Anyone ever built their own "bog mats"?

[GJohnson]

Do not even attempt that with a backhoe , Kevin .

Attempt what with a backhoe? I use these all the time with backhoe, excavator, lifts, skid steers, pickups, etc… In fact, we usually place them with a backhoe or 5K reach lift.

 

[Rowalker]

I have a job i need to do which will require something like this. If you don't know what bog mats are - they are usually wooden rectangles/square sections that an excavator can pick up, put in front of them, and drive on in marshy conditions.

I don't have an excavator- i have a tractor with backhoe so I cant make them too heavy, i would have to transport them by hand.

So far i was thinking of maybe making mats big enough to put under each tire then just keep inching it forward accordingly.

might be able to use old pallets

 

[newbury]

might be able to use old pallets

I was waiting for that, pallets in swamp!
The sequel to pallets in fields.

 

[bindian]

Pallets are nailed together. I don't like nails under my tires.
hugs, Brandi

 

[MBTRAC]

When working in soft clay areas in drained dams I've used shade cloth successfully as a bog mat - just any cheap shade cloth by the roll will do.
If especially damp/boggy also add/place small sapling trees at right angles across under/over the shade cloth & then wire the saplings together about every 6' or so
Cheap, easy to move & usually lasts the whole job or longer - try making a small test sample & see if it works for you - it's never failed me & something I learnt years ago operating trucks in monsoon season in the tropics.

 

[Surshot]

I ran a 3 mile dredge project down a bayou, to produce a 40’ wide 5’ deep channel through an old cypress swanp with 20 ft diameter stumps. The mats we used, 3, were 20’ long and 20’ wide made of 12” thich x 12” wide beams cabled together using 1 1/2” steel cable, with 3’ loops sticking out pf both sides. The Trackhoe sitting on the mats, came in three parts, on low boys, had a 3 yard bucket, a big motor scooter. The mats themselves came from LA.
The operator started on an earthen dam, dug 40’ wide and 20’ long in front of him, spun around grabbed a loop and picked up a mat, dropped it in front of him, pulled out onto it and away he went down the bayou. Until he slipped off the mat… it took two of those big tractor trailer wreckers, side by side, using huge pine trees as anchors to pull him out.

It ran up to the top of its tracks in the water on the mats.
The tractor, round tires, a lot of weight on a small square inch surface, is not a good choice for muck work.
I grew up in the Glades, muck, everyone uses crawlers because of the soft land surface.

 

[boostmg]

ca

When working in soft clay areas in drained dams I've used shade cloth successfully as a bog mat - just any cheap shade cloth by the roll will do.
If especially damp/boggy also add/place small sapling trees at right angles across under/over the shade cloth & then wire the saplings together about every 6' or so
Cheap, easy to move & usually lasts the whole job or longer - try making a small test sample & see if it works for you - it's never failed me & something I learnt years ago operating trucks in monsoon season in the tropics.

shade cloth? like just lay it down and drive over it? how does that end up working? Theres no rigidity to it right?