[QUOTE=Beam Me Up;8445605]
Sure
Linear Rubber Products Inc.
5416-46th Street
Kenosha, WI 53144
1-800-558-4040
www.rubbermats.com[/QUOTE]
Thanks!
I can’t say enough about the Linear Rubber mats. I’ve done stalls and run ins with them. All of my areas were odd sized and the their custom cutting has always been right on. They are heavy, but you get them in place and they don’t move.
But, I would imagine shipping is huge, I’m very spoiled to close enough to pick them up.
Custom sizes are expensive mainly due to shipping.
The only efficient way to ship mats this thick is if they’re stacked flat. Semi-trailers are 8.5’ wide, and in most states, the width limit a legal load is 8’6" wide. Anything wider than that requires oversize/overweight trucking permits. Those require special trucking companies, permit fees, and sometimes even restrictions on time of travel.
You can buy a replacement head for your manure fork every 2 weeks, and still not come close to making up the cost difference that the specialized trucking would add to your mats.
I would stay away from the rolled rubber by the foot for stall usage, as it is typically much thinner than the traditional stall mats. Check with your local feed store, the one I work for regularly orders custom sizes and colors of mats for folks. We do have the benefit of working with a company that is fairly local to us, so we do benefit from reduced freight costs.
[QUOTE=js;8442827]
Have you considered the interlocking mats? I say this because in our first barn we put 6x12 mats down (2 per stall) and honestly they were impossible to move, it took everything we had to get them in stalls, once there, we have never moved them again, they are just too heavy. While seems are a pita, you will still have one long one; if anything gets under it you will never be able to lift the mats to get it out.
We ordered ours long ago so don’t remember but if you look at some of the places that sell them there may be some that do custom sizes but I would highly recommend rethinking it.[/QUOTE]
I move rubber mats with a couple of C-Clamps. Clamp down real tight and they make a nice handle. One or two on ether side depending on how many people are needed to move. The "handles make it MUCH easier to slid into place or pull out of the stall.
They come in various sizes:
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-industrial-c-clamp-62137.html
FWIW my linear rubber mats (the 6x12) came rolled up tightly. They came in a big box truck, that was not just mats (furniture, big boxes, etc).
The mats themselves were comparable in cost to using the 4’x6’ sold at Southern States or TSC, the shipping was almost $200 IIRC. (For 4 mats, each of which weighed >200 lbs to DC metro VA).
I think it depends on your stalls. When I had exactly 12x12 stalls with a concrete floor, the 4x6 never budged. Now that I have very slightly smaller, on bluestone, I spent hours trimming the old 4x6 and still they got kicked around very easily, horses ended up stepping in the base, etc., so it has been worth it for me.
I picked mine up at Rolex in Lexington from Linear Rubber. They had a booth there at the time; I don’t know if they do shows any longer; they used to the the Quarter Horse Congress in OH. The mats don’t move around. I use vise grips to move mine and while they are heavy, I rarely move mine. Just make sure you have a good level base under them; I used small angular limestone gravel, it has packed down like cement. I’ve had them a long, long time. I’ve had my horse 26 years and I remember putting them in her predecessor’s stall. So they ARE out of the 10 year warranty period.
[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;8446347]
Custom sizes are expensive mainly due to shipping.
The only efficient way to ship mats this thick is if they’re stacked flat. Semi-trailers are 8.5’ wide, and in most states, the width limit a legal load is 8’6" wide. Anything wider than that requires oversize/overweight trucking permits. Those require special trucking companies, permit fees, and sometimes even restrictions on time of travel.
You can buy a replacement head for your manure fork every 2 weeks, and still not come close to making up the cost difference that the specialized trucking would add to your mats.[/QUOTE]
Yes, but I don’t think the cost savings will be enough for my insane asylum stay from breaking all those forks :lol:
[QUOTE=gumtree;8446567]
I move rubber mats with a couple of C-Clamps. Clamp down real tight and they make a nice handle. One or two on ether side depending on how many people are needed to move. The "handles make it MUCH easier to slid into place or pull out of the stall.
They come in various sizes:
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-industrial-c-clamp-62137.html[/QUOTE]
Yes this is what I do too. It works so well!
[QUOTE=i<3dogs;8442964]
you will not be able to move mats of this size with ease. it will cause more problems than it is worth. i would try the interlocking ones in one stall and see how you like them before deciding which route to take[/QUOTE]
Try moving an interlocking 3/4" x 4’ x 6’ stall mat first. A 6x12 would be awful.
The aforementioned size, properly fitted to the stall, will not peel up. Thin cheap mats of course will.
Someone on this board recommended EVA mats which are a softer foam mat but it still quite thick. Has anyone tried a commercial gym type floor from a palce like greatmats.com?
We have the 8’ x 4’ 3/4" from Tractor Supply.
We move them with larger vicegrips and once put down, they don’t move.
On soft ground, not concrete, they will get stuff under the edge, especially the corners and those will curl up a bit and be a place to stumble over in the dark.
Maintenance will keep that from getting too bad.
Another enthusiastic vote for Linear Rubber. We have them in 50 stalls as well as barn aisles, all weird custom sizes. All mats were custom ordered and, although they needed some trimming to fit in the aisles, they absolutely stay in place.
The aisle mats have interlocking tabs so they stay in place and smooth- it’s almost like the aisles are carpeted with wall to wall rubber. That wouldn’t excite most people but it’s been awesome in the barns. And the horses pretty much can’t move them in their stalls.
With Linear Rubber, we are on the west coast and freight is awful, so I tried to make big orders at once (when I saved up money!) and then the freight split between all the mats was more reasonable. The trucking firm said we needed a forklift to unload the, but our tractor/loader worked dandy.
You can move them with C clamps, and there are also these mat movers which have been worth it for us since we have a larger facility and still use them from time to time when we strip out a stall if bedding has crept under the mat edges and we need to lift them, let things air out, and remove the bedding:
https://hobbyhorseinc.com/mat-mover-saver
It is not fun to install the mats but you really only have to deal with it once. If mats need to be trimmed, get a very sharp utility knife and a box of expensive good blades and have at it. We tried a bunch of different things: jigsaw, sawmill, etc. and ultimately, the low-tech utility knife with better blades was the best. Cut the mats carefully to exactly nudge up to walls to reduce bedding getting under them.
Those mats will probably outlast me. It was a splurge each time we did a barn, but they still look like new, many of them almost 10 years old, and have saved so much labor keeping the barn and stalls level and cleaner. Not the same as using a bunch of smaller mats- the trick for us was Linear Rubber custom mats.
Found this posted by Winter: After being in multiple barns with the matress systems I decided against them for my barn. I really didn’t think the uneven, lumpy surface was helping the horses at all. I also didn’t like that the topsheet was attached to the stall walls.
I bought several rolls of the matress topsheet from the manufacturer and used it on my stall walls.
For the floors, I went with extra thick EVA mats and couldn’t be happier. The horses are very comfortable on them with less bedding that a conventional mat. They hold up very well and do not smell. They are also very light and easy to install.
Mine are over concrete.
http://www.equimats.com/
Actually it is easier to move the gigantic mats than the 4x6 mats. The reason is with the gigantic mat you can foll into half and you just grab the fold and drag it. 4x6 mats are difficult to move because it can’t fold up and you are forced to use your fingers at the corners. I never had to move my gigantic mats though. Durng the initial installation, once I got one corner lined up, I just roll it out, and then walk on it. If you need to move it to butt up against a wall, you create fold from the other end, and again walk on it.
[QUOTE=FreshAir;8447107]
Someone on this board recommended EVA mats which are a softer foam mat but it still quite thick. Has anyone tried a commercial gym type floor from a palce like greatmats.com?[/QUOTE]
We have a stall done in EVA interlocking. THey’re wonderful to install and probably great for travel use, but I don’t particularly like them in the barn because they can be torn easily. Make sure when you fit the EVA’s in to leave at least 1/2" gap all around for expansion unless it’s already a hot day.
