane left over and may give it away. Another way to help your PT plywood last longer would be to paint it, all faces and edges, before installing. If you get ACQ plywood you will need stainless fasteners, or at least hot dipped galvanized. The ACQ chemicals react with steel and that is why they have ceramic coated deck screws for ACQ construction.
 
#18 ·
Thanks Again!! Some very good points were made and some even better ideas. I think that I am going to look into the Advantec material or just go with the 5/8" CCA plywood and maybe treat it with something. I also believe that there is some kind of spray that you can apply to the aluminum before the wood goes down so that you don't chance messing up the joints or welds. I'll let everyone know what I decide just in case your interested. One thing that I have noticed is that 5/8" is a lot more difficult to find than 3/4". Thanks Again!!! :beer_cheers:
 
#19 ·
I've decked my trailer 3 times since I built it and went like this.
3/4" marine ply soaked with a gallon or two with thompsons..... lasted 3 years before it warped bad enough to snap the screws holding it down. Put 3/4" treated ply, lasted 7 years, put 1/5" treated ply on, going on 3 years now and it needs replaced, but it will work for now just not in the best shape.

I wonder what good or bad it would do to have it coated on the bottom with something like Linex?
 
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