This message is from: "Skeels, Mark A (GE Healthcare)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Pull up your mats. You shouldn't really have your mats down on the
floor when your not using your trailer anyhow as they hold in urine,
moisture, etc, and accelerate the rotting process, plus the urine eats
the metal away also. Anyhow, with the mats up, your floor is probably
made out of boards, we're not talking an aluminum trailer, as those
floors are usually aluminum.
Check the boards for rot, soft spots, punky wood. Wood should be solid.
That's about it.
I had a horse go thru on a short 3 city block haul once, went down, and
found a solid portion of the trailer, luckily, could have been real bad,
even just traveling 25 mph.
Most people that have mats in their trailers over the floor, usually
don't pull the mats up like they should to let it dry out, as they are
sooo heavy, even for a pretty strong guy. Usually just have to pick
up a corner and drag them around. I should design a clamp and sling
arangement and have some ties somehow in the ceiling to hoist them up.
Anyhow, that's about it. And of course, after you haul your horses, you
should always clean the trailer out, wash out the urine with a hose,
let it dry out, mats up or out of course. I sometimes lift the mats up
and clamp them behind the swing door that devides the trailer, front to
back.
If you need to replace boards, you might have to cut the metal away near
the front escape door, just maybe a couple foot section of 1 inch angle
iron in the door area, slide each board to that area, lift the side out
where you cut the notch, and continue doing that until you get the
rotton boards out, then slide all the good ones back in, and the good
new ones, then reweld the short piece of angle iron back in that you cut
out. The angle iron that holds the top of the boards in is just usually
spot welded periodically every foot or two along the top of the boards
to hold them down.
When I redid my trailer floor, it origionally had planed pine floor. I
replaced it with rough cut oak, 2 by 12 inch, got it from a local saw
mill in Wisconsin. I plained them down slightly, but just enough to take
the roughness off, and some board cupping, then cut them to length. I
then had to cut each end down slightly, about 2 inches in on each end
had to be cut down to approx 1 5/8 inches thick so they would slide back
into the metal rails, if that makes a picture in your mind, hard to
explain. Anyhow, after you slide the boards back in, it might be a
good idea to get some Thompsons water seal or some used motor oil and
saturate the boards to help keep moisture from getting in. It might be
easier to use Thompsons while the boards are out to be able to get the
under sides too.
I redid the whole floor on a 18 foot bumper pull for around $280 I
think. Cheap really, considering what it would cost if your horse went
thru and was real hurt, or even killed. Probably took a good 6 hours of
labor to get the project done.
Some people don't use mats, they just saturate the floor with used motor
oil, then put down shavings. I like rubber mats, then put shavings on
top of that. Might help cussion the horse a little more, and maybe keep
them from slipping, I don't know.
That's all folks:
Mark Skeels
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 6:26 PM
To: fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com
Subject: Re: Check your trailer floors
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
How should a trailer floor be checked?
Save a little money each month and at the end of the year you'll be
surprised at how little you have.
- Ernest Haskins
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