1985 Burro floors

[Tim in AR]

Hello all, I'm planning to purchase an 1985 Burro 17 and it appears to have a solid fiberglass floor. This confuses me. I've seen several discussions about replacing Burro floors which frankly is something I don't wish to tackle along with all my other projects. Can anyone share information about this ?

From underneath it appears to be fiberglass and inside the carpet is glued down to the fiberglass. I'm thrilled if this is how it was built but I wonder is the floor has already been replaced and glassed. Maybe just certain years were done this way. Thanks in advance, Tim

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Tim in AR

Hello all, I'm planning to purchase an 1985 Burro 17 and it appears to have a solid fiberglass floor. This confuses me. I've seen several discussions about replacing Burro floors which frankly is something I don't wish to tackle along with all my other projects. Can anyone share information about this ?

From underneath it appears to be fiberglass and inside the carpet is glued down to the fiberglass. I'm thrilled if this is how it was built but I wonder is the floor has already been replaced and glassed. Maybe just certain years were done this way. Thanks in advance, Tim

I believe that the floor is wood encased in fiberglass.

[Tim in AR]

Well, I finally found some of the threads about how the floor is made. It appears that from the factory it came with 3 ply plywood that was sandwiched between layers of fiberglass. How would you assess the floor of a Burro for soundness? Just bounce on the floor and go by the amount of flex? Probe with an awl?

[jgilardi]

Check the plywood-fiberglass inside the wheel wells and door. That's where my 83 Burro had the worst wood rot when I bought it.

[Tim in AR]

Jim, the question is how to check the floor in that location. If there is carpet glued on top of the fiberglass and the wood is under that, then what do you do? Is is just give when standing on it or does the fiberglass collapse with the wood rot?

[jgilardi]

On mine you can see the plywood edge behind the tires on the wheel wells. See if a screwdrive can penetrate it. If you get underneath and bang the bottom you likely detect rotten areas (especially vulnerable areas such as under windows, the door, and wheel wells). On mine I replaced 1.5'. X 1.5 ' floor section by the door (over the metal frame) and refiberglassed the piece and resealed the wheel wheels. There are still some rotten areas, but since they are not in areas we walk on I'm not to worried about them (as long as I've stopped all the leaky areas). Like you, replacing the floor sounds like a major pain.

[jgilardi]

Also, under the trailer, in areas where the plywood is rotted the fiberglass in that area will likely push in when you push on it since there is no support behind it, as opposed to feeling solid if the plywood isn't rotted.

I also replaces all the screws that hold the fiberglass shell to the plywood. These will be under your rug along the inner edge of the fiberglass inner sheel. If you do this you can tell if the screws are biting into solid or rotted plywood. Of the 40 whatever screws only 3 in mine were questionable - so in these I ran a bolt through and used a large 1+ inch waher in the bottom of the floor. If many were questionable I would have replaced the floor in fear the shell could break free of the frame.

[Tim in AR]

That sounds as good as anything I could come up with. Thanks.

[Gator Egg]

If you can find a "boat" guy that deals with restoration will help. We in the boating world check for rotted decks and hulls with a moisture meter.

[Tim in AR]

I have a moisture meter for checking wood. The problem is getting to the wood. You'd have to poke holes through either the top or bottom layer and not many people would likely allow that if you are trying to evaluate a trailer you wish to buy.