Ifor Williams Flooring

[Benny]

I have an Ifor Williams 16"x6"6' tilt bed. When i bought it 10 or 12 yeas ago it hade a planked floor on it and this has held up relatively well spending its whole life outside but now its a little worse for the wear and I'm looking at replacing it and just looking for some ideas of what the best solution would be.
I'm considering 18mm buffalo board then a full sheet of 2.5mm checker plate over this to protect the buffalo board and give a bit more grip i know tread plate can be slipy but its a whole lot better than wet smooth planks lol. Trailer is used mostly for transporting cars and driving them up the current planked floor can be a nightmare. Buffalo board Is working out to about £350-£400 and £450 for the alloy so very expensive but i plan to have the trailer for a long time yet so want something that will last.
The other options i had considered was a new planked floor with alloy on top which is much cheaper at around £150 for the boards and then the alloy. Current boards are 170x30mm so looking at the same to replace.
The other idea would be to go thicker alloy with nothing else below which would be ideal as it will not rot and be much lighter but what thickness would i need for this application and will the cost be prohibitive. Floor supports are 400mm apart.
Another suggestions someone had suggested was steel treadplate galvanized but again not sure what thickness i would need and would it be rather heavy.

All ideas and suggestions very much appreciated

 

[zzr1200]

Have you tried pricing Scaffold boards, my 10 x 5 goods trailer need another new floor a 3.6m (220mm x 38mm?) scaf board is about £13 incl vat around here.

I'm going to run a router around the edge boards to make the lip so it seats in the floor pocket...

 

[8ob]

Have you tried pricing Scaffold boards, my 10 x 5 goods trailer need another new floor a 3.6m (220mm x 38mm?) scaf board is about £13 incl vat around here.

I'm going to run a router around the edge boards to make the lip so it seats in the floor pocket...

Used these on my plant trailer, drowned them in creosote before fitting them., left a decent gap between boards for expansion and used two tec bolts per crossmember to anchor them down.

Bob

 

[Islander71]

Wood is very slippery when wet - even more so if creosoted! Could you not use galvanised angle iron point side up across the 400mm width say every 4 inches, might be easier to get grip on.

 

[qwakers]

This stuff is the best and easiest. Grip paint on top sorts the slippery issues.

Pardon our interruption...

 

[Turbo]

Planks well soaked in creosote and topped with checker would be my vote. No point in fitting the buffalo board if you're going to cover it.

 

[Onthespotwelding]

As comments above. I’ve Done exactly the same on a few trailers.

F h brundle for the plate.

Aluminium

Firm grip stair treads and other anti-slip flooring products available from stock. Buy online and get FREE UK mainland delivery subject to minimum order value.

www.fhbrundle.co.uk

 

[Stupoty]

As comments above. I’ve Done exactly the same on a few trailers.

F h brundle for the plate.

Aluminium

Firm grip stair treads and other anti-slip flooring products available from stock. Buy online and get FREE UK mainland delivery subject to minimum order value.

www.fhbrundle.co.uk

If your after any amount of checker plate it might be worth having a look around at some metal stock holders that do non ferrous , from memory brundles were quite a bit more expensive.

Stu

 

[Nomad]

When I was regularly moving cars I used a trailer with metal scaffolding boards where the tyres went and heavy gauge wire mesh (fencing panels?) to span the gap in the middle in case I needed to move any non-car items.

The scaff boards were good for car-only use but a flat / chequerplate trailer has more uses.

 

[fizzy]

I have an Ifor Williams 16"x6"6' tilt bed. When i bought it 10 or 12 yeas ago it hade a planked floor on it and this has held up relatively well spending its whole life outside but now its a little worse for the wear and I'm looking at replacing it and just looking for some ideas of what the best solution would be.
I'm considering 18mm buffalo board then a full sheet of 2.5mm checker plate over this to protect the buffalo board and give a bit more grip i know tread plate can be slipy but its a whole lot better than wet smooth planks lol. Trailer is used mostly for transporting cars and driving them up the current planked floor can be a nightmare. Buffalo board Is working out to about £350-£400 and £450 for the alloy so very expensive but i plan to have the trailer for a long time yet so want something that will last.
The other options i had considered was a new planked floor with alloy on top which is much cheaper at around £150 for the boards and then the alloy. Current boards are 170x30mm so looking at the same to replace.
The other idea would be to go thicker alloy with nothing else below which would be ideal as it will not rot and be much lighter but what thickness would i need for this application and will the cost be prohibitive. Floor supports are 400mm apart.
Another suggestions someone had suggested was steel treadplate galvanized but again not sure what thickness i would need and would it be rather heavy.

All ideas and suggestions very much appreciated

NO NO don't go for just ali! I tried that on my trailer. 6mmk thick aluminium treadplate. I also had 10mm stokboard plastic under it as well. Close spacing on the supports underneath. Managed to dent it first time with a sheet metal folder - 1000kg on 4 feet. I know cars will be less of a load but wood still can't be beaten. I use a sheet of sacrificial ply on top of my aluminium checkerplate now.
I know you are mainly carrying cars but you may want to move the odd silly thing one day!

 

[Benny]

Thanks for all the replies, Im leaning towards the planks and alloy. planks have lasted me well so far and topped with alloy should be even better. Anyone any ideas of what thickness planks would do the job? She's a big trailer so thinner to reduce weight would be ideal but don't want them to thin. Feel like the 38mm scaffold boards could be a bit excessive, there's currently 30mm boards on it so maybe just go for that again. The galvanized scaffold boards also look like a good option, will have to look into if i can get them locally possibly could bolt them all together to create a complete floor.