Should I Buy or Hire Bog Mats for my next project?

by | 5 May, 2017 | Information

Should I Buy or Hire Bog Mats for my next project?

New to bogmats and wondering whether to invest? Been using timber mats for some time, hiring every time you need them? In this blog we look at the pros and cons of buying vs. hiring timber mats, to help you make the right choice.

As the leading wholesale supplier of bogmats in the UK, one of the questions we regularly discuss with our customers is whether buying bogmats or hiring offers the best value for money. It’s probably something you are considering too, if you are embarking on your first project which requires bogmats to create a stable platform or temporary roadway for heavy equipment or vehicles. As ever, with these questions there is no straightforward answer and much will depend on the kind of operation you are involved with, and the projects you work on.

Buying Bogmats – what you need to know

As with any specialist equipment, buying timber mats for use on all your projects represents a longer term solution than hiring mats either for a period of time or for a specific project. If you have a regular requirement for bogmats, crane mats or other temporary ground protection, you will find that the cost of hiring mats soon accumulates to the point where you will spend more on the hire costs than you would have done to buy them outright.

Provided you have adequate storage facilities to accommodate your timber mats when they are not in use, buying mats represents significant value for money. You also eliminate the uncertainty that might arise should the company you are hiring from fall into difficulties.

Hiring Bogmats – what you need to know

If you only need timber mats for a one off project, or it would be difficult to store mats that you have purchased, hiring may be the right option for your business.

Hiring helps spread the cost of the timber mats you need for your project. If you are working nationally, you may be able to agree a contract that covers your UK-wide timber mat needs at a standardised price, removing regional fluctuations and uncertainty. This is an option for some of our bigger clients with operations across the UK

If you aren’t sure about making the investment of buying timber mats straight away, hiring what you need is a good way of testing out and appreciating what having your own ‘in house’ stock could do for your business, without the initial commitment.

Check for ‘buy back’ options

If you can’t decide whether to buy or hire bogmats, then choose a company that offers a ‘buy back’ service. The principle is simple: you buy the bogmats you need for your project, and when you are finished with them, you sell them back to the company who sold them to you in the first place. A ‘buy back’ option offers the best of the both worlds, It’s an advantage to have a fixed price, with the certainty that if the project overruns and you need the bogmats for longer than initially anticipated, there will be no additional costs linked to hiring the mats for longer. If you are moving on to a new project which also requires the use of timber mats, you have them available. If you have no further use for bogmats, you sell them back, meaning no need to either find storage space, and no hassle finding a buyer.

Here at GJ Bogmats we are pleased to discuss whether buying or hiring our bogmats would offer your business better value for money. We also offer a bogmat buy back service, which gives you the certainty and peace of mind that comes with buying bogmats, with the security of being able to sell them back to us at the end of your project. With stocks of timber mats suitable for a wide variety of applications in stock, we are strategically placed to be able to supply your needs at very short notice (even immediately) should it be needed. Call our team today on 0800 774 7751 and find out what will work best for you!

 

Protecting Coastal Areas with Timber Bogmats

by | 16 May, 2016 | Construction industry, Information

Timber Mats Serving A New Purpose

We thought about calling this post “Bogmats at the Beach” but that would imply an element of rest and relaxation. In fact, our timber mats, and the CSCS accredited team that lays them, work extremely hard in coastal areas, estuaries, coastal marshes and the like, protecting habitats and allowing heavy machinery access to hard to reach areas.

Timber mats to protect

Coastal habitats are vitally important to local and global ecosystems. They offer a safe haven for wildlife and plants that aren’t found elsewhere. With storms and erratic weather patterns becoming increasingly common, our coastlines are being battered, and there has been much investment in building (and re-building) sea defences to protect against the battering of the sea. While coastal landscapes might recover from the batterings delivered by Mother Nature, the impact of heavy machinery needed to carry out this vital construction work can be more serious.

Timber mats for access

Providing access to areas that need work on coastal defences – be it groynes that need constructing, revetments to absorb the force of the incoming water, seawalls or dikes – is a critical aspect of this essential work. Sea defences are often required in areas of soft ground, yet the machinery needed to carry out the work is often heavy and difficult to manoeuvre. Timber mats are a vital part of the kit involved in this work, forming temporary roadways to allow heavy machinery to access these areas.

Massive mats for massive machines

Timber mats can also be essential for supporting heavy equipment such as dredgers when working in coastal regions or on the banks of rivers. We’ve recently supplied bespoke timber mats in huge format (we’re talking 10m by 1200 mm by 300 mm) to a prestigious manufacturer of dredging and other subsea equipment. Massive mats for massive machines. The last thing you want is to get stuck in the sand or mud…

If you’re involved in carrying out work on coastal defences – and we predict that this work is only going to increase over time as the impact of the changing climate continues to manifest itself in violent storms and flooding – the chances are you are going to need timber mats. Mats for access and to protect the ecosystems that thrive in these isolated areas. Not only do we stock an extensive range of timber mats specially engineered for use in coastal areas, we can manufacture bespoke mats for your particular circumstances.

Get in touch to see how we can help you and your project!