Floor protection against snowmobile?

[Chrisd]

I'm looking to put a floor in the garage that houses my snowmobile and I'm curious what would hold up well against a studded track and carbides from my snowmobile.

I have been looking at things like Herculiner, but I would really like something better looking like the RaceDeck.

 

[5wndwcpe]

Aluminum diamond plate.

 

[boiler7904]

Do you ride into the garage or set it on some sort of dollies when it's in the garage?

 

[Chrisd]

Do you ride into the garage or set it on some sort of dollies when it's in the garage?

I usually ride in and out and only use the dollies in the summer, I always have trouble getting the sled on the dollies after riding all day.... I think I'm getting old

 

[Franz©]

Plenty of used carpet laying beside roads on trash day this time of year, everybody seems to think the house has to look good when the relitives come by for Bah Humbugh.

Put a strip of carpet where the sled will run. If the slop dripping off the sled isn't suficient, wet the carpet down to minimize friction under the skis. Take off gently and you won't wind the carpet into a roll behind the sled.

 

[Chrisd]

Wouldn't the carbides grab the threads on the carpet and pull it up?

 

[SC-Eric]

I would recommend a double or tripple broadcast quartz flooring system or a liquid ceramic. I would want to see some pics of the current damage...

 

[Chrisd]

I would recommend a double or tripple broadcast quartz flooring system or a liquid ceramic. I would want to see some pics of the current damage...

Could you explain that in newbie terms because I have no idea what that means. There currently isn't any damage as the season is just starting.

 

[SC-Eric]

We protect industrial floors that take alot more abuse than what I think a snowmobile would do. We have a number of different solutions depending on how the damage is expected to happen. The Herculiner system is only a polyurethane type system (usually <70% solids) and is not near as durable as our 100% solids coatings. So, I at least know that if you compare apples for apples that our coating is going to last longer. BUT... different abuse requires a different kind of protection. Imagine the following scenario, you have to protect a concrete floor from a steel ball. So, you lay a 1/4" sheet of glass on the concrete. If the ball is not dropped on the concrete but is just held and scraped across it... a piece of glass would offer great protection. However, if you dropped the ball on the glass covering the concrete it would shatter it and damage the concrete. So, to get the best results, you have to consider how the flooring system is likely to be damaged and then optimize it to resist that type of damage.

While I'm not familiar with 'a studded track and carbides', I'm familiar with other types of track type vechicles. I'm envisioning that you could have problems from the tracks themselves plus the 'ski/skids' on the front. So, I'm thinking that if you want a decorative floor that will also protect the concrete from damage... the quartz floor is the way to go. So, I'm trying to guage if you really need to go to the extra expense of that... or not...

 

[Chrisd]

Thank You that helps alot, The underneath of my skis have carbides that protrude from the bottom of the ski so that would cause damage kind of like dragging the sharp end of a screwdriver across the floor.

The studs are more then 100 sharpened bolts sticking out of the bottom of my track, the studs are not in yet so I'm not sure of the exact damage they would make... but it can't be good.

 

[astondb9]

I've heard that U Coat it is good.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Plywood??? Or heavy rubber pickup bed liners
________
PSR-185

 

[SC-Eric]

Thank You that helps alot, The underneath of my skis have carbides that protrude from the bottom of the ski so that would cause damage kind of like dragging the sharp end of a screwdriver across the floor.

The studs are more then 100 sharpened bolts sticking out of the bottom of my track, the studs are not in yet so I'm not sure of the exact damage they would make... but it can't be good.

lol... I think you might be right about that... I'm not sure that a coating is the right thing for the job here. We DO have some coatings that would probably hold up to it but I think the cost and the application expertise would be prohibitive. (Unless you've put down 1/4" troweled mortar coatings before and money is not an issue)

I think in a case like this it might be better just to use something sacrificial like a sheet of rubber like 'dreamingmuscle' suggested. If you feel like you can handtrowel or powertrowel, we have a 1/4"-1/2" fused rubber coating (EnduraTred 1191) that is used to surface prison weight lifting pads. As you can imagine, inmates don't really take care of the concrete in the weight area. This system will take a 500# weight drop from 8 feet tall! It's not easy to apply... especially for inmates! But, if you know if anyone who has been incarcerated in a federal prison... well.. they might have experience.

We also have an interesting fused metal-silicone-ceramic that can be troweled on that we developed for plants that get alot of damage for sliding steel. This coating is the cat's meow... $$$

So, all of that said... I think that something sacrificial would be the way to go... I guess with racedeck you could always buy a bunch of extra tiles... it's going to be alot cheaper than a coating system that would actually work!

 

[boiler7904]

I usually ride in and out and only use the dollies in the summer, I always have trouble getting the sled on the dollies after riding all day.... I think I'm getting old

Riding in will literally tear off any topically applied coating within the first couple of trips in or out.

Would it make sense to have something like this if you want a coated floor? Bring it to the door, pick it up and wheel it onto a piece of plywood or something else laid down to protect the floor.

Another option would be to coat the floor and then get some old rubber conveyor belting and use it as a runner to ride in or out on. The belts I've seen are usually about 1/2" thick - if they can withstand heavy tracked construction equipment, your sled shouldn't be a problem.

The only other idea I have is to have the floor diamond polished. It's a multi step process that grinds the surface and does two things. 1. It removes the top cream from when the concrete cured which is fairly brittle and damage prone. It will actually grind through the aggregate in the concrete leaving an interesting surface. 2. By polishing the concrete, it actually hardens the surface making it less likely to be damaged by items like snowmobile tracks and skis.

You don't have to do all steps in the polishing process to get good results. I'd eliminate at least one step because the melting snow will make the floor very slick. The other downside is that it is expensive and time consuming to polish concrete.

 

[Chrisd]

Would it make sense to have something like this if you want a coated floor? Bring it to the door, pick it up and wheel it onto a piece of plywood or something else laid down to protect the floor.

That is actually the route I'm taking right now, I bought a big shop dolly like the one you posted above, that will give me time to do alot more research and talk to some snowmobile guys and see what they use (all the guys I ride with just use the tiny dollies most of the time).

Thanks for all the help

 

[Designated Dave]

When I bought my place the garage floor was already a mess so I didn't worry about it but even the studs will scratch the floor pretty bad..especially if you accidently spin the track. I have 1/8" deep grooves or scratches in one area where my buddy tried to ride my sled out of the garage. Like he said above take the sharp edge of a screw driver across the floor and thats what it would lok like.

 

[bpez317]

I have a snowmobile too. I put down plywood by the garage door and ride up and stop with the skiis on the wood. I then slide small wheel dollies under the skiis. I lift the back as I move farther into the garage then slide another dolly under the track. Works for me and I don't need to worry about damaging the floor.

 

[Hammerdown]

In my experience skis and carbide studs will wreak havoc on any floor coating or system. In the pole barn where the snow machines are kept there are nice grooves worn into the concrete where we ride in at. I then coated the floor with a combination of epoxy/high solids epoxy/urethane top coating, and it still wears the entry way much sooner than anywhere else. It scratches the coatings and wears them out, and I have had to re-coat this area. I try to get them on the dollies ASAP to protect the floor, but that depends on howe tired/lazy I am when coming in. If I have help I don't pull in and put it on dollies at the entryway. I would think that any floor coating or tiles that you put down will see excessive wear and tear from a snowmobile, and you should have an a notion that this area will not last as long as the rest of the floor and could experience damage or chipping. Expect to do more maintenance in these areas where the enter the garage.