Best trailer/sled deck decking material

[High Life]

After a couple years of wear and tear on my sled deck, the cheap plywood is starting to split and warp at the edges. It is coated with some sort of paint that is holding up pretty good, but edges of the ply soak up the moisture way too easily and are starting to split apart.

What has everybody found to be the best material to put on open trailer decks and sled decks?

I've thought about the plastic Trex material used for house decks, marine grade plywood, and another option using regular AC plywood. What I would do with regular AC ply would be to make all my cuts and holes in the plywood first, joint the edges with like 1" strips solid lumber (like fir or redwood) and then take it to the local pole plant and get each piece treated. This way every edge and surface that is exposed to the elements is treated and very little of the raw plywood edges are exposed for moisture to wick in and warp. I know it sounds like a lot of work just to deck my sled deck, but I think it would make it last alot longer. Plus plain treated plywood won't be so dang slick as the painted plywood I have now.

Might also help if I don't do the drive through car washes...I can probably keep more moisture off the deck by doing a manual wash.

Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[SRXSRULE]

I looked at a bunch of decks in the last 2 months. I seen several "new" decks that already need the plywood replaced. I ended up buying a new truckboss deck but if I had a steel or aluminum framed traditional style deck I would get some diamond plate aluminum sheeting for it. Then put the superglides on it so you have something to walk on and not fall off your truck


One more thing....If you MUST stick with plywood, I had an open 3 place trailer about 12 years ago that I painted with 2 part epoxy floor paint. I did all the seems and edges to seal it up good. I also added silica sand with a paint mixer so it had grip when wet. It worked great and held up great for the 4 yrs I owned it. The wood was perfect when I sold it and it always sat outside. Eric

 

[jsledder]

I would think the Poly-bead floor like Mirage uses would work good. The floor in my enclosed is 7 years old and you can barely see where the carbides run.

Link.

 

[AndrettiDog]

I had the trex material on my sled deck. It worked really well except that the carbides will carve lines into it. So I would recommend adding ski guides. One thing you have to consider is that you will have drastic temp changes from cold days to spring days. Wood and metal will expand (the wood warps). The trex material seemed to be the most consistent.