Rotten Lorry Floor - how often to check / replace

[OliveOyl]

For those with lorries, how many people have had to change a lorry floor due to it going rotten?

I had my previous lorry 10 years and regularly checked the floor and it was always super strong, but was made out of some pretty chunky timber.
New lorry, built 7 years ago, has just gone off to HorseboxMan as the floor has gone rotten where my mare stands. Admittedly mare does like to flood the lorry every time she gets on it to go anywhere, so she certainly doesn't help with the longevity of a lorry floor, but does 7 year life sound short for a floor to have given up? It's always mucked out and left clean, with clean shavings down as soon as we get back home.

 

[Birker2020]

Dad stripped down my trailer a few weeks ago and although I suspected there might have been a problem with the floor as my horse has suddenly decided to stop loading a couple of years before we could find no rotten wood.

Dad had checked it about four times from underneath over the two yeas he stopped being so quick to load before stripping it down but at my insistence and sick of me nagging him he pulled up one of the planking anyway and replaced it not that it needed it!

Actually the horse has been better the last six months or more with loading and goes on in seconds rather than minutes so whateverr it was has finally passed him by.

i think its the poo more than the wee that makes the floor wet and rotten as there is a huge amount of water in poo. Also if the side of the trailer/lorry leak and this water runs down onto the floor when it rains.

 

[humblepie]

OH is a mechanic and recently did some work on a not very old lorry from a well known manufacturer and was slightly aghast at the floor construction. Important to check and ramps as well.

 

[PaddyMonty]

Depends on the material the floor is made from, if wood how well it was sealed but most importantly, what sort of drainage the horse area has for urine. Many have nothing in the way of drainage so unsurprising the floor rots quickly. Others use normal ply, again not a lot of use.

 

[lindsayH]

I think this is a good point to raise. It can be hard to know what sort of state your trailer/lorry floor is in, what do others do to check? I stab mine with a screwdriver, I have no idea if this is an effective check! The only way I can check the bottom floor is to wiggle underneath with a torch.

 

[noname]

It's so hard to tell, I am paranoid about the floors. Drove it to a lorry man to check but he couldn't give me a definate answer either. Depends whether you have a single layer or double layer. There are various options though. He mentioned putting down aluminium floors on top and them rubber etc to avoid slippy ness which is cheaper than having the whole thing re-done.

You need to check the thingy's that the floor is attached to as well. (I can't remember what they are called - joists?). They can get rotten too with all the rain and water splashing around.

 

[HaffiesRock]

How do you check an aluminium floor?

 

[1rocky1]

agree with humblepie . most people overlook the ramps ! have seen some right floors and ramps in last few weeks , and they was still being used ! be very carefull . not sure putting shavings on top will help , if there is any outside water coming in they might old the moisture , just a thought .