Trailer Decks

[thebri]

Its that time of year to get the trailers ready for the winter. Last year I replaced one deck. I used 3/16" self tapping screws. I would bet at least 1/3 of the heads have broken. I also bought some 6" yard edging on a roll from home depot and laid it down where the ski's run. That made a huge difference.

I have got to change the deck on my fourplace this fall and was wondering what other ways to attach the deck. It has pop rivets now and at least 1/2 have broken. Any ideas would be great! I have thought about putting a dado in around the edges and using som 1/8" plate strips and bolting through the frame but that would be somewhat of a project. I am hoping for an easy way out!!

 

[Ride907]

I used large gauge self tapping screws. Trick is the heads are larger, so pull out as easy or go through the deck. Mine has held up for 4 seasons now with some heavy stuff on it and tons of usage. When I replace the deck next year, I'll use the same hardware.

 

[R J]

Use some form of self drillers and or tappers. It's kind of hard to find the exact holes again when replacing the whole deck. Floe uses some torx style self tappers that have a large diameter head and countersink into the wood which works great IMO.

 

[Blk88GT]

x2, I used the large head torx screws

 

[bullfrog123]

Rebuilt my 4 place open last yr and used 1/4" carriage bolts with a 3/8" flat washer to add too the surface area of the head. Works great and are smooth top as to not catch anything. To find the original holes in the frame and crossmembers, I crawled under the trailer and drilled a 1/8" pilot hole then got on top and redrilled with the 1/4" bit. But my crossmembers are channel iron, not boxed.

 

[snow addict]

on my trailer i put large head self tappers in and i havnt used the trailer yet so i dont know how it is goin to work