What Is The Best Wood For A Utility Trailer Floor?
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Utility trailers are helpful around the farm, homestead, or urban dwelling. They give any vehicle tow-rated with a hitch the ability to act as a pickup truck or significantly expand the carrying capacity of a pickup. Trailers are usually made of sturdy angle iron, but their flooring is typically treated pine. Even though it is treated for exposure to the elements, pine boards eventually rot and weaken. We’ve collected some of the best replacement wood types here.
What Is The Best Wood For A Utility Trailer Floor?
1. Treated Pine
| Price | $ |
| Easy to find? | Yes, local lumber yards or home improvement stores |
| Sturdiness | Light duty only |
| Traction | Minimal when wet/slippery |
Treated pine is still an excellent choice for replacement boards. As long as the trailer is not transporting steel-tracked equipment, pressure-treated pine is the most inexpensive entry on this list, easy to obtain, and simple to install. Simply measure the board being replaced and purchase its equivalent at the nearest lumberyard.
Some boards may require cutting or ripping to fit, if so, try to purchase at a lumberyard or home improvement store that can do it on-site and pre-measure which cuts are needed. If the tools are available at home, even better! A hand saw or circular saw will work fine, but a table saw is preferred.
- Cheap
- Easy to find
- Easy to cut with home tools
- May not last long with medium to heavy-duty use
Why not untreated pine?
Most utility trailers are uncovered. Even if they are covered, they are commonly used to transport equipment that is dirty or wet. Repeated exposure to moisture and chemicals (gasoline and oil from mowers, etc.) will cause untreated boards to rot much faster.
The cost difference is insufficient to warrant the faster replacement or concern that the boards may weaken when you need the trailer. Untreated pine is fine for sideboards or scuff guards in covered trailers that are not as exposed to moisture or soiling.
2. Roughened Oak
| Price | $$ |
| Easy to find? | May be able to get locally at trailer dealers, otherwise online |
| Sturdiness | Medium to heavy-duty |
| Traction | Good even when wet |
Roughened oak is a go-to for heavy utility trailer beds and trailers moving steel-tread heavy equipment. Steel treads will tear through pine easily. Oak is much more capable of handling the beating, and a roughened surface provides good traction even in wet or otherwise slippery environments.
Roughened oak may be hard to find locally in many areas. It can be ordered to fit online, or it may be worth a trip to a regionally located business to ensure the correct fit.
- Strong, can handle steel-tread vehicles
- Roughened surface offers good traction even when wet
- Easy to cut with home tools
- More expensive
- Harder to find
3. Rubber-infused wood/Blackwood
| Price | $$$$ |
| Easy to find? | No, must get through specialized trailer supply businesses |
| Sturdiness | Medium to heavy-duty |
| Traction | Excellent, surface designed for traction even in adverse conditions |
Rubberized wood, or blackwood, is more expensive but more durable. It is treated lumber with a rubber-infused surface that protects the wood from wear and weather while offering superior traction even on wet or slippery days. If a utility trailer is used for a business-like lawn mowing or on a homestead, farm, or ranch where it may be carrying self-powered equipment like skid steers or tractors, this is likely a “you get what you pay for” upgrade to consider.
It is rare to find this type of flooring locally, but it can be ordered online to fit the trailer’s dimensions.
- Sturdy
- Treated to resist moisture for a long time
- Surface specifically designed to give good traction even when wet or slick
- Expensive
- Hard to find unless using a specialty dealer
4. Angelim Petra/Brazilian Apitong
| Price | $$$ |
| Easy to find? | Usually obtained through local trailer dealers. |
| Sturdiness | Medium to heavy-duty |
| Traction | Less than blackwood and about same as roughened oak |
Last on our list is Angelim Petra or Brazilian Apitong. It is a hardwood often sold for trailers from light-duty utility trailers up to commercial and military trailer use. It is notoriously tough and handles weathering and wear nicely. This wood is often sold lapped, where each board is cut to overlap the boards next to it slightly. This avoids gaps between floorboards and ensures maximum surface area for traction.
Again, this type of flooring is going to be harder to find locally and will likely need to be shipped to a specialty regional dealer or to your house from an online dealer.
- Costs less than blackwood but more than roughened oak
- Very sturdy and ship-lapped, meaning the floor of the trailer has no gaps
- Easy to cut with home tools
- More expensive than pine
- Harder to obtain
Where to find specialized trailer decking?
Using Google maps, a phonebook, or a local business directory/search, you can find a local trailer dealer. If your trailer was purchased locally, reach out to the dealer that sold it. The manager should be able to supply heavier-duty decking, order it, or know where it can be obtained.
Conclusion
Trailer decking rots over time, requiring replacements. The replacements range in price from affordable and appropriate for light use (treated pine) to much more expensive and rated for the heaviest uses before requiring replacement (Blackwood or Apitong). In selecting a floor, consider how heavily the trailer will be used and how much moisture and other chemicals/soiling it will be exposed to. Then, budget for a floor that will do the right job for the right length of time.
Featured Image Credit: Mouaad Jaaidi, Shutterstock
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