Small goods trailer paneling material?

[T i m]

Hi all,

Just thinking out loud ... I have a nice little light goods trailer, about 500kg/ 5' x 4' sorta thing and whilst left outside (covered), water has laid inside at the front (it sits nose down) and caused the front panel to crinkle and delaminate (you could probably put your hand through it now). I use it for all sorts of things, from taking stuff down the dump to moving smaller motorbikes and the other day I moved my cement mixer to the lockup. It also sometimes carries 'cleaner' stuff, like camping gear etc.

The floor appears to be ok but seems to be made of a different material, probably a ply, possibly 'marine'?

So, I need to change the front panel and might also do the sides but I'm not sure what to use. The existing panel seems to be made out of something 'wood like' but not wood that I can see as it seems to have resin alike outer layers and is riveted into the chassis frame, not something you would normally do with wood / ply (I used M6 captive 'spiked' 'T' nuts with 1/2" waterproof ply on my big trailer but the bushings on those would be longer than the thickness of the existing material).

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could think of a material I could use instead that might have the following properties.

Be 'waterproof' (not, 'water resistant').

Fairly rigid.

Reasonably strong (for something less than say 10mm thick), or at least reasonably impact resistant.

Reasonably priced.

Readily available.

Reasonably easy to cut (to size).

Lighter rather than heavy.

I'd prefer not to use an ally as that always seems to get dented and might attract the wrong sort of interest, and similar with the galvanised steel panels they often make the smaller trailers out of (it's also noisy and stuff slides about against it, taking the galv off etc).

Are we back to a WBP / marine ply or is there something better that looks / feels / works nicely out there these days please?

I guess polycarbonate / Lexan sheet (riot shields) would be quite expensive?

Any ideas welcomed. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. When built and raced my electric motorcycle, some of the 4 wheelers were built as monocoques using a synthetic honeycomb sheet that I believe was very expensive (they said the had borrowed 'off cuts' from work (Ciba Geigy)). ;-)

[Nightjar]

My Ifor Williams box trailer seems to have the sides made from foamed PVC sheet:

[T i m]

Ah, yes, I know the stuff now thanks. I got an offcut from my local sign shop and used it as endplates for a pole based shoe rack I positioned between two walls and over the door in a utility room. ;-)

It's certainly covers the easy to cut bit, it's 100% waterproof, reasonably impact resistant(?), nice and quiet and looks like it's easy to get.

Are your trailer panels plain white OOI Colin?

I notice they do do a coloured sheet that would suit:

... but at ~£85 (plus Vat and delivery) for a 2440mm x 1220mm sheet of 5mm it's not 'cheap'. I'd have to find a local supplier (Nth Lundin) as 80 quid delivery is a bit steep. ;-)

That said, the trailer is 1380 x 1050 x 370 (worst case, could be slightly less) so I should be able to get all four side panels out of one sheet and how a length spare (or could double up the front and back etc).

... And it should last a long time and wouldn't need any further treatment like painting / sealing etc, which all costs in time and money of course.

I'll ask my sign shop if they can any discount from their suppliers. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Bill Wright]

Find an installer of wet rooms (ask a disability shop or google) and ask them for some offcuts of the board they use for the walls. Fabulous stuff!

Bill

[T i m]

If it's what the guy used when he put a stud wall up for a shower for Mum then I know what you mean. It looks like concrete chipboard. ;-)

Is this the sort of thing?

I think he cut it with a cheap panel saw (or knife, wasn't there) but I'm not sure how good it would be against impact though? I can imagine a fastener breaking away at the corners but I think I will check it out (and I see they do 4, 6 and 10mm thickness).

Cheers, T i m

[meow2222]

-Pvc-Sheet.aspx

I'd second pvc, but suggest something much thicker than 5mm, and getting it locally for far less than £85 :) Shuttering ply is cheaper, but it only lasts so long.

NT

[Nightjar]

Originally, although they have acquired a green colour from being parked in damp shadow for long periods. :-)

Bright yellow is, apparently, the colour that is least likely to be involved in a traffic collision. Could be useful for dozy drivers who might otherwise not notice the trailer.

I found it easy enough to buy locally when I needed some, years ago now. I even got a discount simply by asking.

[Bill Wright]

The stuff I'm on about is actually 12mm multi-ply with a very hard waterproof surface on one side. It's very heavy; about twice the weight of normal 12mm ply. It's very strong stuff; far stronger than normal

12mm ply.

Bill

[Nightjar]

On 05/10/2014 16:38, [e-mail] wrote: ...

I think my trailer sides are about 10mm, but it is a box trailer that I can stand up inside.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

10mm WBP ply, well treated with the fancy preservative of your choice. In my case, I just used kero and used engine oil, liberally dosed with copper sulphate. Nothing is going to rot that.

[T i m]

Ah, then that would probably make sense for something that size, depending on what sort of thing it was designed to carry.

Like the sides of an arctic are often only PVC sheet because they are just there to keep noses and the weather out. ;-)

Lumps of scrap iron might need stronger sides than rolls of bubble pack. ;-)

The existing side panels are actually pretty thin, like hardboard, but not hardboard. I might take the front panel out tomorrow and then I can see the edges of it etc.

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

I'm guessing it would probably wash off ok though?

Ah good point. I often pay special attention to vehicles pulling out of side turnings and even pedestrians crossing behind me in slow moving traffic. Not sure I can do much about it though, apart from make it bright yellow of course. ;-)

Ok (and thanks).

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Ah, ok, I think I've seen that (on the Net) as well.

That might be overkill then for this trailer, especially considering what is fitted to it at the moment. It might however be worth a look when I restore the bigger trailer. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Hmm, ok, thanks. I must admit, the trailer I built over 30 years ago now is still sporting most of it's original 1/2" plywood panels. I initially made it with 3' high sides, eventually sold it to a mate, then bought it back and cut it down to about 18", trimming out any of the bits that were getting a bit iffy (lower edges typically). I can even remember dry fitting the panels, then taking them out and priming, undercoating and top coating the outsides and treating the insides with Cuprinol or some such, once it was all put together. Not sure I'd want to go though all that again though, after all, that's why I got plastic windows frames all those years ago. ;-)

Doesn't sound like it. ;-)

So, if I understand it correctly, the 'glue' in WBP is the same as used in marine ply, it's just that wood itself that makes up the ply is (generally?) better in marine ply?

Cheers, T i m

[meow2222]

IIRC Marine = epoxy, no voids, WBP is neither.

NT

[Nightjar]

I think scrub off is more like it, but I haven't got the round tuit necessary to find out.

[T i m]

Hehe.

I have a small 'egg' shape fibreglass motorcycle trailer (a trailer to tow behind a motorcycle) that has been left outside and sounds like it has the same patina as yours (by the sound of it). Or had, because luckily, a bucket of hot soapy water and a sponge was all that was required to get it clean again. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[newshound]

I've got about 20 years out of 18 mm shuttering ply on a trailer which lived outside in all weathers, used for the past 10 years offroad for collecting horse poo. It's just about lost its structural integrity now.

For long life with better appearance, google "gorilla board" which is (I think) plywood vacuum impregnated with phenolic resin, even better water resistance than marine ply. But comparable price to the plastic panels mentioned elsewhere.

[T i m]

I think some of that (how well stuff lasts outdoors) is a function of how well it can dry in between being wet. I know fence posts tend to rot away at the ground where they often transition from wet to dry (rather than staying wet or dry) but something like ply may not like being kept submerged, especially when water has access to the edges.

Nice. ;-)

Ok.

The only thing I can find (so far) that gets close is 'Buffalo board'?

I have seen that black textured stuff in the bottom of posh trailers ... and this:

... looks very much like the finish of the existing material the trailer has on the sides, front and back. It also fits very well with my first description: ;-)

"The existing panel seems to be made out of something 'wood like' but not wood that I can see as it seems to have resin alike outer layers".

They say ...

"Trailer and tipper sides, van lining, bulkheads".

It also looks like it comes in 6.5mm thick (thin?) sizes so again, that fits in very well with the sort of thickness I think I have already (I can't tell as I can't easily get to any of the 'edges').

So, you may well have answered 'the' question. ;-)

Now I just need to find a supplier and price ...

Cheers and thanks!

T i m

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Marine is (usually) fairly guaranteed to resist everything watery, while WBP isn't. Otoh, WBP from a decent supplier is pretty damn good. There was a lot of dodgy crap so-called WBP around during the building boom as dodgy suppliers cashed in, but it seems better now. I have a WBP door that's been exposed, untreated, to the weather for nigh-on 20 years and not a trace of delamination or rot on it. I relented a couple of years ago and sprayed it with nasty green stuff that is now outlawed (copper and arsenic compounds), so I expect it to soldier on for years yet. In the case of the trailer I mentioned, my supply of nasty green stuff is limited, so I used what was available cheaply.