How to check a Burro floor for rot?

[Holger]

Hi,

I looked at a 13' Burro today and to me it looked like there was rot in the floor. But to really be sure I'd have to know how the floors were made by the factory. From my work on fiberglass boats it looked like the floor is a sandwich construction with plywood as web and a layer of glass on top and bottom. Is that how they're made? When pressing against the underside of the floor today, it would be soft and flex at least 1/4". That's how a badly fixed wood boat would be like when the wood was sealed off by the glass (we'd call it "the shroud"), not able to breath but the water found a way inside. Or is there some insulation between the floor and a fiberglass skin on the Burro?

I am going to look at another Burro this weekend. Sure are cute, those eggs!

Thanks,

Holger

[Andy B]

Originally Posted by Holger Selover-Stephan

Hi,

I looked at a 13' Burro today and to me it looked like there was rot in the floor. But to really be sure I'd have to know how the floors were made by the factory. From my work on fiberglass boats it looked like the floor is a sandwich construction with plywood as web and a layer of glass on top and bottom. Is that how they're made? When pressing against the underside of the floor today, it would be soft and flex at least 1/4". That's how a badly fixed wood boat would be like when the wood was sealed off by the glass (we'd call it "the shroud"), not able to breath but the water found a way inside. Or is there some insulation between the floor and a fiberglass skin on the Burro?

I am going to look at another Burro this weekend. Sure are cute, those eggs!

Thanks,

Holger

A lot of Burros have a rotted floor, if it is flexing a 1/4" by pressing on it with your hand, my guess is that it is rotted. The construction of fiberglass, plywood, fiberglass is correct and they did not do a good job sealing the edges to prevent water from getting in. The fiberglass on either side of the plywood is pre-made FRP sheets, they did not saturate the plywood with resin and lay up the fiberglass directly on the plywood. If the 1/4" flexing is from standing on it, it could be OK. They only used 1/2" plywood and the frame supports can be as much as 24" apart. The links below will help you understand the construction. The first link has some tips of what to look for to help determine if the floor is rotted in post #4.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...row-48448.html

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ted-43697.html

[rabbit]

We should all core our Burro floors! Wait a min, I did! I had a smoothbor water fill hose split where it passes thru the floor on my '98 17' Widebody. I had no experience with this stuff so initially assumed that it had simply rotted out. I ordered 10' of new hose and after clamping to the water fill and feeding thru the floor and trying to make the bend to the tank, I could then see that the hole was too close to tank and the lead was too severe. So I pulled it back out and bored a second hole with a hole saw with about half-hole overlap and at an angle which relieved the tight bend, ran the hose, clamped, and caulked with a permanently flexible gun goo. I have retained the core so here's the dope on this particular floor. 1/2" plywd. 5 ply, 1/16"+ of glass on bottom; 1/4" on top. I think this is not much more than two layers of fabmat outside and possibly as many as four layers of mat inside. Overall thickness .85".

(Above was posted by me on another rotten Burro thread. I have no experience of the floor replacement problem, but I can answer for the floor layup which Escondido Burro did on one production trailer in 1998. I cannot produce the amount of flex you're getting from underneath the trailer.)

jack

[Holger]

OK, thanks you two for your insight. Yes, I was pressing with my bare hand onto the underside and got the flex there with not much effort.

Now that I'm looking around, I see other eggs, too! It's a bit confusing, so many types and they're all a little different. Luckily, our car doesn't pull more then 1,500 lbs, that takes a lot of eggs out of the race. There's a Boler for sale here in town. I hope the seller is getting back to me. I got the egg fever now!

Holger

[rabbit]

I am a bit surprised that my little core showed no sign of delaminating between plywood core and prefab glass sheets. The fibareenfawsedplastique must have been adhered to the ply with resin and a fair to middlin job at that? The exposed grain at the wheelwells and thru hull holes combined with the possibility of roof seam leaks apparently easily defeats the encased plywood in a Burro belly.

jack

[Holger]

Do other little eggs have the same wood floor problem, or is this specific to the Burros, do you know?

Holger

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Holger Selover-Stephan

Do other little eggs have the same wood floor problem, or is this specific to the Burros, do you know?

Holger

Holger, floors can/will have rot problems if water is allowed to run onto it, dry out, run onto it, dry out... etc. Dry rot happens! Windows, vents, rivets all need to be maintained. It's not tough to do, it just can't be ignored.

Since you're in Portland... come to Champoeg State Park in a couple of weeks and check out a bunch of eggs!

http://www.casitaforum.com/invboard/...ng-fall-event/

[rabbit]

Those Bolers are bigger on the inside than the out. Hundreds, possibly thousands of Mapleleafs can't be wrong.

jack

[Holger]

Originally Posted by rabbit

Those Bolers are bigger on the inside than the out. Hundreds, possibly thousands of Mapleleafs can't be wrong.

jack

From what I see on the web, I really like those Bolers. Here is one in Portland: 1975 13' Boler Trailer | Portland, Oregon | Fiberglass RV's For Sale . But I haven't gotten a reply from the seller yet. I hope it's still available.

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Holger, floors can/will have rot problems if water is allowed to run onto it, dry out, run onto it, dry out... etc. Dry rot happens! Windows, vents, rivets all need to be maintained. It's not tough to do, it just can't be ignored.

Since you're in Portland... come to Champoeg State Park in a couple of weeks and check out a bunch of eggs!

Northern Oregon Gathering - Fall Event - Casita Travel Trailer Forum

Thanks, Donna. For one, I didn't know whether they all had wooden floors. And then from what I saw on the Burro the water came in from the outside. Driving through the rain or something. Not much one can do I'd think to keep the water out if manufacturing didn't do a proper job of sealing it.

Uh...Champoeg State Park...I nearly lost my life there a few month ago. Oh well, friendly faces and cool eggs will keep me distracted. I'll come, probably still egg-less though. Thanks for the invitation!

Holger