The Product
A Mat Is Just Timber, Bolted Flat
A solid timber crane mat is a row of 12x12s laid edge to edge and fastened through with countersunk rod or bolts. A 12 inch mat four feet wide is four timbers. Five feet wide is five. That is the whole product.
Which means the thing that decides whether a mat is any good is the timber inside it, and specifically whether the supplier can get consistent large sections in long lengths without splicing. Most of the industry specifies No. 2 or better for new mats.
Our standard grade is No. 1 Structural, which sits above that specification rather than meeting it. We do not carry No. 2 in volume, so a mat order from us is No. 1 by default rather than as an upgrade.
Douglas Fir is the softwood of choice for this work for the same reason it is specified in bridge construction: a very high strength-to-weight ratio, published design values, and the ability to take repeated heavy point loading without failing suddenly.
Green Is Correct Here
Mats are a green timber product and always have been. Nobody kiln dries a 12x12, and a mat spends its life in mud and standing water regardless. Checking on the face of a mat is cosmetic. Read more on why large timbers are not kiln dried.
The Numbers
Timber in a Standard Mat
Common solid timber mat sizes, with the board footage and the timber cost at our standard rate. Weights are green, calculated from 42 lbs per cubic foot, which is what you will be craning and trucking.
| Mat Size | 12x12s | Board Feet | Green Weight | Timber at Standard | Mats to Volume Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12" x 4' x 16' | 4 | 768 | 2,688 lbs | $3,533 | 6 |
| 12" x 4' x 20' | 4 | 960 | 3,360 lbs | $4,416 | 5 |
| 12" x 4' x 24' | 4 | 1,152 | 4,032 lbs | $6,451 | 4 |
| 12" x 5' x 20' | 5 | 1,200 | 4,200 lbs | $5,520 | 4 |
| 12" x 5' x 24' | 5 | 1,440 | 5,040 lbs | $8,064 | 3 |
Timber only. Excludes fastening hardware, fabrication and freight. The final column is how many mats of that size it takes to reach the 4,000 board foot volume rate.
The Species Question
Douglas Fir or Hardwood
Mats come in both, and the choice is usually settled by where you are and what the mat has to survive rather than by which wood is better. We sell Douglas Fir, so weigh this accordingly.
Douglas Fir
Lighter for the strength it delivers, which matters when every mat is craned into position and trucked between sites. More mats per load, less rigging, lower freight across the life of the set.
Available in genuinely long lengths and consistent large sections, because that is what a West Coast mill cuts. A 24 ft mat out of unspliced 12x12 is routine here.
It is also the regional default. Buying fir in the Pacific Northwest means buying near the source instead of paying to move dense timber across the country.
Oak and Mixed Hardwood
Denser and more abrasion resistant, which earns it the roughest service: tracked equipment turning in place, repeated drag, sites where mats take sustained punishment rather than spreading a load.
The density is also the cost. Hardwood mats are considerably heavier, so fewer travel per truck and the handling equipment has to be sized for them.
Supply is concentrated in the East and South. On a West Coast project you are usually paying freight from a long way off before the first mat is laid.
Our honest read: for crane support, access and laydown on PNW and West Coast work, Douglas Fir is the sensible answer and the freight arithmetic alone usually decides it. If your mats are going to spend their life being chewed by tracked equipment on one brutal site, hardwood may well outlast them, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
Be Clear About Scope
We Sell the Timber. Talk to Us About the Rest.
What is certain is the wood: 12x12 Douglas Fir, No. 1 Structural, cut to your lengths and shipped. If you fabricate your own mats, or you have a shop that drills and rods them, that is the straightforward order and we can load a truck.
Fabricated mats, drilled and fastened with pick eyes fitted, are worth a conversation rather than an assumption. We do produce prepared packages through our build kits service, so ask and we will tell you plainly what we can and cannot do on your spec and timeline.
What we will not do is put a load rating on a mat. Capacity depends on the fastening, the support conditions and the ground underneath, none of which a mill controls. If your project requires rated matting, that rating comes from whoever engineers and fabricates the assembly.
Same Timber, Other Jobs
What Else Comes Off This Order
Contractors buying mat timber are usually buying several of these at once, and they come off the same sections.
Stacked blocking for shoring and temporary support. Short lengths, large sections, high volume.
Boards spanning between soldier piles in shoring walls. Cut to the pile spacing on site.
Pipe cradles, equipment skids and load spreaders. Usually 8x8 through 12x12.
Heavy decking for flatbeds and lowboys, where the load would punch through anything lighter.
Temporary support during a pour or a repair. The same sections we cut for bridge construction.
Shaft sets, guides and underground support, where Douglas Fir has a long history.