Timber mats?

[mudfarmer]

Any advice on DIY timber mats? I would like to saw and assemble a few for some near term jobs, possibly repurpose for bridge decking after?


My equipment as such is small and light, was thinking 6" mats would be more than enough but could this be stretched to 4" thick? (35hp tractor+logs/trailer etc, 3.5ton mini ex, utv) It looks like the big boys on the power line jobs here are using only 8" for their giant equipment. These would be sawn out of ash poles on hand, 4" would make a lot more logs viable. 

Current thought is 16' long x 4' wide panels, I worry about getting them into place due to weight especially at 6" thick, can you use spacers between the timbers(2x6 chunks?) to save weight? Threaded rod to hold together or bolt ends welded to round stock or something else entirely?

Thoughts and input definitely appreciated 

[BargeMonkey]

If I was going thinner I would laminate them, 4" on 8-10' maybe, not 16' built like a mat. I've built a few at the class, Jebediah is about 200 bucks each now for 8"x4'x16' new mats.  

[Texas Ranger]

Oil field and pipelines stack them to get the thickness they need, might make do with 4" for light equipment.

[Joe Hillmann]

I am able to get free convayor belting from a nearby mine.  It is 1/2 in thick rubber, with a woven core and 32 or 48 inches wide.  I roll out two rolls of it side by side.  I makes great mats over soft ground or swamps.  With small equipment like you are using it probably would work as a cheaper, faster and lighter option to timber mats.

A 100 foot roll is probably 400 or 500 pounds and is about as much as I can roll out , and roll back up by hand in a single piece.

[barbender]

 Matts are heavy beasts. Moving and setting them with an 18 tonne class forwarder is somewhat of a challenge even. 

 If you are custom building them for your equipment and crossings, you can make them much more manageable I would think. First off, there is no need for them to be 16' long. If you are running 6' wide equipment, 8' matts should be plenty wide enough (we always use them crossways, not lengthwise). 

 4" thick would probably be ok for lighter equipment. It kind of depends on what you are bridging. If you have then set up on a 4" tall stump under each end, or one dead in the middle for instance, you are working them a lot harder than If you have them on uniformly soft ground with equal bearing all around.

[mudfarmer]

Thanks all, this is very helpful!

Joe I like your thick conveyor idea but don't have access to any free mining equipment, we shut our iron mines down a long time ago :( When our well was drilled I did help drag 1/2" or so 4x8' plastic mats around to support the drill truck because he came in October when everything was mud, that worked pretty well.

If you used either 4" or 6" what would you bolt them together with (diameter?) and how close would the bolts be to each other? Another member commented that the timbers might split and this seems like a valid and serious concern. I do like the idea of 4" mats to make them light, then stacked criss-cross and just make them all 4'x8' like barbender is saying. Certainly would be a lot more manageable.

As far as ole' Jeb goes, I know the feeling, everybody hits rock bottom once in a while where "20 bucks is 20 bucks" :D but his 7 fingered kids don't need their old man to have $200 as much as they need someone to not buy anything so they might get an hour off this week -- and I already have the logs and a mill

[leeroyjd]

There were a few laminated bridges a mill I contracted for had on hand.
One set was all oak, another set was hemlock and oak. Both 16' long
4' wide. Guessing it was 1" rod  every 4'.
  The hemlock/oak were noticeably lighter to lift and handle then the all oak set. They both held up equally well and were heavily used by both chained up skidders, or tracked forwarders.
  Hemlock probably weighs close to ash, but maybe you could use ash and pine to help reduce weight?  Pretty sure the stock was 4x6.

[NE Woodburner]

Take a look at coil rod instead of threaded rod - it may be cheaper and the threads don't mind a little dirt and crap. If you go 4" thick it seems like 3/4" rod would be enough. The mats typically have a couple of shorter pieces staggered so the rod is accessible on opposite sides so you have a place to hook a chain to move them around.

If you are in a real wet or soft area some geotextile fabric would help a lot. Put it down first then set your mats and the mats won't sink as bad.

Good luck.

[NE Woodburner]

Also, when you are done with them, hose or powerwash them to get the mud off and stack with stickers in between. Try to store them in a sunny, breezy area if you can, ideally with a tin covering like you would a stack of lumber.

Leaving the mud on and dead stacking they will rot more than twice as fast. Ask me how I know.

[Firewoodjoe]

I've used a lot. Crane matts 8x8s and 12x12s. They will hold tons and tons. Run my single bunk forwarder over them as a bridge in a creek. Then we use a lot of truck board we call it. Three layers of hw boards bolted together. Maybe 4" think total and we run semis in them. 164000 pounds and the lift axles are up. Even self loader down rigers sit on them with pads of course. The most important think if your unsure on the thickness is to be sure the ground is level underneath first. Even if it's wet sloppy mud they hold a Michigan rig with water and mud squirting up through them. 

[Plankton]

Ive placed alot of mats with a forwarder and trucked way too many of them for the power line contractors around here. The 8"x4x16 is the variety we use around here. I wouldnt bother going 16ft like barbender was saying 8 or 10 is plenty depending on equipment size. I would use hardwood personally.

At the Logging outfit i used to work for we set up a funky rig to make our own mats and got the rods from a local mill that makes them on a large scale. Maybe try to get in touch with whoever the powerline contractor is around you to find there source for new ones or some mills that make them and see if you can buy some rods. Though they might be a bit long if you dont want to go 4ft wide. I dont remember them having a ton of spare thread.

My buddy who does dirt work got a bunch of wetland restoration work recently which is best done with his 6 ton ex. And was talking about building some mats. We were going to go with 10ftx6 inch x a little under 3ft which is a comfortable width to pick up with the grapple he has for it. You can always go 4inch if thats easier to move with your equipment and stack them while you build your road.

[Firewoodjoe]

Old picture off my old phone. Kinda blurry but those are 12x12s 24 foot long. About a 6 foot deep valley. Hauled about a lot of hard maple
across them. My point is that is clear span. With about 30-35,000 pounds on it. If level and touching ground as I said  it don't take very thick of hardwood to hold you up.

[Joe Hillmann]

Before I had access to used convayor belting I experimented with weaving mats out of tire treads.  Like in this link.

https://doubledmats.net/online-store

The sidewalls can be cut out with a knife then the treads can be woven together.  You can leave 6 inch gaps between the treads and they will still support a tractor.  The gaps make them lighter, faster to make and use fewer tires.

At the edges I secured the ends with fencing staples driven through both layers and cinched over.  Nuts, bolts and washers through drilled holes would probably work too.

The sidewalls could be woven into mats like chain mail by cutting 1 out of every 5 sidewalls,  weaving them all together then nailing or bolting the cut sidewall back together.  My tractor has very small front tires so when the sidewalk mats were used over swamps with lots of half rotted downed trees it was possible for my front tire to fall through the mat enough that getting stuck was a risk.

Mats made from treads or sidewalls are much harder to move than convayor belting.  They also offer MUCH more traction on wet hills than the belting does.

[mudfarmer]

This is all real cool info and I'm happy it's together in this thread. Many thanks! Got the mill area mostly cleaned up now, will cut some 4" and 6", make a few and test them. Joe Hillmann if I knew somebody with time on their hands the tire idea sounds pretty neat, it's a $5 charge to throw away an old tire here.

[peakbagger]

There is a company on the web called Repurposed Materials, they have lots of conveyor belting usually for cheap (and a lot of other weird stuff)

[treemuncher]

I ran across this company a couple years ago while researching mats for a swamp job. I remembered them because they are sort of local to me. I thought this should be added to this thread, although it's likely much more than the OP is wanting/needing. Nice looking system for building mats as a business.

https://fastmatusa.com/

https://youtu.be/Pn03kFNzi2E