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Help me Build the "PERFECT" SnoWest Snowmobile trailer

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richracer1

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I have the same kind of floor in my trailer that Chris has, and IMO you do not need to fully cover the ramps with Super Glides. The flooring isn't slick when it gets snow/water on it and I see no reason an ATV/UTV would have problems driving up the ramp with this kind of floor. I have not had any problems walking up/down my ramps when they have snow/water on them and my ramps are steeper than his. JMO.
 

christopher

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Rich has feet like a mountain goat.
He NEVER slips or slides.:face-icon-small-hap
Could be that I have a large family and kids, and all of us has slipped and crashed on the ramps.

Maybe its overkill?
Maybe 4 tracks would be enough for most everyone.

But I tell ya what, after YEARS of having to watch where I put my feet on the last trailer ramp, its mighty nice NOT worrying about it in the least bit any more!
 

christopher

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The Summer Awning!

Another one of the special order items I wanted on my trailer was an AWNING.

For me, I just couldn't justify the cost of a custom trailer that would only get used 4 months out of the year in the winter. I needed something that would be an ALL year trailer that would serve both SLEDS and ATVs!

Here in Southeastern Idaho we have some fantastic Sand Dunes were we spend our summers riding.

So I asked Mirage to include a full size automatic awning that would allow us to set up chairs in the shade during the daytime and enclose the the Light and Music in the night time. This is what they did for me!!


AWNING STORED FOR TRAVEL.
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Hit the button inside the door and the electric awning begins to unroll itself.
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christopher

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Nice attention to detail.
Opening and closing the main door COULD destroy an awning if you weren't paying close attention and allowed the door to scrape the cloth.
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Mirage was smart enough to add this little ROLLER to the top JUST IN CASE the awning was sagging or blown down at the moment the door opened!
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christopher

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2 VERY cool benefits of this awning.

1st, it REFLECTS all of the light from the external floodlights I had installed and creates a very pleasant environment to sit in at night.

2nd, the music from the speakers is also gently reflected down making the sound MUCH nicer to listen to !

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When the weather improves here, I will post some photos of us under the awning with chairs to give a better perspective on it.
 

kchester

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Perfect Trailer

I have been following your build from start to finish and it came out top notch. One thing that I would look at changing is the floor. I had seen a few trailers in Utah with a plastic tile decking for flooring and finally figured out what it was. Total out of pocket for the decking was $620.00 and when a piece wears out I can replace it 1 square foot at a time. I also love that it is perforated so when the sleds are melting in the trailer the water doesn't run into anything and you can walk around with just your socks on without fear of getting soggy feet.

I did prime the floor to help with waterproofing because it will never see wear below the decking. Then I installed E track and then the flooring over the top. I like that the E Track now sits flush at the floor level so there is no trip hazard. The product is manufactured by Snaplock industries and is called Deck tile. I have run skids and ice scratchers over it without a single indication of wear.

I also put in 2 16 foot LED light strips on the sides of the trailer which greatly improved the lighting. It's still a project with shelving, cabinets, and a heater to come but I love the new floor.

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christopher

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NICELY DONE!

Question.
Have you had a chance to use this over the winter, or is this something you just finished.

I LOVE the idea of being able to swap out a floor square as it wears over time.

But I wonder, if the spaces will fill with water and then freeze up on you or not?

One of the biggest challenges I have seen over the winter is keeping the floor ICE FREE when running the heater day after day and melting out the sleds overnight. The floors ends up covered with water by the time I turn off the heater, and then freezes over the rest of the night.

The superglides have done a great job of making sure I had plenty of traction when walking, even when there was ice on the floor though..
 

m1kflyingtiger

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I have been following your build from start to finish and it came out top notch. One thing that I would look at changing is the floor. I had seen a few trailers in Utah with a plastic tile decking for flooring and finally figured out what it was. Total out of pocket for the decking was $620.00 and when a piece wears out I can replace it 1 square foot at a time. I also love that it is perforated so when the sleds are melting in the trailer the water doesn't run into anything and you can walk around with just your socks on without fear of getting soggy feet.

I did prime the floor to help with waterproofing because it will never see wear below the decking. Then I installed E track and then the flooring over the top. I like that the E Track now sits flush at the floor level so there is no trip hazard. The product is manufactured by Snaplock industries and is called Deck tile. I have run skids and ice scratchers over it without a single indication of wear.

I also put in 2 16 foot LED light strips on the sides of the trailer which greatly improved the lighting. It's still a project with shelving, cabinets, and a heater to come but I love the new floor.
I'm lost in the realm of snap lock...did you use the garage flooring, dura grid deck tile for outdoor use, indoor use, or marine, or the fast deck stuff. Thought I had it narrowed down, but what I thought it was doesn't appear to come in black...
 

kchester

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I have used the tile for the past 4 weeks with 4 sleds going in and out of the trailer. My buddy who has a similar product has used it for over 5 years and replaced about 3 tiles and that was because he hooked the edge with the ice scratchers.

As for the ice build up I have never had or seen an issue with it. Even if the trailer refroze overnight the tiles are 5/8" thick so it would take a lot of water for it to ever get to the top of the tiles.

The tile is hard to find on their website. It is under the duragrid product line and commercial use. I think it was originally designed to be used for commercial pool applications. The website says it doesn't come in black, but I stopped by there office as its in Utah and apparently it does. They are super helpful nice folks when I called them before stopping by there facility.
http://www.duragrid.com/commercial.html

I will snap a close up picture of the tiles from the side and top so you can see the pattern of the tile and how much air space is in them.
 
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volcano buster

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How do you protect the leading edge at the doors for this plastic tile? It would seem to me that it would be vulnerable there. A strip of UHMW or something to act as a wear surface?
 

kchester

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Chris, that is not what I am talking about. Here are a few more pictures.

I put my finger next to a piece that was cut with a table saw for reference on how high the floor stands up off the actual trailer deck along with a picture down one of the E tracks.
It is not flexible like duragrid at all. It is a much tougher plastic, but you can also see how much air space is below the tiles for water to drain away. The edges are not pretty as it would have been if I spent the extra $$ to buy there edge transitions.

The product they sold me was Deck Tile. It runs about $3.00 a square foot.

Volcano if the leading edge of tiles wear out, which may be 2-5 years down the road I will spend $24.00 and replace that leading edge as I can replace it a foot at a time.

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m1kflyingtiger

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Chris, that is not what I am talking about. Here are a few more pictures.

I put my finger next to a piece that was cut with a table saw for reference on how high the floor stands up off the actual trailer deck along with a picture down one of the E tracks.
It is not flexible like duragrid at all. It is a much tougher plastic, but you can also see how much air space is below the tiles for water to drain away. The edges are not pretty as it would have been if I spent the extra $$ to buy there edge transitions.

The product they sold me was Deck Tile. It runs about $3.00 a square foot.

Volcano if the leading edge of tiles wear out, which may be 2-5 years down the road I will spend $24.00 and replace that leading edge as I can replace it a foot at a time.
Thanks! Got some on order!
 

kchester

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To cut it I used a jig saw on small inside corners for the e track and for the rest we used a table saw. For fastening it to the floor I just grabbed some deck screws from home depot that were waterproof and put them along the edges of the doors and then just a few throughout the trailer as it didn't seem to move at all.

Let me know how it turns out.
 
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