Sand ladder SCORE!

[Grim Reaper]

One of the business in the same complex as the one I work for does industrial grating work. Stuff like raised work platforms in factory's and plants.

They dive our dumpster all the time for crates we throw out. So we usually check if they need them now before we toss them. We had 10 or so pallets of folded boxes we wanted gone and offered them off to our Neighboring business. Beats throwing them away and filling up the landfill. They were interested and arranged to come see what we had.

Anyway we have a little bit of a relationship. They have a product that looks suspiciously like http://www.terra-trax.com/

It is a product called Fibergrate http://www.fibergrate.com/product_detail.asp?id=2&pselect=1#1


So I got talking to the head guy over there asking him what that stuff costs for a couple 48x12 inch pieces. He tells me to swing by and and he will see what he can help me out with.

So he has a few pieces in his "Drop" pile and finds a big piece that is 40x38 inches. pulls it out and hands to to me. So I ask him what the product costs and he tells me its a bit pricey because it is hand made but for what its used for it usually outlasts steel so in the long run it works out to be cheaper. So I ask how much I owe for that piece he pulled out...He tells me its a piece of drop from a completed job. They sell the whole 12x4ft sheet at a time and it was left over that wasn't needed. Lets me have it. :p

So now I need to cut it down. I think I will be building a rack on my truck similar to the Xtera or New FJ. I will use this as the flooring and make it easily removable should I need it for recovery.

Had to test it out so threw it across the ditch in front of my house and took a couple poser shots. :wavey:

[cruiseroutfit]

Neat... how much deflection does it get in the middle?

[+ d]

Score!

I've had Fibergrate and McNichols (http://www.mcnichols.com/products/grating/molded/) book marked for a while, I've been meaning to call and get quotes...

If there was other interested parties I might be into getting a large sheet, slicing it up, and sharing it with others...

[Grim Reaper]

Neat... how much deflection does it get in the middle?
With my little 4Runner on it....I couldn't see any. I am sure it did flex but my guess would be less then 1/4 inch with a single wheel of a 3800 lb truck on it.

[rgsiii]

Score!

I've had Fibergrate and McNichols (http://www.mcnichols.com/products/grating/molded/) book marked for a while, I've been meaning to call and get quotes...

If there was other interested parties I might be into getting a large sheet, slicing it up, and sharing it with others...

I would be interested.

Richard

[Colorado Ron]

Id be interested as well. Id want to make mine at least 3 ft long.

[devinsixtyseven]

that stuff works GREAT. i've used mine several times to recover from snow and sand, and to climb a ledge.

you definately want to protect the surface with something...herculiner, linex, rhino, spray-on bedliner...because the rocks do chew it up.

i have two 5'x1.5' sections and two 1.5'x1.5' sections. they also work great as camp tables, seats, things to attach gear to in the bed, and hilift bases. i got the length so they'd exactly fit across the bed of the truck, and so if i needed to cross a 3' gap, i'd have a foot of safety margin. mine are a 2x2x2 grid, and they'll hold iirc the weight of the truck (if it were all on one wheel) at the five foot span without breaking.

iirc 200 bucks got me all four sections cut, sealed, and shipped to my door. they live up against the tailgate, so i'm not losing space either.

-sean

[+ d]

iirc 200 bucks got me all four sections cut, sealed, and shipped to my door.


Where did you get yours from?

(I have McNichols working on a quote for me...I'll post up info when I hear from them.)

[devinsixtyseven]

amgrating.

www.amgrating.com

[+ d]

Sorry it took so long guys, but the quote from McNichols...


"McNICHOLS Quality Square Molded Grating,
Fiberglass SGF, Gray 2" Square Grid, 2" Height,
Gray Grit Surface, 72% Open Area, Panel,
48.0000" Width X 144.0000" Length


$881.00"


ends up being about $150 per pair (at 12"x48")...not bad, but not sure if it is that much of a savings over the terra trax ($195 per pair) to make it worthy of the effort, since the material would still need to be cut, packaged and shipped...


if anyone else wants to pick this up and run with it the quote was recieved from Ron Serna, Phone: 562-921-3344

[rgsiii]

I agree, the price is so close, it better to just order the brand product.

[Beowulf]

Here are tons of ladders. They are more than Terra but they have pics so you can see them in action.

http://www.okoffroad.com/stuff-waffleboards.htm

[jayheats]

Hey guys, you don't need to bug the grate companies and they don't want to deal much with small beans. You will have to buy alot to get the price per piece reasonable. That's what Terra-Trax does for you. Check out www.Terra-Trax.com. At $195 a pair it's still a very decent price.

http://www.terra-trax.com/pb/wp_b9d3ad70/images/img1388643cedb048fd92

[pwc]

I contacted a company directly and got them for $90 each before shipping. 60"x18"x1.5". I wanted something a little wider and longer than what terra trax offered. Plus TT doesn't have any info on strength ratings. I wanted to make sure they would hold a fully loaded Defender over a longer ditch. (yes, one picture above shows a Defender using them)
Have yet to recieve them though, so I can't compare yet.

[PhulesAU]

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Pultruded-Fiberglass-Grating-Vinylester_W0QQitemZ120090559200QQihZ002QQcategory Z26197QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem 1 of 4 auctions of what looks like the same stuff.

[Beowulf]

The question becomes are these other ones, especially when bought from the supplier, created with a Grit coating?

The ones from http://www.okoffroad.com/stuff-waffleboards.htm have Grit which would help when playin in Clay and Mud.

[pwc]

yes, the ones I'm ordering are gritted.

You don't want to go with teh pultruded. At first I thought it was better because it is stronger. But because it's not molded, and instead has holes drilled through and a connecting rod "welded" in place, it's more likely to start coming apart when stressed a lot in the non-dircetional direction. Meaning, the on and off the truck and banging around will start to work on it over a couple years.

I was steered clear of it by 2 companies I spoke with when I gave my use case.

[JohnC]

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Pultruded-Fiberglass-Grating-Vinylester_W0QQitemZ120090559200QQihZ002QQcategory Z26197QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem 1 of 4 auctions of what looks like the same stuff.
We import the waffleboards from the UK and have looked into purchasing them here in the US but the price to ship those large sheets is ridiculous. In the end you'll end up paying about the same as Terra.

A few comments about the waffleboards:

1. Strong: if you look at the pic on OkOffroad's site, the blue Disco belongs to my partner.... you'll see that the boards support the weight of a LR w/o any problem. FYI, we carry around 300-400 extra pounds in our trucks.
2. Lightweight: easy to carry and move around compared to alluminum ones.
3. Using them on rocks: you have to be carefull using them on rocky surfaces, they are made of fiberglass and will chip if used incorrectly.
4. Not all boards are the same width; I've seen smaller boards (2'x2') that are not 2" wide, just be careful and get one that is 2" wide.

Terra's price is the best I've seen so far, the only way we could beat that price is if we placed a larger order.

Just my 2 cents.

Oh, one more thing, I use the Coleman Racing clamps to carry them on my roof rack. here are some pics of the clamps and boards on my roof rack:
http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/3653414/1143118193649_Coleman_Clamps.jpg
http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/3653414/1153642710403_Canada_18.JPG

[Beowulf]

John C,

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Have you found that the 4' planks are long enough for most situations?

I noticed that most steel and aluminium ladders are 5'.

[pwc]

John, those mounts look great! do you have a link or more information on them?


The boards I'm looking at are in the US, small batch (6 boards) but they are thiner. 1.5" instead of the 2" but they have 1.5" spacing between bars of the grid, so there is more material. I've been assured they will hold the weight of a fully loaded 110. But I haven't received them just yet, so I can't comment. Right now I'm not looking to resell them except to friends at cost, and that's only if they actually work out.

thanks for the advice on rocks, I hadn't thought of that.

[Otto Von Squiggy]

I was just talking to a co-worker !!:bigbossHL: about the Sand Mats and he sugested I look at this:
http://www.mobi-mat-dms.com/MiliTractionMatA2x.htm

he said they are lighter but more bulky. soot youself