Aluminum trailer - floor rot

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I do all the welding for the trailer sales place in town here, and people bring the work to them first which goes to me.  I got a call today to go over and figure out an estimate for a trailer floor that needs to be replaced.  Was not expecting this. It's a 2009 trailer.  The white spots are from the daylight shining through the floor. That dark stain is from blood, they butchered a bull in there and hauled it to the butcher.  Their theory is the blood did this.  I'm having a problem thinking that caused it, my theory is they took some acidic cleaner and dumped it on the blood and never neutralized it.  All the grooves up front where it's rotted are completely pitted like rusty metal.  Either way, looks like money coming my way for fixing it.  The question now is whether it will be a complete tear out and replacement of the floor, or cheap out and weld some diamond plate over it.
Reply:Sounds like a case for CSI. Being a 2009, I would think a complete tear out would be better. What would YOU prefer to do ? I would use your answer for selling the repair.
Reply:Originally Posted by BD1Sounds like a case for CSI. Being a 2009, I would think a complete tear out would be better. What would YOU prefer to do ? I would use your answer for selling the repair.
Reply:Since when does insurance pay for wear and tear?  How big of a trailer is it?My name's not Jim....
Reply:Originally Posted by BoostinjdmSince when does insurance pay for wear and tear?  How big of a trailer is it?
Reply:I think you'll find that bases like lye, or any heavy duty cleaner will eat aluminum faster than acids will. I'm not sure of the PH of blood but it wouldn't surprise me that it might of been the culprit.   Actually aluminum corrodes very fast. What saves it is the fact that the aluminum oxide that forms then provides a barrier preventing more corrosion. If anything interferes with that oxide barrier like being in contact with the ground or worse buried and you'll find that it disappears very quickly.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:Originally Posted by BoostinjdmSince when does insurance pay for wear and tear?  How big of a trailer is it?
Reply:Tear out and replace is basically tearing the entire trailer down and rebuilding it. I would have probably only priced out a diamond plate cover for the floor and thats it. The actual work for tearing out and replacing the floor would be the same if not more work than building the trailer from scratch.
Reply:Originally Posted by VPTTear out and replace is basically tearing the entire trailer down and rebuilding it. I would have probably only priced out a diamond plate cover for the floor and thats it. The actual work for tearing out and replacing the floor would be the same if not more work than building the trailer from scratch.
Reply:Animal urine will rot out an aluminum floor in just a few years. Ask me how I know. Apparently pulling the mats only once a year and washing the floor is not often enough. We ended up screwing down some plastic plywood- forget what thickness, and put the mats back over.MM252 30AMaxstar 150STrailblazer 301gDialarc 2509100XX Hypertherm PM 30                      Milwaukee4 BaldorsKohlswa shop anvilScott truck anvilStonewell farrier rig
Reply:Interesting thread!
Reply:Using that new plastic wood is a great idea for a trailer bed! It is much lighter as well isn't it? Maybe I will go that route for my next trailer.
Reply:from what I seen working on trailers from the local rendering co. blood had no affect on their alum. blood tanks. Cut some apart that had gallons of green rotten blood in them that had no damage to the alum. Hard to work with a gas mask on.
Reply:There are lots of aluminum stock trailers out there with no rot problems, so I would say this is from something other than animal waste.
Reply:Maybe it is the grade of aluminum that was used on the floor of this particular trailer?
Reply:Originally Posted by ishuumAnimal urine will rot out an aluminum floor in just a few years. Ask me how I know. Apparently pulling the mats only once a year and washing the floor is not often enough. We ended up screwing down some plastic plywood- forget what thickness, and put the mats back over.
Reply:Originally Posted by AntiblingThe only downside would be that I couldn't use the plasma to remove it, I'd have to saw it all by hand.
Reply:Originally Posted by duaneb55Why's that? Why can't you just set it high enough to gouge out the beads and not blow thru the other material?