Plywood for trailer restoration

That 9' was a problem for me too. The way I chose to handle it and the problem with future rot was to use pressure treated plywood and to put the seam behind the fenders. I am trying to remember but think on mine that there was a brace that area and the seam was split between the 2 pieces of wood.. As for carpet I decided not to use any and just apply roll on black bedliner, it is really hard to tell it is not carpet with the texture. A few other bonuses in going this route is it is now pretty much no slip, will not hold water, and since I leave my trailer on the ramp and in the water often it pressure washes clean easily. One other thing I almost forgot was I used galvanized carriage bolts for attachment, when coated with the bedliner they are hardly noticeable. Been about 6 years and no problems with rot or the coating yet. This method for me only takes two $40.00 3/4x4x8 sheets of plywood. Use a round over bit and router to soften the edges for a more carpeted look.

What roll on coating did you use? I could use it on one of the 3 trailers. I have heard the Raptor is good stuff.

Dock Doc,

You are welcome to check out my Ramlin trailer. The previous owner replaced the plywood and had a bed liner company spray liner just on the top side and the sides of the wood. This lets the wood breath. It has traction for your feet, and it drys very fast. The black does not seem to get too hot in the summer too. It has held up very well and looks like carpet from a first look.

Donald

Donald80SN wrote: Dock Doc, You are welcome to check out my Ramlin trailer. The previous owner replaced the plywood and had a bed liner company spray liner just on the top side and the sides of the wood. This lets the wood breath. It has traction for your feet, and it drys very fast. The black does not seem to get too hot in the summer too. It has held up very well and looks like carpet from a first look. Donald

Thanks Donald - I think this really sounds like the way to go. I'm going to cut up some plywood and get a quote from the Line-X guys to have it sprayed.

I did not do any additional prep to my wood before applying bed liner. I however did not coat the bottom to allow the wood to dry after the trailer comes out of the water. I have my own ramp so I just leave it sitting in the water while the boat is out on the lake. That time can range from and hour to all day, it has never given me a problem at all. The best advantage that I see over carpet is where it touches the fenders due to the fact that is dries so fast it does not cause the rusting problems that are common in that area. One note is apply before installing and touch up attachments bolt after they are in place if wanted. One final note is do not get any of the liner anyplace you do not want it, once dry it will not come off "EVER".

rosconole wrote: Leaving the trailer in the water all day can't be good for bearings or bunk carpet...

Ross,
There are pressurized bearing systems out there to keep the water out.

Here's a common version:



The bunk carpet on my lift is 40 years old and it sits in the water many hours without any problems and mine sure isn't the only one.

KENO wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: Working with lumber and wood boats for many years, I get pretty upset with the misconception out there as to what marine plywood actually is. I feel Martin may be a example of this misconception and then going to Menards where I guarantee no one explained to him what he was buying. So Ken, per your comment it sounds like I shouldn't say anything and let other people fall into misusing marine plywood? My intent it to try and stop the spreading of manure. Pete It looks like maybe you should straighten out the APA (The Engineered Wood Association) They seem to have a definition of what qualifies as marine plywood, see the link below link You have your BS 1088 definition that you think is the only one out there but like most things there are different definitions and standards. Maybe instead of telling Martin he may be an example of a misconception you should explain why you feel your BS-1088 stuff is better than his.. While you're at it, you could straighten out the Home depot people next time you put the apron on. They sell the same Roseburg plywood that Martin linked with the same wording in their advertising. Must be the same con job.as Menard's . Then you can move on up the wood chain and make sure those people at the APA are all properly educated too. so they're not pulling the same con job. After all that you shouldn't be upset any more

So Pete

Where's the explanation of why the APA approved marine plywood that gets you so upset isn't as good as the BS-1088 stuff?

It's your chance to educate the CCF world based on your opinions

Don't forget to also include Australian Standard marine plywood in your discussion.

Maybe you should make a new thread so it's easy for people to find in the future

Yea I had those same bearing buddies on our duck hunting boat. They are ok. I think the axle inside out grease style is what most of us have with a dust cap and seal on end. Don't get me wrong I just put brand new stainless Kodiak disc brakes on the barefoots trailer last year and it stop like a dream now, but the seal on axle either the drums that came off or disc that I put on I wouldn't say are water tight per say. , They hold the grease in pretty good so far.

On another now what circular saw blade you guys like on the plywood? mines a lil rusty...time for a new one....I think I just talked myself in to doing 2 or maybe the 3rd trailer now...the weather is nice...

As I recall on mine did not use a circular saw at all, used the factory edge against the trailer. The outsides have so many curves and were going to be routed anyway I just used a jig saw for all of my cuts.

rosconole wrote: I knew i bought that makita 18v jig saw on black friday for a reason!

Yeah jigsaw is essential here of course.

Started working on this this weekend. Made the mistake of trying to use the existing pieces as templates... Worked ok for the back half, but the front half was disintegrating in my hands as I tried to scribe it onto the plywood. Ended up mis-sizing it so will have to start that over. At this point, considering the old stuff a total loss and just trashing it, I'll use the trailer and/or cardboard to scribe out the new sections. From what I can tell, seems I should be able to do one side and then use that as a template for the opposite side.

So far, I see no reason why this can't be done as to halves using a 4x8 plywood sheet, rather than trying to get a 10' sheet. There's a metal support smack in the middle, this thing ought to be solid.

Here's what I did:

Boat trailer plywood photos and writeup

And doing some quick math, I did that in 2013, and they still look great with no rot in 2019, so 5 years, going on 6, of no problems. I put the seam between the wheel well and the bunk rail. You never step there, I created a stringer across the seam with another piece of wood and screwed it all together. It was not worth the extra cost (to me) to have just one piece of wood when the end product ended up looking so nice. Unless you crawl under my trailer and look behind the wheel well, which isn't even easy to do, you would never know that step is created from two pieces of wood.