I am taking my Trailet two horse bumper pull trailer to get an estimate on replacing the floor. Can you give me an idea what I can expect as far as cost is concerned? I know it varies dependent upon how much if any welding is required but I truly have no idea. $1000, $3000 etc?
is it wood floor or aluminum or other, and does it need to be repaired or replaced?
a trailer shop can give you the best estimate without seeing the trailer floor in person.
I knew I was leaving an important detail out! It is a wood floor. I realize getting an estimate is the best way but wanted to have a ball park figure to judge that estimate by since I really have no idea what a good price is. Just dropped it off a few minutes ago.
Sound like you are hoping to avoid and or be prepared for “sticker shock”.
I have done this myself on a few trailers. Most are built pretty much the same way. Some make it a bit more difficult, labor intensive than others.
I use 2X8-10-12 what ever fits best, by the length needed pressure treated. Wood and self tapping metal screws costs around $120±. For a basic 2 horse no dressing room. Like a Kingston.
A couple hours of labor if this trailer is like others I have worked on. People who do this on a regular bases know all the tricks that make the job faster.
Ball park, $400 to $600. Depends on how greedy they want to be.
Let us know how much they charge.
[QUOTE=gumtree;8574688]
Sound like you are hoping to avoid and or be prepared for “sticker shock”.
I have done this myself on a few trailers. Most are built pretty much the same way. Some make it a bit more difficult, labor intensive than others.
I use 2X8-10-12 what ever fits best, by the length needed pressure treated. Wood and self tapping metal screws costs around $120±. For a basic 2 horse no dressing room. Like a Kingston.
A couple hours of labor if this trailer is like others I have worked on. People who do this on a regular bases know all the tricks that make the job faster.
Ball park, $400 to $600. Depends on how greedy they want to be.
Let us know how much they charge.[/QUOTE]
Thank you! I doubt it will be anywhere that cheap because he is going to remove the rust and prime and paint the frame or whatever you call the part that holds the floor plus weld any parts that look like they are getting thin from rust. I was considering doing it ourselves but watched this video and realized we weren’t up to the task.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fG5otOKYtU
That can be expensive. Can take a lot of hours. Especially if they do it the way the guy in the video did it.
I took all of the rust off of one trailer a long time ago. But I used a sandblaster. MUCH faster.
IMO and experience it is really unnecessary. Unless it is a “vintage” trailer that is a “collectible”
As the guy in the video said, metal losses 50,000 ths of an inch each year to rust. So based on that and the average trailer frame uses 1/2 or 3/8ths high quality steel. It would take say 5,000 to 10,000 years to rust enough to worry about.
I have replaced floors in trailers older than 25 years. None of the structural frame rusted enough to have any worries about.
The only places to give a really close look see are the weld points. These I look at very closely and take grinder and or a power wire brush and clean off the rust to check the integrity of the weld.
A friend bought over a very old 2 horse that had weld point issues. Along with lots of other rust issues on the upper not structural body parts. Told him the trailer was not worth fixing everything. At least not with my free labor. If he paid someone it would cost more then replacing it with another used one in much better condition.
To each their own cleaning up surface rust and painting. IMO and experience it is expensive over kill.
There are other cosmetic stuff that rusts out and money is better spend on addressing those before they become bigger issues IMO
I did the floors on my four horse stock trailer by myself. I have no idea how old it is, but it is old. I did not sand down the metal as the were solid. I just put some old oil based paint on it that will never go away and put in the floors. It wasn’t that hard and was just the cost of the wood.
It seems as if I may have gotten a lemon with this trailer as I have had nothing but problems that no one has ever seen with Trailets so I am erring on the side of caution here. I had my filly in the trailer when the axle fell off last year. Thankfully she was fine but it scared the life out of me. I had to have the entire bottom replaced, not sure what you call it. Some spots have had to be welded so many times that we finally welded 12 inch brackets across the corners. I feel a little like I am throwing good money after bad but I have fixed so much on this trailer recently it is practically new again so I might as well see it through. I am scared to hear what he finds when he gets a look at it when the boards are off though.
Thanks for your insight.
An axle falling off would scare the crap out of me also, anyone. So I can see why you want total peace of mind.
Some trailers can be a money pit. Just like some, a lot of horses I have had over the years. You raced/trained. It took me a while and a lot of money under the bridge to learn to pull the pull a lot quicker.
Do you mind telling us what year/age? So if I should come across one I know to look at things real close.
It is a 2003 that I bought new. I didn’t have any issues at all for a number of years but when it started to have problems it had PROBLEMS! And fixing problems caused other problems like having the corners rewelded melted the wires every time so the wiring has been fixed four times and counting. At one point it was so unstable that I could move the whole box several inches just by putting the palm of my hand on the outside. Knock on wood, assuming they don’t find anything terrifying under the floor it is pretty much a new trailer with an old title so hopefully this is the end at least for a while.
They haven’t taken the boards out and gotten a look at what is underneath yet but so far the quote is $800.
My friend just got a quote of $900 to replace her floor, on top of the $600 for rust repair. Steel trailer, wood floor. The floor goes through to the dressing room, so it has to be cut out. Good luck with yours!
I have done it 2x, paid 800-1000 in DC area.
My dad and I replaced the floor in my 2h BP trailer about 3 years ago. I bought some solid white oak planks, we ripped up the old floor, re-sealed the frame, and replaced the floor. It took all day but that floor is gorgeous and not going anywhere now! I’d say it cost me about $100 in materials and a lifetime of daddy-daughter gratitude!
I just had a whole ramp custom-fabbed for my Trail-et (an '87 with the original ramp that I have owned for 12 years and gone thousands of miles in, and this is the first major repair!) to the tune of $1200. While they were in there, they examined the whole sub-frame (which had been gone over when I bought it), added a few extra d-rings, fixed two lights, touched up some paint, etc.
$800 seems about fair if they are going to do work on the frame, and then put down lumber. At least in my area.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;8575790]
It is a 2003 that I bought new. I didn’t have any issues at all for a number of years but when it started to have problems it had PROBLEMS! And fixing problems caused other problems like having the corners rewelded melted the wires every time so the wiring has been fixed four times and counting. At one point it was so unstable that I could move the whole box several inches just by putting the palm of my hand on the outside. Knock on wood, assuming they don’t find anything terrifying under the floor it is pretty much a new trailer with an old title so hopefully this is the end at least for a while.[/QUOTE]
While the floor is out I suggest you strongly consider having a 72" 2 x 2 x 1/4 welded in place on the Z rail frame for the axle brackets to be bolted to, ask the metal shop about that
…
Risa
Happy Trails Trailers .com
[QUOTE=GoForAGallop;8577634]
I just had a whole ramp custom-fabbed for my Trail-et (an '87 with the original ramp that I have owned for 12 years and gone thousands of miles in, and this is the first major repair!) to the tune of $1200. While they were in there, they examined the whole sub-frame (which had been gone over when I bought it), added a few extra d-rings, fixed two lights, touched up some paint, etc.
$800 seems about fair if they are going to do work on the frame, and then put down lumber. At least in my area.[/QUOTE]
The $800 is just for putting the floor in, I don’t know how much the rest will cost because I don’t know what all they have to do first…
They still haven’t gotten my trailer taken apart so I don’t know for sure what is under there and what it is going to cost to fix but they called me with an idea this morning. He was thinking about putting bedliner on the ramp and about 4-5 inches up the sidewall. He said it would protect the sides from moisture so in theory would stop/slow down any rusting. Thoughts? It would be around $700 extra.
I also have a 2001 Trail-et. It is the New Yorker. I have had to replace the wood on the ramp a couple of years ago. The wood floor is in great condition. I see a tiny bit of surface rust along the bottom edge near the floor. My trailer lives outside. I did have to replace an axle since I bent it when I hit a deep pothole. Other than that it has been a great trailer. It sounds like you got the lemon.
I personally would not add bedliner to the walls and ramps. If anything I think that condensation would get in behind the bed liner, then not be able to dry out and rust more and now you can’t see it. That can happen in the bed of a truck. Also grit will get in behind the bed liner on a truck, will act as sandpaper on the paint and wear it off further taking away the protection.
DH removes our bed liner about once a year on the truck to really wipe it out and get rid of any crud that gets in under it.
I have rubber mats on my sidewalls that go to the floor so that acts to protect the sidewalls anyway. I am not sure if that was an upgrade on the Trail-ets. I bought this one as 1 year old and it has a number of upgrades so that may be one.
Apart from all of the issues mentioned by SonnysMom, bedliner is also ROUGH and will HURT if you scrape an elbow against it or something. (I speak from experience.) Horses, probably a bit more protected with the hair, but you never know.
It is also most certainly not worth an extra $700, since you can buy a gallon of it for $50 and just roll it on with a paint roller, if you are so inclined. Did a whole off-roading vehicle that way and it looked great.
