19 replies to this topic

[pettibone]

I'm in the process of putting a new floor in my old cattle trailer using pressure treated lumber. A while ago had a guy with a woodmizer saw out some oak planks 20 feet long to do the floor in one shot thinking oak would be good. Well anyone who ever hauled any cattle knows what they do as soon as they get in the trailer so nice smooth oak became a skating rink. So then I got some stall mats which seemed to solve the problem until there was a hole in the floor, rotting wood from all the moisture held in by stall mats. So now I'm putting in pressure treated but I'm thinking it too will be slippery without something to provide traction that's why I'm asking if any body has the answer without rotting out the floor again.

[carcajou]

Pressure treated wood sucks for trailer floors. No strength at all. I still would put in another hardwood floor before that.

[swall01]

ive got the rumber branded lug floor. supposed to last forever (will have to see). for sure they dont slip-n-slide.

 

stoll trailers is using them and claims its the best.

 

www.rumber.com/industries-and-applications/horse-and-livestock/livestock-trailer-flooring/

[pettibone]

We get southern yellow pine for pressure treated wood here, I think that's pretty strong. I know hardwood is stronger but nothing seems to be rot resistant unless I get some fancy decking stuff from S America which is out of my price range. 

 That Rumber stuff looks perfect, how much per square foot any idea? 

[vhaby]

I used 1.5" fence post staples to hold down cattle panel and the wood floor in my 14' stock trailer has lasted 11 years so far with no rot apparent. I pressure wash the floor after each cattle haul. Barbed staples would be better. The cattle panel probably hurts the cattle hooves, but they don't limp when released from the trailer.

[bool]

Whatever you use for the floor, lay 6 inch welded mesh over it to give the cattle some grip. I don't fasten it down so it's easier to lift it to clean it.

 

Roger

[swmnhay]

Just throw sand in it.Its still easy to clean out then.1/2 a pail of sand is usually good enough.

Simple and cheap!

Barn lime works also,takes a bit more tho

[Aaroncboo]

Believe it or not what works really well for me is cracked corn. I throw some in there to entice them in the trailer but if you sprinkle some on the ground it provides a lot of traction and then it just rinses out no problem

[Stxpecans123]

Don't want to derail this thread. But have an aluminum trailer that the floor is stupid slick. It's an aluminum floor. We put boards I think 1x8 about 2 foot apart in it before and screwed them down but it didn't last the screws rotted and they still slipped between the board anyways.
We were thinking maybe crushed limestone? Tryed sand, 3 -80lbs bags we had left over from a project and it did nothing. Any thoughts?
I had an older cow slip down on the way to the auction the other day and she couldn't get her footing to get up so they wouldn't take her. Had to haul her home and she slide herself out and a week later she made the ride without slipping and falling but i feel sorry for those cows slipping and slidig in there.

Should I retry the boards with stainless screws and the crushed limestone? I was worried about the little rocks hurting their hoofs.

Not worried about washing it out. It's 15 years old and is in really good shape and I don't know if we have ever washed it. Last year a tornado pushed it over on its side and cleaned alot of it out for us.

[Ray 54]

I grew up with sand on the floor of cattle hauling trucks or trailers. The courser the sand the better. Just use unscreened river run. Have to pull a rock or 2 sometimes. I thought stall mats came in about all the aluminum trailers. I also heard of hot tar and then pee gravel scattered on it when still hot and soft to become embedded.   Have not seen that so don't know if it held up or not. Also think the tar could a bit heavy.

[pettibone]

All good ideas. I was thinking of garage floor epoxy with some coarse sand thrown into it but not sure if that would stick to the wood. Also like the idea of cattlle panels as you can pull them out and wash it out. I don't use the trailer that much so it ends up sitting around and that prrobably makes it worse. 

                                                                               Thanks everyone for some good ideas

[IHCman]

ive got the rumber branded lug floor. supposed to last forever (will have to see). for sure they dont slip-n-slide.

 

stoll trailers is using them and claims its the best.

 

www.rumber.com/industries-and-applications/horse-and-livestock/livestock-trailer-flooring/

 

I think this is the best thing for cattle trailer floors it does get slippery in the winter. 

[IHCman]

I bought my 32' trailer used, it had rubber mats over the wood floor. They worked very well for a long time but eventually were starting to lift up and get tore up. I pulled them out and cleaned the trailer really well and was going to try and find more of those rubber mats but eventually decided to have fibergrit installed over the wood. Just fiberglass with gravel pressed in. While it certainly seals everything up and there won't be any rot I don't know if I'd do it again. Makes it tough to scrape the trailer out at the end of the day and it was kind of expensive.

 

Here is a video of the place that did mine.

https://youtu.be/OePlU8EetG0

 

I think I'd go with the rumber floor and just throw sand or gravel on it if it gets slippery.

[somedevildawg]

Rough cut oak with clear stain or Thompson’s water seal would be a good choice, anything like PT yellow pine that has been run thru the mill for resale is gonna be slick. It’s just not a good starting point in my opin....

[somedevildawg]

Don't want to derail this thread. But have an aluminum trailer that the floor is stupid slick. It's an aluminum floor. We put boards I think 1x8 about 2 foot apart in it before and screwed them down but it didn't last the screws rotted and they still slipped between the board anyways.
We were thinking maybe crushed limestone? Tryed sand, 3 -80lbs bags we had left over from a project and it did nothing. Any thoughts?
I had an older cow slip down on the way to the auction the other day and she couldn't get her footing to get up so they wouldn't take her. Had to haul her home and she slide herself out and a week later she made the ride without slipping and falling but i feel sorry for those cows slipping and slidig in there.
Should I retry the boards with stainless screws and the crushed limestone? I was worried about the little rocks hurting their hoofs.
Not worried about washing it out. It's 15 years old and is in really good shape and I don't know if we have ever washed it. Last year a tornado pushed it over on its side and cleaned alot of it out for us.

Were the boards PT? If so, most screws will deteriorate very quickly if they’re not coated or stainless....
Seems like 1x anything is not going to stand up to the foot traffic of bovin....it also seems like 2’ spacing is a bit wide as well.....just thinking out loud. Don’t see many aluminum stock trailers here.....

[swall01]

I think this is the best thing for cattle trailer floors it does get slippery in the winter. 

ive seen some slippage between the lugs but thats inches until hoof gets to the next raised lug.

 

 

We get southern yellow pine for pressure treated wood here, I think that's pretty strong. I know hardwood is stronger but nothing seems to be rot resistant unless I get some fancy decking stuff from S America which is out of my price range. 

 That Rumber stuff looks perfect, how much per square foot any idea? 

i dont remember cost but i remember thinking it was a little pricey.

 

as mentioned a few times: washing out and able to dry after use is the longevity of any trailer floor (alum being the exception)

[r82230]

I have a different flooring in my Featherlite, but they don't offer it I understand any more.  It is like a poured indoor/out door material, which makes it not as 'noisy' as an normal aluminum floor.  Plus not much slipping until well coated with droppings.

 

My thinking IF I had a new wood floor is to apply (maybe even a couple of coats) of asphalt driveway coating mixed with sand.  Perhaps one or two heaped shovels per 5 gallon bucket.  Not only would you be creating a less slippery surface, but some weather proving could be an added benefit.

 

IDK if you could power wash, but I'd think you could use a regular garden spray hose on it.

 

Larry

[pettibone]

I wonder how that driveway sealer would stick to wood, seems like a good idea but I do know if you put a little snow on a driveway that's had a few coats of sealer it is some slippery but that's without adding any grit. Have to put that on the list of maybes.

[Farmerbrown2]

I’ve used asphalt drive way sealer on hay wagons.

[dvcochran]

Don't want to derail this thread. But have an aluminum trailer that the floor is stupid slick. It's an aluminum floor. We put boards I think 1x8 about 2 foot apart in it before and screwed them down but it didn't last the screws rotted and they still slipped between the board anyways.
We were thinking maybe crushed limestone? Tryed sand, 3 -80lbs bags we had left over from a project and it did nothing. Any thoughts?
I had an older cow slip down on the way to the auction the other day and she couldn't get her footing to get up so they wouldn't take her. Had to haul her home and she slide herself out and a week later she made the ride without slipping and falling but i feel sorry for those cows slipping and slidig in there.

Should I retry the boards with stainless screws and the crushed limestone? I was worried about the little rocks hurting their hoofs.

Not worried about washing it out. It's 15 years old and is in really good shape and I don't know if we have ever washed it. Last year a tornado pushed it over on its side and cleaned alot of it out for us.

Are you saying the screws rotted in the holes through the deck? If so I suspect you are getting electrolysis and need to invest in some grounding straps. More common on aluminum trailers since they are more conductive. 

Possibly a harder grade bolt that is through-bolted with lock nuts?