Wanting to construct wooden sides for a 6 x 12 flat deck trailer. Trailer has stake pockets to accomodate 2 x 4. Using this for construction debris, mulch, trips to dump. Of those that have constructed similar siding, what spec of lumber have you use and found works or (perhaps) did not? Was considering 2x4 verticals with 2 x 6 or 2 x 10 horizontals, but perhaps the 2x horizontals are overkill? I've had some suggest lighter weight 1 x 6. Ditto suggestions for pressure treated wood. thanks
Monroe wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
How long do you want to keep these sides? If I was using two-by for the stakes, I'd use inexpensive ply for the sides, and replace the whole affair seasonally.
Know EXACTLY what you are talking about . . . 'Mr. CHEAP', here . . .
Went to HD . . . looked at their 'scraps, cutoffs, & rejects bin'. Got the proper number of '2x's ' for the uprights. Some '1x4' stock for the 'rails'.
Never mind what the 'instructions' that come with the trailer say, when you are using light stock . . . put the rails on the INSIDE of the uprights. Don't worry about bolting the '2x's to the sockets. The little bit of error in sizing, and the moisture absorbed by the wood, will cause them to wind up fitting TIGHT.
I left the top, corner, bolts a bit long.{Facing OUT} The 'interlocking brackets' that are noted on the drawings, and just about every advertisement or commercially built rails, are impossible to get - at least for me. The bit of the bolt that sticks out makes an ideal attachment point for short, cheap, rubber, 'hold down straps'.
I really had no need for a set of rails . . . until my wife had me build a couple of 'raised beds' for the small veggie garden. NO WAY would I pay $28 for delivery of one 'scoop' of top soil {about 3cu yds - 1,000 pounds}. Built the rails, 'lined' the set-up with a old 'Blue Plastic' tarp, and had them dump the soil in the created 'box'. Drove the few blocks home, put the trailer in the rear of the house, and pulled out one of the side rail assemblies. About 1/4 of the soil spilled out, the rest we shoveled into the wheel-barrow and evenly filled the beds.
For storage I simply pull the assemblies and lay them on the trailer bed. When I fold the trailer for the winter, I put the side assemblies between the trailer & shop wall, attach the securing safety cable, and throw a tarp over it all.
That is some light topsoil you have there! When I think of all the backaches I could have avoided if the topsoil where I live only weighed 330 lbs per yard...
On my all aluminum utility trailer, I used inexpensive pine -- 2x4 for the "stakes" and the bottom rail, 1x4 for the rest of the side rails. As for treated wood -- I wanted to use it but there was a caveat on the wood that it was not meant for prolonged contact with aluminum. So I just slapped some Minwax polyurethane on the pine. Been there for 2 1/2 years and still OK.
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