Options for ground/garden protection?

[Grahams]

18mm ply, lasts 2-3 years providing you store it upright with batton between sheets to allow it to dry. I've taken the 7t across lawns before no issues with cracking provided you use your brain when placing it out.

Obviosly in the picture you are using the ply in a different context, stopping steel tracks marking a hard surface which ply is ideal for. There is a danger to the steel ripping the grippers in your situation on poly.
Graham

 

[V8Druid]

18mm ply, lasts 2-3 years providing you store it upright with batton between sheets to allow it to dry. I've taken the 7t across lawns before no issues with cracking provided you use your brain when placing it out.

looks more like tarmac to me Rory

 

[V8Druid]

I ‘surfed’ a 13 tonne CAT down a seriously wet bank on 5x1m timber bogmats once - that wasn’t my best day at work tbh... Nightmare getting it back out, no other mats within reach by the time I managed to get it to stop!

now THAT I would love to have seen ... from a safe distance ..... how long'd it take to extract the seat foam ?? .... must've been some 'exciting' ride that

 

[V8Druid]

It's just short of 11tonnes, and I've used them in the past with a 3CX all the same results.
We also did a crossing through some fields, with the plastic mats leading from the road to the start of the job, about 50 metres. The 8 wheeler grab wagon went on that with no issues. when we lifted the mats 3 months later, the grass was yellow and white but intact.

sounds great Mick
ought to support 15t of 'Drema then if it'll stand an 8 wheeler loaded

They are okay on modest slopes as having tread both sides the bottom treads grip the grass, unlike ply.
Another plus is they don't absorb water so don't gain weight massively when wet.
I would say anyone who does the sort of work that needs ground protection and they are intending to be in business long term would do well to invest in some poly ones. They do the job and look professional. Also you don't have the problem I experienced when using ply that the health and safety man stops the job because they are a slip hazard when muddy as don't have built in grip, which is actually true, the were as slippery as f***.
Graham

Hmmmm .... define "modest slopes" Gra?? ...... eight o' them'd get me about here ... albeit, slowly

 

[Grahams]

The sort of slopes you would roll about on in the summer when it was dry without having to think about pushing yourself up is what i mean. Basically if you can lay them out without having to use the board below to hold it in place you should be fine. Haven’t worked out an actual angle.
Graham

 

[Monkeybusiness]

now THAT I would love to have seen ... from a safe distance ..... how long'd it take to extract the seat foam ?? .... must've been some 'exciting' ride that

I think there is still a bit stuck in there...

 

[V8Druid]

The sort of slopes you would roll about on in the summer when it was dry without having to think about pushing yourself up is what i mean. Basically if you can lay them out without having to use the board below to hold it in place you should be fine. Haven’t worked out an actual angle.
Graham

easily 20-30 deg.s then Gra .. 'praps more

 

[V8Druid]

I think there is still a bit stuck in there...

can well believe that

 

[Grahams]

easily 20-30 deg.s then Gra .. 'praps more

Depends a lot on ground conditions. The more there is for the mat to grip to the better. If it is already loose mud they wont stay put, but hang on to grass pretty good.
Graham

 

[JD450A]

Obviosly in the picture you are using the ply in a different context, stopping steel tracks marking a hard surface which ply is ideal for. There is a danger to the steel ripping the grippers in your situation on poly.
Graham

I was hoping to put the picture of across a lawn with a skip on the boom which is already somewhere else on the forum, but alas I cannot find it on the PC at present

But going back to it, 18mm we've not had issues tbh. I store it upright with baton between the board, it warps but tbh I still had that set of sheets until recently when it got used on a emergency job for shoreing/shuttering.

 

[CPS]

Thanks for all the replies lads. I have priced around and the proper mats are big money for what I need. I have a customer with a lot of old conveyor belt lying around so I think that's the way il go.

Pictures will follow which ever way I go.