What to use for turf protection?

[Rickytree]

The machine I use is a Kubota R400 articulating loader. It weighs around 3tonnes and i think has R4 tires. Protecting the driveway or walkways I use 3/4 inch plywood but was thinking of attaching a bunch of them together for longer runs. Any suggestions where to get cheap plywood or? usually just put the plywood down to protect going up onto driveway.

 

[Little Monkey]

if you can get them , cow mats are great, they are heavy duty rubber mats about 2 inch thick, and they last forever'ish, i find ply breaks up after a few uses and is dear enough to keep replaceing,

 

[groundsmgr]

I would love to use rubber mats but i use 3/4 ply instead

 

[Rickytree]

where do you get cow mats? and are they very heavy?

 

[tomtrees58]

ply wood keep the loggers working tom trees

 

[BlackenedTimber]

I worked with "Maybe Matts" (Spelling...? Mabe, Maby, etc... sounded like "MAYBE") on a power project in St. Petersburg, FL. They were about 8 feet wide and perhaps 12 feet long. They are used for turf protection in the ROW and work real well. They are maybe 2 inches thick, like hard plastic on top, and softer, almost rubbery on the bottom, where the mat meets the turf.

Apparently these things are available across the globe for regional retailers for both rental and purchase. I remember thinking they were about 7 bucks per day to rent, which isnt bad if you only need a few for a quick project.

I think they were like 170 bucks each to buy, which is a little steep, but they seemed real durable.

The regional dealer sends a truck with a boom crane out for delivery and will place them for you as well. They are about 3 times the size of a piece of plywood, and heavy. you would definately need a machine to move one, or about 6 groundies.

 

[treemandan]

I use 3/8 ths inch ply. I drive my f350 on it no problem. 10 bucks a sheet, I rip them in three sheets. I find the thinner stuff protects fine and rather than just break right away it flexes more than the 3/4 inch stuff. Its also lighter and faster to deploy and ,uhm, un-deploy. Also doing like this gets you in further with less.

 

[Rickytree]

I think I'll try the thinner stuff out. Tis the season!

 

[treemandan]

I think I'll try the thinner stuff out. Tis the season!

You bet your sweet bippy it is, I lost a shoe the other day. Watch where you park.

 

[JeffL]

We use the mobil-matt, I believe you can find it in the Sherrill catalog. Its pretty spendy, but will stand up to pretty much whatever you give to it. We use it to pad our way into wet/muddy yards in spring/fall/winter/whenever for our bucket truck, and use it to move the loaders around on a yard or other surface we dont want damaged. Sheets are 4x8, biggest pain is each one weighs about 75-80~ pounds a piece, but its pretty much indestructible.......

 

[teamtree]

Invest in good set of alturnamats

I used to used plywood but one of the best investments I have made is the alturnamats....I bought 8 3X8 sheets and will add 4 4x8 sheets this year. They have save me many times from getting hung up and have helped me work so many more days every year. And you can use them for so many things....you can put them over 10" of mud and drive a bucket truck right over them....they do not spin out like plywood and they last. I have had mine for 6 years and I would have easily spent the same amount on plywood as when plywood gets wet...it is done.

hell even if you buy 2 sheets a year in 4 years you will have enough to get you by 90% of the time. I am adding the 4 new sheets so we can cover more area...like building a walkway over turf to walk on and carry brush to chipper from tree.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

We use the mobil-matt, I believe you can find it in the Sherrill catalog. Its pretty spendy, but will stand up to pretty much whatever you give to it. We use it to pad our way into wet/muddy yards in spring/fall/winter/whenever for our bucket truck, and use it to move the loaders around on a yard or other surface we dont want damaged. Sheets are 4x8, biggest pain is each one weighs about 75-80~ pounds a piece, but its pretty much indestructible.......

One arborist friend back in Indiana uses some kind of mats. And I think companies that move manufactured homes use the same type.

I think his are two feet wide.

May be what you are referring too, but a narrower model.

If they were 4 feet, I'd just find a blade to cut them in half.

 

[JeffL]

Yeah, its the same stuff, we have some of the alturna-mat like teamtree mentioned too. They come in triangles, 2x4's, 3x8's, a few odd sizes, I believe for getting through tight areas and such. Only problem I'd see for a small business owner is the cost. I think its up near $250/sheet for the stuff, so that kind of adds up fast.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Yeah, its the same stuff, we have some of the alturna-mat like teamtree mentioned too. They come in triangles, 2x4's, 3x8's, a few odd sizes, I believe for getting through tight areas and such. Only problem I'd see for a small business owner is the cost. I think its up near $250/sheet for the stuff, so that kind of adds up fast.

I've worked with them too, they are great. One option is to use the mats on turns, where the plywood is most likely to break. Another is to protect the turn/horsing areas only, since this is where most of the damage from tires occurs.

 

[brushbandit]

We use 4x8 3/4" plywood ripped in half. It works well and lasts a long time, we don't have problems with it breaking up and we run a 58K GVW boom truck over it. They do rarely spin out at times, the Alterumats might solve that problem but they are so expensive I just can't justify the cost over the plywood.

 

[JS Landscaping]

We have 20 alturna-mats on each bucket truck that sit in a cage on end between the tool boxes and the turret. they are the 4x8' mats with the diamond tread in them. Work great, only downfall is they are heavy, roughly 80lbs a piece. Picking them up and moving them all day long will get tiring.

 

[Tree Raptor]

alturna-mats

We have 20 alturna-mats on each bucket truck that sit in a cage on end between the tool boxes and the turret. they are the 4x8' mats with the diamond tread in them. Work great, only downfall is they are heavy, roughly 80lbs a piece. Picking them up and moving them all day long will get tiring.

definately sounds like something that would be good to have, even if you only needed them on rare occasion. How long do they last (ie. do they eventually tear/rip) Who sells them ?

 

[PurdueJoe]

I'm checking for something other then plywood too. If all I did was drive a bucket over them then ripping a 4x8 sheet of plywood would work but that doesn't help when you need to drive a mini thats 3' wide back and forth. O yeah if anyone is thinking of using heavy duty conveyor belting used in coal mines and stuff don't waste you time and money. I just picked up a 33" x6' wide piece about 1/2" to try it out and it isn't stiff enough. Only turf protection it did was not leave the tread impressions in the ground. I'm going to pick up a rubber horse stall mat thats 4x6 and about 3/4" thick and see how that works.

 

[treeclimber101]

I always have used plywood i like the idea of keeping it simple. I stack 3/4 on the headache rack and i doubt that the guys want to stack 80 lb alturnamats up there . The good thing you can buy ten 4x8 and rip them down the middle and have 20 pieces. i think stacking them on the top of the truck also helps to dry them faster. I typically replace once a year and may use them twice a week . I once made the mistake of buying particle board what a waste that was. Hands down that alturnamats kick ass but they work better on a bucket with a flat bed thats not real high.I did see a guy that always used a loader with forks and he would stack them and remove them with the machine.

 

[lxt]

a couple local shops here run old school equipment with belt drive pulleys, I was lucky enough to get 75ft approx 2ft wide of it when they broke one, guess those things last forever. its not really wide enough....but we lay em side by side & for free what the hey! the belt is 1/2 thick. works good.



LXT..................