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Originally Posted by danf
Thanks for the feedback. I was leaning toward galvanized steel since it's more rugged than aluminum and much cheaper. In terms of thickness I was thinking thinner than 16 gauge, maybe 22 or larger gauge. 22 is 1/32.
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Last winter I was thinking of using 2" foam board insulation as a cheap alternative to skirting. Some winter nights here got down to -25 before wind chill. I decided not to because the underbelly is loaded with "stuff" I needed to cut and shape the foam board around. It is a major undertaking. With steel even more so, I'm thinking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by danf
I've also considered gluing sheets of foam board insulation to the inside surfaces to help make it more rigid plus adding insulating value and sound reduction. 22 Gauge would be about 240lbs in sheet metal, 26 gauge about 160lbs. Then you have to add cross braces, screws and maybe foam board...another 50-100lbs maybe.
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Another thought I had about using a metal is that it does not flex like the cloroplast. Fixing the steel to the frame is making the whole underside stiffer and now less flexible. How would that effect the trailer while transporting it? I can only guess that more of that body flex might be transferred to the side walls and roof.
How about adding a few layers of small hole chicken wire over the cloroplast? Using several layers would/could reduce the hole size even more. It is lite weight, flexible and easier to work with. Does anyone have experience with mice and chicken wire?
HAHA! Revenge time. Mice will chew through electrical wiring, so how about spraying the chicken wire with Tabasco sauce or something like Ghost peppers. I had some mild success doing that with bird seed to keep the squirrels off the feeder. It would need to be reapplied periodically. (birds don't seem to notice the spicy stuff)
There is a product called Deer and Rabbit Chase I can find at Walmart. It was very effective and mainly coyote urine... with out a heavy smell for us anyway. Look into it and see if it effective against mice. Coyotes do hunt mice, voles, moles, etc in winter.
Good luck and let us all know what you decide to do.