Gorilla Plank ™ Floor Mat 3/8″

Description Gorilla Plank ™ Gorilla Plank ™is ideal for a Zone 1 or Zone 2 application.  In my 35 years of selling matting systems, there have always been matting applications that have presented problems.  These problems must be dealt with by the end user in particular.  With this in mind, we decided to develop a product to address many of these issues.  In a nutshell, Gorilla Plank ™ is designed to be used in extremely abusive environments.  Here are a couple of applications that have historically posed challenges.  You will see how Gorilla Plank ™ matting meets these challenges. Inside Revolving doors =ABUSIVE ENVIRONMENT Problems addressed: Sweeps of doors constantly moving tends to create excessive wear on carpet mats. Also, the Traffic pattern of people coming through the revolver results in concentrated wear patterns.  To make things more challenging in this type of application, Sand, Salt and Grit tracked in from outside collect on the matting and exacerbate the wearing out of most mats. The tread inserts of Gorilla Plank ™ are made of either a Tire Tile Buffed Rubber or a Rubber weight room type of product that will stand up to this nasty environment Mats with a “drop through” design like the Aluminum rollup mats, stainless steel or many Vinyl types of matting allow dirt to collect under the matting. End users will find it difficult to clean under the mats since they are inside revolvers.  As a result, build-up of debris accumulates.  This build-up of debris often results in damage to the metal mats since they are designed to rest upon a flat substrate.  If debris builds up, it can cause the actual matting system to be pushed upward to a point where the revolver can no longer turn easily and this furthermore causes increased wear to the sweeps (brushes) on the fins of the revolver. Gorilla Plank ™ do not have a drop through design.  The particulate stays on the surface of the matting, on the aluminum, but below the rubber treads so it is collected, but the design helps to keep the debris from getting tracked in further.  Sweeping or vacuuming to remove the debris is how Gorilla Plank ™ is maintained. Metal mats like the aluminum rollup mats, when cut in the shape of a circle for use inside or outside the revolver often results in dangerously sharp, pointy aluminum edges. This is dangerous, especially for pedestrians wearing open-toed shoes. The metal profile of Gorilla Plank ™ allows for a much easier cutting process.  The cutting of a circular shape does not result in the same pointy profiles that occur with other metal mats. Cutting templates for revolving doors with most types of matting systems must take into consideration installing the mats after they are cut. The fins of the revolver, and the center spindle or “hockey puck) prevent putting one solid mat into the space.  It must usually be installed in “pie shape” sections which can be problematic for installers that do not normally deal with these types of applications.With Gorilla Plank ™, one can assemble a square section of Gorilla Plank ™ 3” Wider than the circumference of the revolver, mark it with the overall shape of the space and cut each plank separately to achieve the desired shape.  For instance if the Diameter of the revolver space is 8’, we would use 8’ 3” planks.  The 8’ circle can be scribed on the surface of the assembled planks.  The spindle or hockey puck of the revolver can be measured with a caliper to get the appropriate dimensions.  This center cut out can also be scribed onto the center point of the circle.  The planks are now marked individually, and can be disassembled and each plank cut separately.  The click floor design of the Gorilla Plank ™ allows for the planks to be reassembled inside the revolver one plank at a time.  And, if any errors or bad cuts were made, a new plank, rather than an entire mat can be recut.     Supermarket applications Problems addressed: Supermarket entrances undergo a lot of rolled wheel traffic. From shopping cart buggies to pallet jacks and floor cleaning machines, the combination of heavy rolling loads can often result in damaged metal mats – especially from pallet jacks carrying heavy loads of water, sodas, etc. Gorilla Plank ™ is built to withstand very heavy loads – 2000 lb per wheel rolling load Drop Through matting designs can again pose maintenance issues as most end users do not know how to properly maintain the mats. As mentioned above, debris stays on the surface and cleaning methods common to Supermarkets can be applied. Aluminum mats with hinges like the 3/8” and ¾” mats can “compress” when the cart boys are returning carts to interior entrances. Usually the carts are stored to the left or the right of the entrance.  When 10-20 carts are rolled in and then dragged to the left or right to push to the sides of the entrance, this often causes the wheels of all the carts to grab the existing mat.  As they are dragged to reposition the line of carts, it often causes hinged mats to compress.  This results in a gap between the recessed mat and the edge of the recess.  Sometimes these gaps can be over ¾” and can pose high heel or trip hazards if the mat does not immediately expand back into place.Gorilla Plank has no hinges.  Each plank is approximately 4” long and locks in place to the next plank.  There is no possibility of gaps if the Gorilla Plank ™system is properly installed at the outset. The Carpet Tread inserts of standard aluminum matting tend to wear out quickly in this type of application. Some stores opt for an “all aluminum” serrated tread, or in the case of stainless matting, an all metal surface.  This can result in a slippery walk surface during inclement weather and the scraping action of the designs of all metal products is not great. Gorilla Plank ™ with the rubber tread inserts provides a very good friction coefficiency which helps to prevent slippery conditions.  The slightly raised rubber profile results in scraping action while also promoting a non-slip walk surface. While the Gorilla Plank ™ is extremely tough, damage can still occur. In the event that damage does occur to a few planks, there is no need to replace the entire matting system.  Individual planks can be ordered to size and shipped.  The damaged planks can be “unclicked” for removal and the new planks can be “clicked” back in place in a matter of minutes.  No downtime, no special tools, no special training to fix the problem. While we normally suggest a 10 lineal foot walk of design or more, present entrance configurations may not allow for this length. In the event that a decision is made to make the walk off area longer than originally installed, we can merely send additional planks that will fit into the existing system to meet the requirements of the new sizing.       Other applications that you may wish to consider using Gorilla Plank ™are any extremely high traffic and/or abusive scenarios like Airports, Convenience Stores, Warehouse entrances, Ramps, Entrances with odd configurations (cutting Gorilla Plank ™ is easy with a jigsaw, circular saw or portaband saw)       How to figure sizing Gorilla Planks ™ are manufactured in 18’3” wide lengths and can be cut down to the appropriate width upon request.  A large number of applications will require 6’ wide goods or close to 6’ widths.  For this reason, Gorilla Plank ™ will be cut down to minimize waste and increase turnaround times.  They will be readily available in 6’1” Wide x 4” planks. Regarding traffic lengths that do not have a length divisible by 4”, there will be a filler attached to the First and Last plank as one builds the floor.  Similar to the other aluminum mats, these two planks that will be outfitted with square edge filler.  That filler is 2” – the same as the #300 Filler.  One filler will be a slide on filler, the other filler will be a drill on filler with the filler glued to the underside of the plank. When measuring, one will need to convert the traffic LENGTH to inches.  Then subtract 12”.  Whatever amount is left, divide by 4 and round up (i.e., Opening size is 72” Wide x 71” Long, you will figure as follows:  71 – 12 = 59 divided by 4 = 14.75.  You will round up to 15 Planks 2 Filler Planks 72” wide. This will require trimming of filler of 1” to fit into the existing recess.  It is recommended that you trim ½” off the leading edge, start building the mat and trim the last plank down after the mat is assembled.  This way, if only 3/8” or a bit more needed to be trimmed, it can be done so without taking up the entire floor.).     Assembling the Gorilla Plank ™ System Take good measurements of the inside opening or Inside Frame Cut plank widths 3/16” less than opening size to allow for an approx.. 1/8” play. Cut major cuts with a chop saw or portaband saw.  Use a Jigsaw or grinder for areas that need to be cutout such as corner cuts or notches. Trim the filler off of the leading plank as needed – Remember to split the amount needed to be trimmed between the leading filler and the last plank with the following filler. It is recommended to use a metal straight edge and razor knife to cut the filler.  Scoring it and then repeating the cut until complete. Click the planks to assemble in the pit. When the last plank with filler is to be put in, “dry fit” it to verify how much of the filler will need to be trimmed. Using the straight edge and razor knife, make the final trim cut for the final plank and click it in place. Sweep up, take a picture and you are done.    Please submit the quote form above or call us at  (833) 428-0461.   PLEASE NOTE: Colors are computer generated and do not accurately match actual insert colors. Please refer to actual color samples.