Just redecked the trailer I haul my N on ( long )

Possibly slightly OT, but I do haul theN's around on it...

Last week i went to go load up the NAA and brushog to mow a pasture down the road, and stepped right through the front of my trailers deck! I checked around and found 3 more soft spots... needless to say, the tractor didn't go anywhere near the trailer.. except to haul it around to the front of the barn.

I pulled some wood off, and found a piece with the stock numbers still vissible on the underside... wasn't pt wood.. just #2 yellow pine.

When i bought it.. it just had that nice grey patina that wood gets outside.. both PT and otherwise.. I just assumebd the dealer would use PT wood on his decks... guess not...

I went to the store and got the $ 187.00 of PT wood I would need, and yesterday morning pulled allt he deck fasteners out, and scrapped all the deck material.. it was bad, I was able to break every peice in half by hand, and most of them brok into another couple pieces after I threw them over to the other side of the trailer...
I measured everything up, and found out this design wasn't one of the nice user friendly "slide thwe board in the back all the way, slip the front in and then center and fasten..." The pockets were exactly board length....with about a 2" lip front and back. I wasn't real hot about sawing off 2" of board to slip in and make fit.. woried that the wood wouldn't hold...

Had to quit yesterday at 3pm to go to work...got up this morning to finish the job.

With a bit of finagling, I got 11 of the 13 boards in by greasing the rails with lithium lube, and then setting them in at an angle to the rear and then sliding them over. The last board, I saved for an offset of the middle area, and trimmed it down a bit, and then slid the back in, and bowed the board in the middle with a block, and got the front popped in. I had to cut about an inch off that one, but the placement I used for it, It won't be in the line of the tractor tires, or the front of a trike if I get one.

For piece of mind, I whipped out my new welder, and welded a tab/runner in the front and rear on the underside of that board, connecting the front rail to the first cross brace, right under that short board, and the same for the rear rail, and first rear crossbrace.

Also of note.. I think I've graduated from 'really horrible welder' to 'just bad welder'... Though not perfect, my welds looked great this time, compaired to my first trys. The guy at the weldeing store suggested I try a rod called 'surespark.. or surestrike' something like that.. sead it was easy to draw an arc with for inexperienced welders... he was right! I feel much better about those welds.. I also got a new helmet, as the kit came with this small one you hold up with your hand... I like the 'regular' ones better.. just nod your head and go. If I ever do any serious welding, guess I'll drop the money on a decent wire welder and one of those auto tint helmets...
Was a great day altogether

thanks guys..... Like working on my N's... I wouldn't have tried stuff like this a few years ago... but the experiences gained here have helped out a bunch.

Soundguy

I did the walls and partitions, and rafters out of yellow pine on my barn, with uprights, bottom runners, and roof purloins out of pt. After building, I did a heavy coating ( clr? ) some sort of uv / sealer coating... I got it at lowes, came in 5 gallon pails.. was a bit more than thompsons water seal, but looks great and preserves the orangish/yellow color.

I just did a couple generous coats of asphalt paint on the trailer today, then towed it over to its parking spot with the tractor. Looks great.

Soundguy

Yeah, I agree.. even with the pt wood.. some other sort of preservative will help it last even longer. It wasn't the 187$ worth of lumber I worried about.. it was the 2 full days to do it, that I didn't plan on... I was sopposed to be bushhogging today.... oh well... always next week.

happy fathers day all.

soundguy

I almost considered using copper napthelate.. would have been bright green.. but real bug resistant.. that stuff is a tad expensive though.. the asphalt paint on the other hand, is real cheap.. and I still have 2-3 gallons of it left from a previous project.

thanks for the ideas,

soundguy

Thompsons just isn't a 'strong' enough product.

as for painting it, I know that most regular deck and wood paints won't stick well.. even the new latex fence paint.

I did however find a good asphalt based paint at a farm store I shop at. They are one of the only dealers in the area that still have a fully stocked cresote lumber yard.. as a matter of fact, I bought my fence materials there a few years ago. They recomend this paint as a touch up/sealer for the cresote lumber.
As a general rule, cresote'd wood also won't take paint well, but they sell this asphalt paint that goes on great... don't know who makes it, as they brand it themselves.. but claims to be good for concrete, wood, metal, and for tar/felt paper on roof's that have dried out. I bought a can and sealed all my fence post tops with it. the neighbor put up a fence at the same time I did, and already some of his posts are cupped on the top from rain... so far mine are holding.

I will probably find that I will need to do a follow up coat in a couple months, but thats fine.. anything to make it last longer is a plus.

later guys

soundguy

I had always been wanting to tinker with welding.. but not knowing if I would like it didn't want lotsa money in gear to go to waste.. The wife got it for me as early fathers day gift.

Kit comes with the welder, and a token amount of 1/16 rods ( liek 5 of em.. ), both clamps, a really cheap hammer brush combo, and a face shield you hold up with one hand.
Gloves are extra.. I got a nice long cuff pair that goes almost to the elbow for like 20 bucks.. I also ended up getting another helmet.. like 16 bucks. Had i though about it, I would have picked up the welding accessories kit that Tractor supply sells.. it has a helmet, long gloves, a spring hammer, and brush, for like 29 bucks...

The welder will use 1/16 rods or 5/64 rods... 2 settings.. auto, which is low power up to 40 amps.. and high, which is 70 amps.

I'm assuming ac only, as there is no polarity or selector switch. I tried the 7013 1/16 and 5/64 rod that c/h sells.. but I found it hard to start / keep an arc.

I wen't to the welding store our company shops at, explainf my 'newness' to the situation, and he handed me a box of something called surestrike, or something like that... they work great.

All in all, a pound of that rod was like 7 bucks, the welder kit for 89 bucks, cheap helmet included, and gloves for 20$ and new helmet for 16, new hammer for 2.99, and a soapstone pencil for 1.99.. not a bad little deal.... like 131 bucks..... and i still have that cheap helmet/shield, and cheap hammer as a spare...

soundguy