Hi, I have a single rice trailer and the floor is needing replaced but i am thinking of putting down and aluminium one, has anyone done this before, i would appreciate any advice.thanks
I bought an ifor williams trailer which had a wooden floor which i had replaced with an ifor williams aluminium floor. I was lucky as my dad and his friend were able to fit it as Ifor Williams make the floor themselves to sell (at about £200). If you were to put an aluminium floor down in the rice trailer you would have to take it to someone who has all the tools and materials for doin it as rice didnt ever make aluminium floors.
I have an Ivor Williams 505 (double), about 15 years old, and the floor has just started to rot so I have been ringing round for quotes. The local official dealers started at £550 for fitting it, depending on how old it was, but found a chap who will fit it for about £350 if that helps. Think if you are looking to buy one they come in set sizes, so not sure about a single one.
hi, thanks for the replies, i foned a couple of places today and one guy said to fix the wooden floor then put the metal on top, but surely you take out the whole floor wouldnt you?
I would go for aluminium / checkerplate everytime having lost a horse from a floor going through.
They might want to fix the wooden floor first if the frame isn't easy to fix the floor too. However the point being that the metal is supposed to take the weight, not the wood!
A tip for anyone, if you have an ifor with a laminated floor, you can generally make Ifor pay the labour for fitting.
When fitting the aluminium floor you need to first remove all the old wooden floor completely. Then check all the supporting metal cross members and edge supports for any rust and get them welded where required. The metal supports and cross members then need to be rustproofed and re-painted. An insulator needs to be fitted around all the metal supports to provide a viable barrier between the metal cross members and supports and the aluminium so as to avoid any galvanic action from occuring between the aluminium floor and the supporting metal structures as otherwise the aluminium will rot and drop down.
Well, I got mine (a 510) done by a very good blacksmith. He charged £400, Ifor quoted £650!! He left the wood down and put the aluminium on top. I was a bit surprised but he does all the trailers for the farm and is also a mechanic so he does know what he's doing. I know a few that have been done like that.