Aluminum horse trailer floors

[moparguy]

Our aluminum horse trailer is floored with solid diamond plate aluminum sheets that are covered with rubber pads. After any extended trip we always pull the pads and rinse the trailer floor with water to remove the urine and horse poop that makes it past the pads.



My question is does anyone do anything else to prevent the uric acid from causing oxcidation. I'm thinking a liberal sprinkle of Arm and Hammer baking power might help.



Thanks, Ronnie

 

[Shovelhead]

Have you checked to see what is might cost to "Line-X" the floor of the trailer?

It might be able to eliminate the pad, and the problem.



Ed

 

[easleyj1]

The floor of my trailer has a coating similar to Line-x. The mats are just laid in on top of the coated floor as usual. Seems to be working well, but the rig is less than a year old so I can't comment on long term durability. I can say I like it and that it makes sense. By the way most trailer manufacturers recommend once a year acid neutralizing washes of the horse compartment.



J. E.

 

[WDaniels]

Ronnie,

baking soda will help nutrialize the uric acid as will lime. But water is the best. The only thing is to make sure that the bracers under the aluminum flooring is also aluminium and not steel. if its steel touching aluminum the water will cause dissemular metal corrosion.

wd

 

[DLeach]

kinda off subject

Doesnt really fit in this thread but made my brain click. Kinda funny story, we were moving cows from one pasture to another in a 20' featherlight aluminum stock strailer going down a bumpy road when the spare tire rattled off and un did the single nut on the holder. Tire fell off, rolled under trailer, busted 5 of the cross beams and bent the first axle. My friend says, "what the hell was that" Turns out its going to cost about 6 grand to fix the cross member and weld everything back good. Not to mention that the floor now has big bumps in it

 

[moparguy]

That would ruin your day.

DLeach, along those same lines, last summer a neighbor was carrying a load of feeders to the sale and his helper (not me) didn't latch the back gate on the trailer, he unloaded calves for a mile or so before noticing.



Man, talk about hard to get back in the trailer. Those steers were extremely hard to load the second time.

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

I have a Barrett Stock trailer that I bought a year ago. I had it lined with line-X type stuff and it has held up great. I went up the walls to the side vents. It is very easy to clean and having the mats on top of it the urine is a non factor. Just pull them out and pressure wash it. I will do this to all of my trailers from now on.

 

[Steve Campbell]

FWIW....

Your local feed store can get "feed grade" sodium bicarbonate in 50 lb bags a lot cheaper than "Arm and Hammer".

 

[moparguy]

Thanks for the replies. Those mats are heavy and a pain in the ankle to R&R. I agree the LineX or Rhino lining is the best solution. But not this year. Gonna have to whistle the market back up a bit first.



Ronnie