Mud mats/matting boards

Has anyone made their own mud mats or flotation boards for use under equipment like a JLG Man lift? I have a JLG 45HA 2WD that is a handy machine, but useless on soft ground.

I'm building a barn and want to use the lift, but the ground is too soft around the structure with all the fill sand. Has anyone made their own, and what materials did you use? The previous owner said they used sheets of 3/4" plywood to keep from leaving tracks in the lawn at their apartment complex. I'm not sure how well those would survive a 13,000 pound lift. I'm considering making a few boards around 4' x 4' out of doubled up dimensional lumber, say 2x8's or similar. The local lumber yards have discount lumber bins full of various pieces that are cracked, or splintered, etc. Not good for building, but probably quite alright for a mat board. I could also buy a few sheets of 3/4" plywood, cut them in half, and reinforce with a single layer of 2x material. I don't need many, maybe 2x the length of the wheelbase of the machine. Then just leap frog the boards as necessary when I need to move it. Machine has a 25' radius so I can reach a long ways from one position once moved in.

Would almost recommend seeing if any local sawyers would have large block style timbers, be heavy as hell but if could get rough cut 6x10 or 12's could nest those together for a decent footprint, only need like three wide for each side., build like Crane outrigger Mats, Could see doing same with 2x8s just build like a door.

I've done a double layer of 3/4" plywood on soft ground, and walked 40 and 50,000lbs crane on it, if its flat. If you have too much of a side slope it wants to walk out from under you. Start with a single layer and lay the next layer on top with the joint staggered. With only 13,000lbs it would have to be super soft for that not to hold up. Typically that would be soupy mud. If its just sand and dry, I think the two layers of 3/4" would hold you.

I have mud mats that are made of 3 layers of 2x6 nailed together with the middle row going the opposite way. Mine are roughly 8x16 and heavy. You'd have to drag them around with the skid loader.

Here's us walking our 15 ton galion on soft grass. You really didn't see much after we were off, the grass was laid over a little, but not much sinking. The galion weighs 44,000 according to the book.

Like Crane Operator, i think you're overthinking this. For that weight, I'd crosscut some plywood at 32" and some at 16". crosscutting the plywood will be stronger because the outer plys are across the load that way, the 16" piece spreads the tire load out wider on the bottom 32" piece, the bottom piece spreads the load out a little further onto the soil.

Even chipboard scraps would work. LVL or chipboard rim joist scraps would replace the 16" plywood, they'd transfer the weight forward/backward and sideways so would hold plenty.

Thanks for the input guys, I'll just go buy some 3/4" plywood tomorrow and give it a go. At $37 a sheet, I wasn't too keen on buying some sheets only to have them splinter apart on my first drive across. But, since it's been done and proven, I'll go that route.

Thanks

Might be a silly question ,but have you considered the cost of some ground improvement around your barn against buying a bunch of plywood to chew up?Or is the sand fill all thats needed for your future use?

Tugger2 said:

Might be a silly question ,but have you considered the cost of some ground improvement around your barn against buying a bunch of plywood to chew up?Or is the sand fill all thats needed for your future use?

Click to expand...

This is a barn for a customer that required a lot of fill to level and raise the build site. The fill sand has clay and does compact, but once it dries a bit, the top layer pushes around. The 2WD lift has skinny tires and cuts through anything that isn't hard compacted and then just spins out. I wouldn't consider using mats if I had a 4WD lift with wider flotation tires, but I don't get so I'm working with what I have. Even with its limitations, the lift is a heck of a lot nicer than hauling a pile of ladders around.

We had to raise the north edge of the pad 30" and the front up about 6". All footings are in virgin soil, bottom of footing is at 52" below grade. The native soil around the build site is a clay loam mix that is fairly solid when dry, but can turn to mush real fast if you drive over it while wet. The plywood will keep me working if we should get some rain during the build.

A little follow up:

TLDR: I tried 3/4" plywood and destroyed it on this job. Blamed plywood at first, later realized it was my fault for improper use and planning.


I bought 3/4" plywood, 10 sheets or so. The lift just destroyed them. I doubled them up, but found real quick that the slightest thing would stop a front wheel and then the lift would spit the top sheet right off and crack the bottom sheet. Then it didn't take long and the sheets just came apart. When I could drive straight over a flat area, the doubled plywood worked just fine. Any voids under the plywood caused the lift to break through. Most of the driving areas were not perfectly flat or level on that job site so we got frustrated with the wood and quit using it after we ruined most of the sheets. We ended up staying off the sand altogether and just kept the machine on the packed top soil. That worked until we got a lot of rain and I had to pull the machine out with the rental telehandler. Given the shoestring budget on that job, we made due with what we could afford. Moving forward, I budgeted appropriate money for machine support when it was needed.

Much later, I bought some used 6" thick, 8ft x 16ft oak crane mats. The layered variety like what crane operator has. They weigh about a ton each, but can properly support the machine on uneven conditions. Also, I can handle them with equipment I own. They dont work on every jobsite, but I was able to use them enough to justify having them. Plus, I only paid $50/each for 5 of them.

I was wrong about weight of machine. After I finished this job, I had the chance to weigh the machine and it came in right at 16,000 pounds. Not crazy heavy like a crane, but I only have 8.75" wide tires that like to act like pizza cutters. Calculated ground pressure is around 60psi. Pretty high compared to modern machines with bigger tires and larger contact patches.

colson04 said:

This is a barn for a customer that required a lot of fill to level and raise the build site. The fill sand has clay and does compact, but once it dries a bit, the top layer pushes around. The 2WD lift has skinny tires and cuts through anything that isn't hard compacted and then just spins out. I wouldn't consider using mats if I had a 4WD lift with wider flotation tires, but I don't get so I'm working with what I have. Even with its limitations, the lift is a heck of a lot nicer than hauling a pile of ladders around.

Click to expand...

Might be time to upgrade to a newer lift!

I needed something similar for a project at home and I rented composite mats. I've used them at work and we drove 100k lb cranes across them with no issues. They work great and dont splinter or get water logged like wood mats. I rented them from Sunbelt for $5 a week and I think I had the option to buy them for $80 or $90 which didnt seem like a bad price.

The alturnamats are nice, I picked some up a while back used. New ones 4'x8' are now $300 each plus shipping. So you better have a good paying job, or need them all the time to buy them.

Glad it worked out colson, sorry I should have been more clear that the plywood would need to be on a smooth, flat, surface, you can't bridge over a hole with it or it will bust all up.