GRP panels or Aliuminum

[treefrog]

I am thinking of redoing my chipbox on my 110. Its currently one made out of steal(bought the whole thing off e bay including pump and ram etc) but is quite tall and heavy. I want to make sure that I can make the most of it capacity so want to make it lighter. I have 2 options as I see it go for GRP and Ali frame or out of 100% ali. The tipping frame, base and subframe will remain steal for strength.

What apart from the cost will the pro and cons of either.

[Steve Bullman]

one of the companies i climb for has grp.....holds up very well indeed and looks very smart. the biggest pro that i see with grp is that it can it can be repaired(patched up) i believe.....whereas ali you'd be looking at replacing whole panels/sheets. sure someone will correct me if im wrong.

[Dean Lofthouse]

I'm still contemplating this

 

For what its worth theres very little difference weight wise between 5/6 mm plate ali and GRP @ 14mm

 

If I were to build one out of ali it would have to be out of plate and a self supporting box with no frame, so would have to be good at ali welding and some bending would be needed

 

The welder needed for welding ali is dear

[stihllearning]

hi guys, whats GRP???

[Dean Lofthouse]

hi guys, whats GRP???

 

That white panelling that wagon box bodies are made of

[J The Tree]

I'm still contemplating this

 

For what its worth theres very little difference weight wise between 5/6 mm plate ali and GRP @ 14mm

 

If I were to build one out of ali it would have to be out of plate and a self supporting box with no frame, so would have to be good at ali welding and some bending would be needed

 

The welder needed for welding ali is dear

 

Dean, why use 14mm?, all the truck, lorry bodies we build i use 11mm, my original 7.5 tonner is still going after 10 years.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Dean, why use 14mm?, all the truck, lorry bodies we build i use 11mm, my original 7.5 tonner is still going after 10 years.

 

No reason really J.

 

I just presumed 11mm wouldn't be strong enough, have you added stiffeners ?

 

If you can use 11mm GRP then ali will be a good bit heavier

[bob]

we have that reinforced polycarbonate sheet and ali

same as bus stops

lighter than ali

so the bodybuilders told us anyhow

[redmoosefaction]

I had a ali sheet box built with 6mm ply lining.. 18 mm where the chips hit. Will whack a couple of photies on soon if you want to see.

[J The Tree]

No reason really J.

 

I just presumed 11mm wouldn't be strong enough, have you added stiffeners ?

 

If you can use 11mm GRP then ali will be a good bit heavier

 

No need to add stiffeners mate, we have gone to 6`6" high by 14`6" with no problems at all, even to the extent of loading large lumps of timber over the top of the sides with a telehandler and dropping them into the back, as you may guess, they bang against the sides, the grp does flex a bit, but no lasting damage - much lighter than 14mm and if you use the ali finnishing panels the end result is a strong, light and long lasting chip box.