chip box, steel or aluminum?

[Husabud]

I need to thank Brendon as well as my project should be off the ground in the next couple weeks. I am thinking Starboard inside though, as it is a marine application plastic sheet very similar to the Farmtek. I just got a quote for$110 a sheet for 60"x96"x3/8" perfect for what I need.

 

[treesandsurf]

what thickness was the board? the polymax 4x8 and 1/4" thick came in at 36lbs.

jp

 

[treesandsurf]

Just put an order in, for 8 sheets of 4x8 by 1/4" thick to hawaii was about 900 after shipping. Would have dropped about twice that for the aluminum sheeting.

jp

 

[brendonv]

I wouldn't go crazy with the thickness, personally. I would probably run the thinnest, thinking about how well my 1/8" aluminum held up.

 

[brendonv]

Your just going to use the polymax? I was talking about supplementing the aluminum with the pmax. You'll probably have to add a bunch more vertical supports on your box so it doesn't bust out.

Or be thrifty and maintain the bling and do ali on the sides and pmax the rest.

 

[treesandsurf]

I was going to throw it up and then see where it needs re-inforcing.

jp

 

[Husabud]

Just checked, good point Brendon, the Starboard is 70 lbs for 5'x8'3/8" and 20 lbs for 1/8" . I think I'll just line the box with the thinner.

 

[Tucker943]

Use the thinnest poly that you can. The poly I have doesn't get worn away at by the various digging and frictions in the chip body

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Stuff does add weight... but tough as nails from my agricultural exposure to it.

 

[treesandsurf]

This project took a lot longer than expected. Again, we used 1.5X1.5X1/8" steel tubing for the frame and 1/4" polycarbonate sheeting for the walls.

jp

 

[brendonv]

Very cool. How do you suspect the poly will hold up?

 

[sotc]

Looks nice Jon, let us know how she stands the test of time

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Really nice job Jon. I too am curious to see how the poly holds up.

 

[treesandsurf]

Yeah me too, I was a little worried when it came in rolled up sheets thought maybe it was too flexible. It actually felt pretty good when we riveted it all down. I'll post some photos some time down the road to see how she does. The poly was close to the same cost for a 3/4" sheet of ply so it could be a great substitute if it holds up well.

jp

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'd plywood the insides. Beautiful truck!

 

[Burnham]

I've got next to no experience with a chip truck, so bear with me here...why the cut down rear section w/o top?

 

[MasterBlaster]

To make loading logs with a crane/whatever easier.

 

[Burnham]

Ahhh...

 

[sotc]

Or any other material. My first chip truck I made a flip top at the back, gave me 8' of loadable space for chip, bark, gravel etc. 4' before a support but that was enough for loading most wood

 

[Reddog]

The issue with the poly will be in areas that see large temperature fluctuations. The stuff shrinks a lot in the cold, so if you put it in while warm when cold it will shrink and pull the fasteners out. If you put it while cold, when hot it will look all buckled. Also some grades can be quite brittle in -F temps.
Should work well in HI.

 

[NickfromWI]

I am having a heck of a time finding a welder in LA. Every truck body place I go to tells me "aluminum is too expensive and not strong enough." After a little probing, I learn that though they may advertise aluminum welding on their website, they have little to no experiencing doing a project like this. So what I think they are saying is, "I'm scared. Can we just stick to steel? That's what I'm used to."

Pain in the butt!

 

[sotc]

Try boat builders.

 

[treesandsurf]

I ran into the same problem here Nick. Aluminum welding takes different/more expensive equipment and isn't nearly as common as steel from what I've found. We ended up using steel as the guy who was helping had all the right equipment and I figured I saved big time in weight using the polycarbonate sheeting instead of a metal sheeting. Also, we've chipped into the box numerous times with the new chipper and absolutely no sign of wear or damage to the sheeting yet. Of course it's early but that's a good sign!

jp

 

[NickfromWI]

Try boat builders.

Good advice. We got plenty of those around here.

I ran into the same problem here Nick. ...We ended up using steel...

You caved to the pressure! I shall persevere. I might have to one-up ya and do an aluminum frame with plastic walls!!!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Maybe these guys could refer you to some one local or...
http://www.800toolbox.com/contact_us/contact_us.htm