# Lawn Mats



## Scottscape (Jan 27, 2008)

We use plywood on lawns that we drive out bucket truck on. I've seen lawn guarding mats out there but who makes them? what do you guys use?


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## BostonBull (Jan 27, 2008)

We have been using Alturnamats for years. They are around 210 for a 3x8 sheet. They have a 5 year guarantee against breaks, splits, and cracks. e love them. They weigh about as much as a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood. But they last forever.

We also use them to bomb stuff down on.

You can buy these from DICA, Sherrill, and others.


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## oldirty (Jan 27, 2008)

yup.


plywood gets all beat up. alturnamats dont


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## Justice (Jan 27, 2008)

Has anyone used them to cover sidewalks to prevent breakage of the sidewalk when bombing out pieces? Even if two pieces stacked prevented breakage it would speed things up, and extra protection for walkways, sidewalks and such.


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## BostonBull (Jan 27, 2008)

Justice said:


> Has anyone used them to cover sidewalks to prevent breakage of the sidewalk when bombing out pieces? Even if two pieces stacked prevented breakage it would speed things up, and extra protection for walkways, sidewalks and such.



They work well for sidewlks drives etc. you hve to rememkber though they only distribute the weight so much on hard surfaces. They are much better on grass, mulch, dirt etc. They distibut the dent over a 3x8 area instead of the size of the piece.

If your bombing HUGE stuff nothing will do an awesome job that is easy to setup and transport.


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## teamtree (Jan 27, 2008)

alturnamats are great

they also work great to get you up a grade where you would just sit and spin on the grass.

No more splinters as well

and the rain just runs off them


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## mckeetree (Jan 27, 2008)

I'm sure the alturnamats are great but we keep 150 sheets of 4x8 3/4 plywood at the shop and believe it or not I have seen all of that out on jobs at one time. Alturnamats might be out of our budget. $210 x 150= $31,500.00


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## BostonBull (Jan 27, 2008)

mckeetree said:


> I'm sure the alturnamats are great but we keep 150 sheets of 4x8 3/4 plywood at the shop and believe it or not I have seen all of that out on jobs at one time. Alturnamats might be out of our budget. $210 x 150= $31,500.00



How often are you replacing the plywood?

We have had Alturnamats for over 5 years without replacing ANY of them.

its more of an investment than a purchase.


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## juststumps (Jan 27, 2008)

BostonBull said:


> We have been using Alturnamats for years. They are around 210 for a 3x8 sheet. They have a 5 year guarantee against breaks, splits, and cracks. e love them. They weigh about as much as a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood. But they last forever.
> 
> We also use them to bomb stuff down on.
> 
> You can buy these from DICA, Sherrill, and others.



i use ply,,, 4X8 3/4 ripped in half... stow it in the ladder box on the truck...get about 5 or six sheets for the price of one alumimat.. home depot rips them for free.... they last about 2-3 years... unless going over some really uneven ground... then they might crack.. boss wont spring for them because of price,,plus we have no way of getting them to the job....9 times out of 10,, its three 2 men crews going out....truck and chipper , each....where do you carry the mats ,, if you don't have an extra truck to cart them around ?? can't put them in the chip box.... i've used them before,, heavy,, solid,,work great,, but its a handling issue for us...


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## BostonBull (Jan 28, 2008)

juststumps said:


> i use ply,,, 4X8 3/4 ripped in half... stow it in the ladder box on the truck...get about 5 or six sheets for the price of one alumimat.. home depot rips them for free.... they last about 2-3 years... unless going over some really uneven ground... then they might crack.. boss wont spring for them because of price,,plus we have no way of getting them to the job....9 times out of 10,, its three 2 men crews going out....truck and chipper , each....where do you carry the mats ,, if you don't have an extra truck to cart them around ?? can't put them in the chip box.... i've used them before,, heavy,, solid,,work great,, but its a handling issue for us...



Right on the back of the truck laying flat between the bins and the elevator.

Driving on something 2' wide is always fun, especially with duallies


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## mckeetree (Jan 28, 2008)

BostonBull said:


> How often are you replacing the plywood?
> 
> We have had Alturnamats for over 5 years without replacing ANY of them.
> 
> its more of an investment than a purchase.



Well the thing is we don't replace it all at one time. There is plywood of all ages in the stacks so we blend in new sheets 10-20 at a time.


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## teamtree (Jan 28, 2008)

We would wait for dry conditions if we had to use 150 pieces of plywood...lol

We have 10 and if we need more than that we either leap frog them or wait.

As I said before...they are great for getting up grades. Plywood spins with the tires.

Out of curiousity, on jobs where you are putting out 40 sheets, are you taking a hit on the estimate are do you include the labor of putting the sheets out. I rarely add to the estimate and take the attitude I rather work a little more putting down the pads than not at all.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 28, 2008)

Not for driving, but for protecting walks when I roll small boulders off our trailer, I got rubber squares. A bit heavy, but free. Found them next to me while dumping at the landfill.

The kind that might be attached to the floor in a workshop where a slip proof floor is needed.

The best part is that they are thick and can absorb impact. About 2" thick.

I lay 4 on top of 4 to unload boulders that weigh 600 lbs.

Too short for driving on. And they would be quite heavy in larger sheets.


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## mckeetree (Jan 28, 2008)

teamtree said:


> We would wait for dry conditions if we had to use 150 pieces of plywood...lol
> 
> We have 10 and if we need more than that we either leap frog them or wait.
> 
> ...



When all that plywood was out it was on more than one job. We use small articulated loaders a lot so when it's wet we use plywood to make a road and it sometimes takes a lot of it and leapfrogging it is just a pain in the ass. And my goodness yes I charge to put it down. Our average client has a $600,000 to $800,000 property and most of those are weekend homes. And I said average, we have several with $4,000,000 properties and if they want it to look like we were never on the yard they pay for it. And you got to realize what it is like in this part of Texas in the spring. The yards get good and wet then here comes a T-storm with 90 MPH wind and blows trees down, then you have big stuff to move on wet ground. All these are lake properties and a common thing is to have a tree down near the lake and 900 ft. from the road. We are the most expensive tree service in my area before we add for plywood so people expect the best.


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## juststumps (Jan 28, 2008)

BostonBull said:


> Right on the back of the truck laying flat between the bins and the elevator.
> 
> Driving on something 2' wide is always fun, especially with duallies



i don't know if i have 3 ft between the turret and the dump box to do that...i'd have to check...

doesn't really matter,, boss wont buy them.. 

driving on 2 foot is an art !!!!! LOL


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## teamtree (Jan 29, 2008)

mckeetree said:


> When all that plywood was out it was on more than one job. We use small articulated loaders a lot so when it's wet we use plywood to make a road and it sometimes takes a lot of it and leapfrogging it is just a pain in the ass. And my goodness yes I charge to put it down. Our average client has a $600,000 to $800,000 property and most of those are weekend homes. And I said average, we have several with $4,000,000 properties and if they want it to look like we were never on the yard they pay for it. And you got to realize what it is like in this part of Texas in the spring. The yards get good and wet then here comes a T-storm with 90 MPH wind and blows trees down, then you have big stuff to move on wet ground. All these are lake properties and a common thing is to have a tree down near the lake and 900 ft. from the road. We are the most expensive tree service in my area before we add for plywood so people expect the best.




If you ard doing that well, then you should be able to make the investment in alturnamats. But hey, if you want to throw money away...go for it.


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## mckeetree (Jan 29, 2008)

teamtree said:


> If you ard doing that well, then you should be able to make the investment in alturnamats. But hey, if you want to throw money away...go for it.



I might look into alturnamats. It never hurts to look. Wouldn't be the first time something on Arboristsite got me to thinking.


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## oldirty (Jan 29, 2008)

i wouldnt lie to ya man. they end up, in the end, paying for themselves and then some.

i mean they do need to be man handled and people will cry about that but i gotta say that those mats are the real deal.


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