Horse Trailer floors

[mydaddysjag]

So today we took the mats out of my trailer, and off of the ramp so I coukld wash the inside of the trailer out, and wash my mats off. Everything is scrubbed out, floor is solid, and Im going to let it air dry for a while.

Once its dried out, I would like to put something on the floor to help water proof/ preserve it. I'm heard of using deck waterproofer, boiled linseed oil, and even used motor oit(I would think that would stay slippery though). What do you use, and how do you go about applying it? Ive heard some people say itas best to sand the floor down before you apply it so it soaks in better, but if thats not necessary I'll not do it (I have enough sanding to do on the body already) Can it be as simple as painting the stuff on, and letting the trailer with doors and windows open to air dry and air the smell out? Is this something I can use on plywood? There is plywood in front of stalls in the escape area that I would like to keep there, so I can store some stuff up there.

Second, after removing my stall mats I decided that I would like to get new ones. They are the older style ones that are made of a bunch of 1" strips of matting, held together with this metal stuff through them. Each mat was VERY heavy, and took two men and a woman to move into my driveway to be scrubbed. obviously I'm not always going to have this much help getting them out to clean, and Im hoping I can find something a little lighter. Not only that, but they are only where the horse stands in each stall, not the entire trailer floor, so they aren't going to be helpful if I want to be with sawdust for a longer trip. I'd say my mats are probably 1/2" to 3/4" thick, and honestly a little overkill for the minis.

I'm wondering if I can get away with replacing them with 1/4 or 1/2 rubber matting. I'd like to do the 1/4 because it would be easier for me to get out and clean the trailer better, but I don't know how well it would stand up. I guess if I got it I could screw it down around the edges, but that makes it another pain in the butt to get out for cleaning.

I'm kind of beside myself on what to do, so any ideas would be helpful.

 

[Shortpig]

Not sure what inside of trailer looks like but if you have a Coast Farm and Ranch in your area they have rolls of different size matting. You can request it cut to size and choose the thickness that will work best for you.

As for the plywood I have plywood walls in my little trailer that we put in. I stained it with maple stain then covered that with polyurethane to protect it. It has held up very well. The trailer is not enclosed so I'm surprised at just how well it has held up.

You might consider sanding the plywood if one of your horses will be leaning against it as that will keep them from losing their hair on it. Just a thought.

 

[muffntuf]

You could have the flooring sprayed with something like Rhino liner, which is a rubber coating. Works great and saves floors.

 

[Tatonkas Dream]

Can probably get it other places but for sure I know they sell a 'rhino liner' type stuff at Wal-Mart - roll it on like other types of paint and not nearly as expensive as having it sprayed in.

 

[Kawgirl]

I have the snap together mats that you can get at Wal Mart or Lowes or some sporting good stores. They're the kind of mats that are sometimes used under exercise equipment. Much easier to take out of the trailer than those heavy mats!

 

[mydaddysjag]

I should mention that the floor of my trailer is put in so that each board has almost a 1/2" gap between each board, they aren't butted up tight against each other like some trailers. I'm wondering if I could put plywood over that (sealed with lacquer or the like) so that it was all a solid smooth surface and then put the rhino liner type stuff on it. I seen the roll in stuff they sell at walmart, and that's probably what I would go with as I could do it myself. I wonder if I could put that over the plywood walls also? If not I'm going to sand them down, and either paint them to match the trailer when we paint it, then lacquer them.

If its too expensive I'll probably just go with mats, this was a cheap trailer that i'm going to fix up decent (its currently usable, just isn't real pretty) and use for a few years until I can get an aluminum trailer with dressing room. I don't want to spend a whole lot on fixing it up super nice when I don't plan to have it for a super long time, and realistically I want to keep in mind the resale value.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

While I agree with you that minis can probably get away with thinner matting than big horses, I wouldn't cheap out and go super-thin; sure they're a lot lighter, but there is SO MUCH bouncing and jarring in a trailer!

You don't want them to arrive with sore legs because you went with a paper-thin mat. There's also nothing saying you couldn't double-layer a set of thin mats- that would get you the same padding but allow you to remove the lighter mats individually.

Sorry I don't have too many other suggestions, fix-it stuff is not my specialty.

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