When we talk about timber mats, we often focus on benefits such as providing safe access, protecting the environment, and operating more efficiently. However, there’s one important benefit that you shouldn’t ignore: protecting your valuable equipment. From decreasing wear and tear on daily drivers to ensuring your most expensive equipment stays on suitable terrain, timber mats are an essential component of safe and smooth site access.
Protecting Daily Drivers
Pickup trucks and other utility vehicles are built to last, but you still want to do what you can to extend their life span. Driving to and from construction sites or utility worksites adds mileage to a vehicle, and when tough terrain is involved, it can also impact maintenance requirements. Although your vehicles may be designed for heavy-duty work, providing easier access when you can helps you save money.
Timber mats not only help limit wear and tear on vehicles, but they also help protect people and the loads they are transporting. Providing a smooth surface to get to and from the site helps prevent damage to materials and provides efficient access, so workers can focus on the task at hand—not on a challenging drive.
Protecting Heavy Equipment
Excavators, bulldozers, feller bunchers, graders, and other types of heavy equipment are significant investments. Timber mats provide a flat, stable surface that provides sufficient traction for them to maneuver safely. This helps improve safety at the site and prevents damage to equipment and materials.
Timber mats also help limit damage to the ground below, contributing to environmental compliance, reducing restoration costs, and protecting your brand reputation.
Providing Stable Platforms for Cranes
When a crane tips over, the results can be devastating. In addition to the obvious safety risks, a falling crane can damage nearby structures, other heavy equipment, and vegetation. A tipped crane may also sustain damage and have to be repaired or replaced.
Timber crane mats, which are often paired with outrigger mats, provide a stable surface to help prevent this type of catastrophe. By providing sufficient ground stabilization on uneven, soft, or even marshy terrain, timber mats help reduce the risk of a crane tipping over and create a safe environment for the operator and other workers.
Other Benefits of Timber Mats
When you incorporate timber mats into your construction or utility project, you’re not only protecting your valuable equipment, but you also get several other benefits:
Safety
Providing safe access and stable work surfaces to workers and project stakeholders is a top priority. Whether it’s getting to and from the site for daily work or periodic inspections, timber mats can help you traverse even the toughest terrain.
Efficiency
Time is money, and the less time it takes to access the site, the more cost-effective your project will be. Using timber mats to reduce drive times allows workers to spend more of their day on the tasks that matter most and not on getting to and from the site.
Environmental Protection
Whether you’re working in a wetland or on private property, the less impact you make, the better. Timber mats distribute the weight of heavy equipment to reduce the impact on the soil and vegetation below. This helps reduce restoration costs and makes it easier to leave a site in the same condition as when you arrived.
YAK ACCESS Timber Mats
When you work with YAK ACCESS, you get the benefit of expert guidance for choosing the right mat types for your project. We’ll help you customize a solution that meets all of your project needs, including environmental protection, safe access, and cost efficiency.
YAK ACCESS maintains a robust inventory of timber mats of all types, including our innovative TIMBERLITE mats that use a combination of hardwood and pine timbers to create a surface that is both durable and flexible.
Check out our Access Mat Guide for more details.
