Fitting a steel floor

I have just lifted the wooden floor off my tray as it was rotten.
Planning to replace it with a 5mm chequer plate floor.

I can still use the steel frame for the tray that is currently on the truck as the metal work is in OK condition.

There seems to be a bit more involved with welding the steel floor in than just fit and weld.

What are the do's and don

G'day all
Choc's. Do you no if the steel foor is campairable to the timber floor (weight wise) . I have a timber floor on my little Isuzu 14" Tray ,and 10 years of ditchwitch and bobcat (and whatever else i can find to drag home)
have taken it's toll on
Thanks
Alistair

5mm plate is absolute overkill for a tray floor, it will weigh twice as much as a wooden floor. Standard checkerplate nowadays is 2.8mm, and this is entirely adequate for tray floors.

Standard checkerplate will weigh less than a wood floor .. particularly hardwood .. which is what should be used, if you're rebuilding a wood floor.

Run sections of 25 x 25 x 3mm RHS (square tubing) lengthwise (full length of the tray) along the cross-beams, about 250mm apart.
This will raise the steel floor to about the original wood floor level, and give the floor plate, better support.

Welding in a new steel floor is easier if the tray can be removed and flipped, or even tipped on its side. Welding many short runs overhead, gets pretty tedious after a while.

Take care if you do remove and handle the tray .. don't place yourself in a position where you can be injured if it slips .. and make sure it's placed on firm supports, such as solid drums or trestles.

Point to remember with checkerplate versus flat sheet is that there is less contact area between the load and the steel deck with checkerplate. It certainly looks good, but there is a greater tendency for the load to slide due to the lesser surface area to bear on. Just because checkerplate is 'lumpy' DOESN'T mean it grips better! So if you use checkerplate, tie the load down well.

Point to remember with checkerplate versus flat sheet is that there is less contact area between the load and the steel deck with checkerplate. It certainly looks good, but there is a greater tendency for the load to slide due to the lesser surface area to bear on. Just because checkerplate is 'lumpy' DOESN'T mean it grips better! So if you use checkerplate, tie the load down well.

No, I don't believe Buglys theory is right at all .. otherwise checkerplate would never have been produced.

Just think carefully about it .. if you want to move something over a surface by pushing it, are you going to choose a smooth surface, or a piece of checkerplate?? ..

A smooth surface has no restriction to prevent movement, and an item when pushed, slides more easily along a dead smooth surface, than one with lots of raised bumps on it.

The raised bumps on checkerplate increase the contact pressure area, on the reduced number of contact points .. so there is more resistance to initial movement.

However .. once an item commences to slide, nothing will stop if from moving, from then on, no matter what the surface shape. The item now has movement and momentum, and the number of contact points is now irrelevant.

It comes back to ensuring you secure your load properly against any UNEXPECTED change of direction by the vehicle.

A properly restrained load should stay with the truck, in the event of any sharp swerve, heavy braking, or minor collision.

Thanks for all the advice / opinions fella's
given me plenty to think about.
Have a good one

Chocs - Drake make their float floors smooth, because the action of a grouser rib on a crawler track shoe, is an accelerated scraping/scrubbing movement as it hits the deck.
This scraping/scrubbing movement would wipe off any checkerplate bumps after a few dozen loads.
Yep, 50 yrs of experience is always worth nothing .. compared to new rules and regulations drawn up by university-educated bureaucrats ..
I've got my Masters degree from the finest university in the world .. the University of Hard Knocks ..

Cheers - Ron.

P.S. - Here's a pic of my new Drake 8 x 4, 100-tonner, the day after I picked it up ..

why do they make Drake low loader floors smooth???

Ah, might be 'cause they DONT make any "Bissalloy" in chequer plate.

regards greenie [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]

Aaahh - that's what I love about this forum ... plenty of opportunity to express differing viewpoints. Many moons ago I was a milk vendor in New Zealand (Bombay Hills, Pokeno, Maramarua, Kaiaua areas). In the cartage of both steel and later plastic milk crates stacked up to three and four high most vendors chose flat steel sheeting over checkerplate due to sliding on the deck. My first truck was a Mitsubishi Canter and was bought with the milk round. It had a checkerplate deck and the crates used to slide quite freely. It is pointed out that milk crates were never tied down, just stacked forward. The crates of empties were simply stacked behind the full bottles. My second and third trucks were both Ford D0910 six cylinder diesels. These were the biggest cab-over Fords still on 16" wheels to keep the deck height down. These were set up with flat steel decks, and were much more resistant to sliding crates on the deck AS LONG AS THE DECK WAS CLEAN! If there was spilt milk or dirt on the deck, nothing would stop the crates sliding.

Guess it all depends on the load.

As an aside, the first (second hand) D0910 had one of those magnificent Ford multi-pull handbrakes. I converted the second (brand new) D0910 to an air handbrake ... a great conversion which is highly recommended to get away from the multi-pull arrangement.

More on the milk run on a later post!

That is a very impressive lookin bit of gear Ron
Anymore pics ?