"The Kid", my 25 year old, got a fifth wheel travel trailer for free. So far, he's taken the backhoe and ripped the whole top off. Now there's a ripped up floor on what looks to be a decent fifth wheel frame.
It looks like they used self tapping screws to attach one layer of plywood to the frame. Then a second layer bonded over the top with zillions of nails. The deck is not prying off the steel frame no matter what he's tried. He's about to say UNCLE and send it to the dump.
Probably doesn't need to be said but, fire isn't an option. It'll remove the plywood _and_ any strength the frame has right now. But it might, worst case, turn it into scrap metal at pennies a pound rather than taking a total loss at the dump.
BTDT- Mark out the frame with a chalk line. Circular saw out the wood with a nail cutter blade. Cut the self-tapping screws off with an angle grinder/cutoff wheel. Have a supply of water handy- there will be smoke and fire.
Carl beat me to it. Heavy duty 7-1/4" saw fitted with a nail blade (preferred) or a cheap carpentry carbide blade. Depth set to 1/16" less than the total thickness. Mark out the open spaces, cut out all the material. You want to leave a 2" wide strip of doubled plywood with the screws in it. Use a super magnet to find the screws, cut them off with sawsall or run the saw crosswise and expose the head.
The brute force method is to flip it over and beat it off with a sledge hammer.
On Sun, 9 Mar 2008 08:17:59 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, "Karl Townsend" quickly quoth:
No doubt they used construction adhesive, too.
I'm guessing that they sent the self tappers the wrong way (through the wood into the properly sized holes in the trailer frame) vs. the proper way (through clearance holes in the frame and sunk into wood)?
I'm about to go through the same routine after seeing the flooring disintegrate on my old travel trailer frame after a season in the rain here with the lid off. Termite barf (aka particleboard, mdf) is showing. I thought it was lino over ply.
I'll be putting a new floor on, probably treated plywood. If I find the same connection he did, I'll probably flip the trailer over on its back and shear the screws off with my air chisel, then center punch and drill out the remainder until the floor falls off.
Another possibility is to chisel through the edge of the ply at the top of the frame. When the floor is off, a drill might turn the screws the rest of the way through the frame. I wouldn't bet on it, though.
Let us know how it turns out. As I said, I'm faced with a similar conundrum here.
-- The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. -- Euripides
Self drilling screws are used. No way any production operation would pre drill holes in the frame and then try to precisely align the screws with those holes.
Chiseling the screws off flush and then hitting the remains with a center drill is probably the best idea. The drill points on the screws would be hardened, but the remainder of the screw probably isn't as hard.
Another idea that would be slightly messier would be to find a small deep hole saw like those used on the spot weld cutters and use it without the center pilot, slipping it over the protruding screw as the guide. It would leave bigger holes where the screws were, but would probably be faster than the chisel and drill strategy.
If you wanted to fill the holes from either method after you could probably make a copper backup bar and use it with a MIG welder to rapidly fill the holes. A little time with a grinder later and you'd have a like new frame ready for primer and paint and with the ability to put new self drilling screws in at any location for the new decking.
How about using a circular saw, set to *almost* cut through the wood, and go down the center-line of the trailer beams, so you hit all the screws? Use a few inexpensive carbide blades to get the job done. Each blade will make it through a number of screws before being ruined.
On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 11:39:57 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, "Pete C." quickly quoth:
I've seen self-drilling screws for sheetmetal, but for framing members?!? Is there such a thing?
Right.
Didn't he say that the heads were hidden by the top layer of nailed (and probably glued) ply? Otherwise, it would be a piece of cake to remove them, oui?
HELL no! I'd use a larger bit to open up the holes (when I drilled out the existing screws, then put in screws from the bottom.
-- The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. -- Euripides
On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:20:47 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, "Pete C." quickly quoth:
Cool! I'll have to look for some.
Because they didn't use triple-dipped hardware?
-- The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. -- Euripides
I read most of the other posts and from a couple of them, these thoughts come to mind:
An air chisel. With a fairly massive air chisel, one might be able to power through the thing fairly qiuckly.
Here in the country, when we used to heat with wood, an old farmer saw me hacking away at a gnarled tree crotch one day. He said that his dad taught him to throw those aside and "let 'er rot down a bit. Maybe, if there's no rush to get it done, a couple of years out in the rain and snow might make the job a whole lot easier. Maybe one could even speed that process by soaking the thing with a garden hose now and then.
Sell it on Ebay or Craigslist. I leave it up to you as to whether or not you warn the prospective buyer of the situation. Even if you do warn them, I'll bet that somebody with more time on their hands than your son may have, will take you up on it.
If he does scrap it, I will probably buy some of it back from HF some day as some sort of hand tool.
Yep! Thats how the body/floor was attached to the frame of my little camper. They were into box section so after "chewing" up the flake board the screws were removable with visegrips used as a miniture pipe wrench. :-) ...lew...
Sounds like you have two nice I-Beams or such and a screwed on board and a glued on nailed on toper board.
So if it is like that or the like - rip down the central area cutting both boards about 12" from each inside. Taking out a long double thick board. Nice for building ramps if supported...
Now saw from the large slot in the trailer to the side. Using the blade to go just under the two so you don't saw the metal.
Then with a pry or with the leverage of the overhang, pry the boards upwards.
If you are building a trailer - that might be a good sub base. Or base.
Martin
Mart> "The Kid", my 25 year old, got a fifth wheel travel trailer for free. So
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