Need Info - Protect Wooden Trailer Floor

[Merry Fox]

Forgive me, I know this topic has already been discussed but most of the posts dealt with metal floors.

I have an older model trailer with a wood floor and rubber mats. Trailering tends to have a diuretic effect on my horse so I always have shavings down to soak up the excess. I always clean the trailer out after each trip but leave the remaining clean shavings down for the next time. Is there any reason not to do this? It sounded like some felt that the shavings caused problems...to the floor itself? to the rubber mats? Or was this specific to metal floors.

[wildlifer]

I polyurethaned my wood floor in my trailer. Wish I had done it when I brought it home new, but better late then never. I wouldn't leave shavings in the trailer, I'd leave the floor bare so it can air and dry completely.

[Merry Fox]

Hmmm, I try to make sure that all the wet shavings are out and I sweep the rest of the clean/dry/reuse into a pile in the middle so the edges can dry. I usually leave the rubber mats down. Should I be pulling them out or rolling them up?

[Bluey]

Before rubber mats, every trailer we got we would run by a roofing company and they would mop hot tar onto the floor and we added some sand to the top, so it was not slick or sticky.
Our floors lasted forever like that.

[joiedevie99]

If you aren't going to use the trailer for a few weeks or more, I'd move the clean shavings into a muck bucket and roll up the mats.

[tle]

I would second that -- if you aren't going to use the trailer for a while, remove the shavings. I never used shavings for my mare but would clean out the trailer after each ride within 24 hours. Clean = hose AND SCRUB walls, floor, butt bar and ramp, remove mats and hose AND SCRUB them top and bottom. Worth the effort to not have to replace mats and flooring.

[Sparky Boy]

I polyurethaned my wood floor in my trailer. Wish I had done it when I brought it home new, but better late then never. I wouldn't leave shavings in the trailer, I'd leave the floor bare so it can air and dry completely.

Is that necessary if your floor is pressure treated? Aren't all wood floors pressure treated?

[Hampton Bay]

I just installed a new floor in my trailer, and we used pressure-treated lumber. I hose the trailer after every use and then leave the mats up until it dries. I am planning to use a water-seal on the floor now that the lumber has dried out enough, and possibly take it to have the underside coated to protect the metal.

It's not the water that hurts the floor so much (unless it's trapped in there under the mats), but the urine and manure. Even pressure-treated lumber cannot withstand urine and manure.

[subk]

The beauty of a wood floor is that it is relatively inexpensive to replace! So while it is nice to protect it, personally I wouldn't spend a ton of money or effort to do it. I just plan to be willing to replace mine a little sooner than I would need to normally.

[Merry Fox]

Thanks for the advice everyone. My trailer is older and I bought it used but the floor is in good condition. I use it often enough that it is more convenient to leave shaving in and mats down ready to go. However after reading everyone's comments I think I might cut back on the amound of shavings, keep the clean ones in a muck bucket when storing the trailer and at least flip the mats up to let the floor air out.

What do you use on a wood floor to clean it?

[tle]

a hose and a scrub brush

[Sparky Boy]

I don't use shavings. I also rarely trailer longer than an hour or so. If I put shavings in, they all pee. If I don't put shavings in, they wait to pee outside.

[pj]

Before rubber mats, every trailer we got we would run by a roofing company and they would mop hot tar onto the floor and we added some sand to the top, so it was not slick or sticky.
Our floors lasted forever like that.

DERN!!! That sounds like a great idea, not pretty but very very practical!! Wonder why people don't do that?
Just had a new floor put in my trailer and rather than pay five hundred for trailer mats I had the guy cut new stall mats to fit the trailer. (came to seventy four dollars) I was surprised when I got it back to find that he had silaconed all the seams. :) Was pretty thrilled to think a drop of water would never touch my new floor til folks told me the silacon would eventually pull away. :(

[Merry Fox]

But I want my horse to have "all systems go" when he gets on the trailer....it's how I know everything is alright. I'm still thinking a few shavings in the splash zone will be ok and I can pull them all out afterward. I'm mainly trying to prolong the life of the floor while not making clean up and storage too time consuming.

[spacehorse]

My trailer has a wooden floor- I have mats on top of the wood. I think I may have pulled the mats no more than 4 or 5 times in the 9 years since we got the trailer brand new.

Last year I did put some wood preservative on the wood, as I cleaned the trailer head to foot, let the wood dry and then painted the floor. Took maybe a half hour.

I can't imagine pulling up those damn mats if I wasn't 'planning' on using my trailer for a few weeks. Never happen.

My floor is in perfect condition, and it is used for hauling both cattle and horses (cattle hauling is why it gets cleaned and mats pulled, they don't care where the #hit flies!) :lol:

[slpeders]

When I got my trailer it came with a pair of homemade "rockers" to put under the mats that lets air get under them. They appear to be basically 1x6s about 3 feet long, cut on the ends so they end in a curves with a point, like the top of a picket fence. Two are bolted together with about a 4" spacer pipe over the bolt between them. I can pick up the end of a mat, put the point of the rocker down between the floor and the mat and pretty much push/kick the rocker under the mat. It doesn't lift the whole mat off the floor, but I try to get it into the middle so air can get under there. During the winter I tri-fold the mats and put them entirely up on the rockers and off the floor.

[Chall]

Oh wait, I thought pressure treated lumber wasn't supposed to be used in stalls because the urine (ammonia) interacted with the treatment on the lumber to produce toxins. Is that inaccurate information?
off to google it...