# 2nd trailer bought and found rust major rust



## Marchelle Butcher (Jun 21, 2019)

hi im hoping someone might give me hope well i cant even tell you what year or make this trailer is i paid 1500 for it the floor is good but when i step in the tack room i felt a big dip and carpet was wet so i pulled up carpet and my god the floor didnt have any wood on it it was just the metal but it was rusted through where in some spots i can see the ground is this repairable ????


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Do you have pictures to share?

With nothing shared in trailer documentation or seen no one can give any comment...

When you bought the trailer you must of got a bill of sale, title, something with some idea of age of this trailer...
Even homemade trailers have some kind of date to them...weight, stamps from weigh station...something.
:runninghorse2:...


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

I would say assuming the rest is sound and it's purely the floor, purely in the tack area - so it only has to support your weight - it should be an easy fix, to either put a sheet of steel, or boards down on top. I'd want to work out where it's leaking & see if you can patch that up though, or else it will keep rotting that area out. Mind you, putting drainage holes in will go a way towards heading that off at the pass tho. That's what I did with a trailer that had... untold many leaks, & the floor lasted for years, before it rusted too much. Then I put 1" boards on top.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Although the "fix or repair" sounds good, sounds easy, it _*is*_ more involved, but not impossible to do.
Sure you can throw some boards across a open or rusted span...but is the structure underneath sound and safe to stand on, to carry the weight of anything you place in that area?
That is the question needs asking and finding a answer to.
If the tack area is this rusted you can bet I would also be under that trailer looking at every cross-member, support beam and frame component to make sure they can and are worthy of having your horse stand on them in trust his transport isn't going to maim or kill him going down the road...
Many horses fall through floors that "look" good. :|

You bought a old trailer...
For $1,500 I would expect it to need some work, _some serious work_, to be road safe for any horse and that is fine.
Just do the checking carefully and fix it correctly so you and your horse are safe when out and about.
Expect to invest time and $$...even a trailer that is just a couple of years old needs maintenance done to it that is time and $ spent...but the rewards and enjoyment that $ can give are so worth it.
Enjoy your project....and do share some of those pictures.
We love to see projects evolve and be completed for our "friends" to enjoy!!
:runninghorse2:...


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

On anything that old, you need a professional to check it from top to bottom. They could probably weld some supports under the tack room and install new floor boards. 

If it were me, before doing any more work on the trailer, i would check your welds under the floor of the horse area. Your supportive frame underneath needs to be strong enough to support the weight. This would be the first priority.

Next i would fix the roof and repair any leaks. No point in repairing the tack room if it's going to get wet and rust again. Open windows need to be enclosed- some of those old trailers end up with missing windows. 

On functional rust spots, get an angle grinder and wheel (can't remember the part name but lowes will have it) and remove that rust. Or you could sand blast it. 

This was why i sold my old trailer. The tack room was rusting out from a leak, the back doors were rusting and rotting out, and the floor boards would probably need replacing next. I could easily spend $2-3k in repairs or i could just go out and buy something better.


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