# Homemade mats for turf protection



## bendtrees (Jan 23, 2007)

I have an idea for making my own mats for turf/fence protection .

1. Take a 55gallon poly drum
2. Cut off both ends 
3. Cut laterally
4. Flatten and heat with textured steel to imprint and change shape
5. This would yield a piece 36" x 76" I think.

Yes, I cannot afford the commercial 1/2" thick models.

Concerns- 1. Effectively (permanently) changing the barrels shape.
2. Durability?

Thanks for the input.


----------



## ATH (Jan 23, 2007)

I think you'll have trouble keeping the plastic flat.

Maybe if you incorporate a couple of bars of angle iron on the bottom. That would cut into the yard, but would not be too noticeable, and will certainly go away quicker than tire tracks. This would prohibit you from putting them over a sidewalk too.

Or....just "thinking out loud" here...2 drums unrolled and put together opposite, so they will pull each other flat???

Good idea. Should be manageable weight too.


----------



## elmnut (Jan 23, 2007)

I bought about 4 mats a year and used them along with plywood until we had enough mats. Our rear mount carries about 24 mats now. The drums will kick out from under the tires also.


----------



## Night Owle (Jan 24, 2007)

*Good use for ply wood*

I've also found plywood to be Very helpful
on the turf for such things as drops when 
I'm to lazy to rig.Also its great for standing up
to protect windows and doors and such if a 
limb walks away from its intended drop point.
A 4x8 sheet will stand from the gutter of the
house to the ground and also protect shrubs.
It's cheap and eazy to set up Ive found...

Night Owle.......


----------



## Husky137 (Jan 24, 2007)

bendtrees said:


> I have an idea for making my own mats for turf/fence protection .
> 
> 1. Take a 55gallon poly drum
> 2. Cut off both ends
> ...




Figure in the cost of your time and materials invested in a project that may or may not work and then decide if the alturna mats are affordable or not.


----------



## bendtrees (Jan 26, 2007)

Thanks for the comments fellas.

Time isn't a big factor for the experimental end of things. Heck, if I got to the point where I could crank these things out quickly and efficiently, I would get bored and move onto another project.

Elm,.. Are you certain the drum plastic would kick out, or is that an educated guess? What if I kept a bunch of stakes (20penny nail) handy to tack them down?

I'm getting tired of plywood. I still love it for fence/wall etc... protection, but I hate waste and don't like throwing it in the chipper.


----------



## antigrassguy (Jan 26, 2007)

Before you try to flatten a whole drum, start with one small section. The following is only my unsubstantiated thought but the amount of heat you will need to make these things flatten out will change the plastic itself. I would think that it will become very brittle and shatter the first time it needs to flex under any load.


----------



## jemclimber (Jan 26, 2007)

I think the drums are make out of polyethylene which should be a semi-crystalline polymer. If you get it hot enough to relax the the amorphous part of the polymer it should transform its shape. I think the amorphous part of this polymer has a low Tg (softening point) of somewhere around 60 C maybe a bit higher. The crystalline melting point in the plastic is much higher somewhere over 200 C if I remember right. Softening it and reshaping it should have no ill effects. I would try to build a circular oven to heat and quickly lay flat to reshape. You may want to use a 55 gallon steel drum with a fire inside and another sort of container just a little bigger on the outside of that which you could put the plastic around and then pull out. Some sort of o-ring lid between the two would probably be helpful too. Not sure if this makes sense. Sounds like a great idea though since those plastic drums can usually be found free from many food places. I use plywood too, but it sure takes a beating quick and gets a little heavy when it's water logged. Let me know how you make out, I might try it as well.


----------



## minderaser66 (Jan 30, 2007)

how about just bombing the hell out of the lawn then have your cheap boss spend 30 bucks for topsoil and another 20 to have2 laborers spread it around. oh yeah forgot about the 10 bucks for seed.


----------



## bendtrees (Jan 30, 2007)

minderaser66 said:


> how about just bombing the hell out of the lawn then have your cheap boss spend 30 bucks for topsoil and another 20 to have2 laborers spread it around. oh yeah forgot about the 10 bucks for seed.



Ugh,... I'm the "cheap boss" and yes,... I would also be one of the "2 laborers."
Balking at the $200 alturna price tag does not make me that cheap does it?

Jem, thanks for sharing your knowledge of the materials. I plan to pickup a couple of barrels later this week and have at er'

Also, the idea of doubling them up is appealling too. 

I'll definitely post on the results.


----------



## treevet (Feb 3, 2007)

lLike most of you guys I like the plywood. 3/4 inch works best and bcs of the weight esp water soaked I ve gone from 4 by 8 to 4 by 4 and now am partial to cutting them into 2 by 4 feet. They turn alot easier at this on the plywood road. I ve had success billing insurance jobs on storm emergencies for them and bcs we have so many tree demolishing storms around here they get renewed often. It is a take or leave expense to the client who must pay me and collect from the ins co. I don t feel there is anything non kosher about doing this. I got 20 full size boards last year they re good for about 2 years , downgrade to rigger boards then trash. I always ask them if they (client) want the dirty, partly crushed boards on compl. and none have taken them yet.


----------



## IATreeguy (Feb 3, 2007)

Alturnamats are probably the way to go for the heavier equipment. Plywood can only handle just so much before cracking. Buying a couple of the good mats each year sounds like a good idea to me elmnut.

That being said I use 3/4 inch plywood. First I should mention that the aerial weighs 5000 pounds and the truck is a 2500HD so nothing comprable to the big guys. I agree that the 4 x 8 sheets are pretty big( and clumsy). I work with three different sizes. My favorite is the 32 inch by 48 inch, that makes three to a full sheet. More manageable than a 4 x 4 (half sheet) but gives more surface than the 2' x 4' size. I do use some 4' x 4' sheets when needed but they are a bit awkward. In addition to the above sizes, several split sheets usually work well instead of a full sheet. These are 2' wide by 8' long.

Use BC 3/4 inch plywood, not CDX. The internal holes are filled in the BC and not in the CDX. Less likely to break. The few extra bucks are work it. This is a good time of the year to buy a few sheets. Most lumber stores will cut them to the sizes that you would like for no extra charge. Now while you have the time coat them with a least one coat of water repellant of your choosing. Let them dry and at least give the edges a second coat. 

As mentioned below you can rotate them through the lineup. Mats and then targets before ultimately feeding the broken pieces to the chipper which usually are recycled in some manner. I average less than ten sheets a year and they last several years. I have not heard of theft problems with alturnamats but I have never had plywood mats stolen from a job site. 

I realize that mats are a pain but they accomplish two things. Damage is eliminated or at least sharply mitigated in most cases. Most importantly it provides hard evidence to your client that you are doing your absolute best to take care of their property. And that is priceless in my book.


----------



## elmnut (Feb 3, 2007)

bendtrees said:


> Ugh,... I'm the "cheap boss" and yes,... I would also be one of the "2 laborers."
> Balking at the $200 alturna price tag does not make me that cheap does it?
> 
> Jem, thanks for sharing your knowledge of the materials. I plan to pickup a couple of barrels later this week and have at er'
> ...



check the price of alturna mats at DICA, around 149.00 or so. 1 removal job @ 1500.00 will get you 10 mats. Or lose a few days production fiddling around with barrels that won't hold the weight of a toyota camry on a soft lawn. Don't mean to sound negative, I admire your ingenuity and ideas. Good luck!


----------



## Tree Machine (Feb 5, 2007)

I say go ahead with the 'experiment'. My feeling, like elmnut, is that they'll not withstand the stress when driven over, especially in subfreezing temps. But, like many things in life, ya just don't know until you've tried.


----------

