advice and opnions needed please

[Ian Clarke]

hello all ive recently bought my first tipper and have decided not to go for metal mainly for cost reasons and the van needs to earn money first. so im doing it out of wood

 

ive come up with a design i like the look of after trawlng through almost all of the arb trucks on the sticky thread on the forum.

 

so the people who have done it what were the pitfalls and did you find a design that failed/worked brillaintely.

 

i am planing on using structual plywood treated with a wood preserver and then painted to match in with a logo i am having designed as i am typing this.

 

I have a ldv convoy crew cab for reference. and i have also read the weights and measures thread.

 

anyother suggestions of reading material or anything else im open to suggestions.

 

thank you in advance

Ian C

[TREE-SURGEON-ESSEX]

Personally mate i think your better off with box and angle iron, probs cost similar to wood easy to weld strong will last. check my facebook page on my signature to see the truck took no more than 2 hours to do

[Andy Collins]

I read somewhere that for the area you're talking of, wet ply weighs heavier than steel of the same size. This will reduce the amount you can legally carry on board, and as mentioned elsewhere on the forum, VOSA are clamping down on trucks , so beware, it may be a false economy. Ally sides would be ideal, look nicer for longer, and slightly increase the amount you can remove from site.

[Ian Clarke]

hi guys i had planned to waterprof and paint the boards so they shouldnt get heavy.

 

and to tree surgeon essex how much did the materials cost you for your van i like the design and was going to do something similar

 

so am curious also how do you get on with the chipper you have as i am contemplating getting one in the future*long term future

[treedweller]

I put a chipbox on my l200 made out of box section and galve sheet for £100 including chip catcher. Get handy with the welder and angle grinder

[Hodge]

I understand you may be on a limited budget but you would be better off in the long run going for ally, you will save weight and you won't have to re build it down the line and it won't look too *****.

 

 

Sent from Outerspace.

[chrisgilltreesurgery]

You can but box section steal for not too much money at all, buy some ally sheets and rivet them on, job done and only for a couple of hundred quid.

Trust me do not use ply - it will rot and will need replacing in no time, do the job properly once, thats my advice

Chris

[JamesNI]

As above really, wood will be a false economy, temporarily fire two old sheets in up the sides, it'll still be better than mashing!

Did my van with box section and galvanised tin, 0.4mm from memory. Hundred and a half for materials, and as said some welding. I used self drillers, (tech screws) to hold the tin on, rivets always come loose but look much nicer.