Alterna mat alternative?

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TreeHouser
Joined
Jan 15, 2011
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Location
Delavan, WI
I was wondering if any of you guys have used horse stall mats instead? I am looking for something cheap and durable to go under the mini. I know they are rubber or close to it but at $32 for a 4x6' they might be stiff enough or at least minimize the rut to a gentle depression. Sure there is always plywood at the same price but not as durable. Just thought I would throw it out there.
 
Don't buy plywood at full price. By cull lumber at $1-3 per sheet. Then stack them in sections the mini can handle. When you need them on a site they can be loaded in just a few minutes. Works well if you have a trailer that can carry the mini+plywood.
 
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Cull plywood... hmmmm... that might work. What you just go to any lumber yard?
I am going to look at a job down in Carpentersville tomorrow if the HO can meet me. You want any white oak?
 
My dad is always getting cull lumber and he will usually pick it up for me. He usually goes to Lowes, sometimes Home Depot. You just have to ask.

How big diameter wise for the White Oak?
 
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Cool.
I am not sure the HO just keeps saying it is an old growth (riiiight...:roll: ) but I will know tomorrow.
 
I'm picky and like to only split up to about 20" diameter. :) If there is a lot of big stuff I have a friend who might be interested. Will you have your mini there to load? If you want to text me when you get a chance to look at it in the morning that would be fine.
 
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  • #7
I am calling the guy at ten tomorrow so I probably will see it in the afternoon some time. I will shoot you a call when I know more. Yes the mini should be onsite if need be or something bigger. I was thinking about having Northwest Wood Products pick up the wood but if it can be use locally, great. How squishy is the ground down there?
 
That sounds good Rajan. The ground is really soft. It was ok early morning today, but as the day went on and the temp increased it started to get pretty bad. We are suppose to get rain tonight and the temp is not supposed to get below freezing, so tomorrow sounds like it is going to be messy.
 
This is cool:

TreadMatTM are recycled woven tire mats. They are rugged and virtually indestructible. Usable operational life is extremely long. The rubber is the road with TreadMatTM. All types of equipment can be operated on the mats. Literally endless applications. Lifting/Dragging cables on both ends and rated @ 2,000 lbs on straight pull. TreadMatTM can be placed in layers to provide additional load bearing capacity in softer soil conditions..

TreadMat.jpg
http://www.mudtraks.com/heavyequipment.html
 
Now I am on to it... I searched for livestock mats and I found em called Cattle Mats... They gotta be cheaper for cattle than tree guys, bigger industry, more farmers...

http://www.ddfamilymats.net/products.htm

http://www.rubbermats.com/ccrm.html

Search cattle mats

There are tons of suppliers although I think that DDFFamily link looks promising.

I do know treestuff ships the alturna mats for free with +999$ orders.
 
Every so often you can get lucky and find a lumber supplier going out of business .Especially in dead of winter you can luck into some deals .Tom and his brother in law bought somewhere around a hundred sheets of good 3/4" plywood a few years back for 4 bucks a pop .
 
I bet they are heavy as hell.

The track mats and mud mats from that company are more expensive than alturna mats FYI. I just researched.
 
Our area has a used building supply yard and I pick up sheets of used plywood for $5/sheet. For me it's a no-brainer, plywood highway it is.
 
For walking in the bucket it has to be really worth using the bucket over climbing, but if that's the case than 10 sheets will do ya. Usually it will happen by 'leapfrogging' the sheets in front of each other so eight would do in theory, but in actual practice an extra couple are always handy for negotiating curves. I don't use plywood very often but it's always handy to have a few sheets around to protect delicate seeming things in a yard/house. With my wheeled mini I don't often need to plywood a road for it as our ground is fairly hard here, maybe toss one down if there's a spot that needs to be skid-steered on or something.
 
Yah six seems like you'd be stopping/flipping alot. We use whatever we need as my plywood stack rides on my truck that pulls the dump trailer with the mini and there's got to be atleast 15-20 sheets on there. When I work graveyards I flipping plywood everything within a 'oops' distance.
 
Around here with the worst mud next to perhaps the swamps of Lousiana they about need plywood .From now to perhaps mid May it will be too damned soft to do much of anything lest it be from a driveway .

It sometimes is so bad they have to lay plywood and cover it with brush just to bomb chunks else it boogers up the lawn .Beats the tar out of the boards which is better than trashing the lawns if they ever want any repeat call backs I suppose .
 
GrassCarpet™ Grass Protection Matting

I'Ve been looking at this for a while, seems like an alternative and light weight too.

  


 
  
GrassCarpet™ grass protection surface incorporates a heavy duty plastic reinforcement mesh bonded to a strong needle punched non-woven geotextile. GrassCarpet™ can be used to provide two functions for the temporary protection and access requirements on grass surfaces depending on whether the mesh or geotextile is laid upwards. GrassCarpet™ is particularly necessary in wet and muddy conditions:

Temporary reinforcement solution for wet, muddy ground required for access, parking & grass tracks
0.57" (14.5mm) thick material.
Ideal for outdoor events, weddings, exhibitions, concerts and marquee paths and flooring
Ideal for temporary wheelchair access routes
Allows a professional clean 'carpet' path for the public and guests at outdoor events
Quick to install, quick to remove and reusable
Protects the grass surface and allows pedestrian and vehicle access on wet and muddy grass 


Geotextile upwards :

With the mesh laid on the ground with the geotextile upwards, GrassCarpet™ provides a clean, stable surface for pedestrians and guests, while protecting the grass from damage. Ideal for walkways at outdoor events, parties, and weddings and for gazebos and tents. Ideal as flooring in and around marquees and other highly trafficked pedestrian areas which could cause either damage to the grass surface or create a 'muddy mess' that is not desirable to an outdoor event. GrassCarpet™ can also be used as a trackway if pedestrians and vehicles are using the same access route. It is particularly beneficial if poor weather is forecast which could cause a cancellation to your event due to grass access problems due to the poor weather.
 

Mesh upwards :

With the geotextile laid on the underside with the mesh upwards, GrassCarpet™ provides additional reinforcement to the grass surface allowing immediate temporary use for vehicles. Ideal as a temporary road surface, track way or grass track at outdoor events. The mesh offers ground reinforcement, while the geotextile does not allow the mesh to sink deep into the ground, thus offering the perfect temporary access road.


GrassCarpet™ can be brushed clean and re-used time and time again. The product can be easily un-installed and rolled up for a future event or where the either may cause the need for an emergency grass protection system.



 

Buy Online

 

 
Part No.
Color
Size
Material
Price ex. Tax Qty Buy Online
GrassCarpet Matting 6.56' x 65.6'
052097
Green / Black
6.56 ft x 65.6 ft
HDPE / PP
$900.00

$715.00


 

 
 
We carry 8 sheets on each of our buckets. 10 would be better.

For forwarding equipment we have a dedicated trailer with close to 50 sheets on it. Plywood highway it is!
 
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