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Other manufacturers build serious deficiencies into their floats that do affect how long the float stays roadworthy and is safe for your horses. Some areas of concern for consumers of these products have been addressed by us and are listed below. Rusted Metal: All of our float chassis' are constructed from "Duragal" angle (65x65x5mm) and not from square or rectangular box section. The reason we use angle and not square box section is that angle cannot hold any liquid inside and cause rust to form. It is common practice amongst a lot of other manufacturers to use box section for the chassis, then simply lay plywood on top (for the flooring) and attach with "Tek" screws through into the box section, then lay rubber mats over the top. The inherent problem that this system produces is that over time moisture, liquid (especially corrosive urine) works its way under the mats, down the "Tek" screws and end up inside the sealed box section causing it to rust from the inside out. Unfortunately you cant see the box sections from the inside, so you don't know to what extent the damage is, usually until it is too late and the floor has given way. We do how ever use "Duragal" box section for the upper framing of the float, and where the uprights meet the angle chassis, drain holes are drilled through to allow any moisture to escape, preventing rusting. The sheet metal we use is all 1.5mm Galvanised finish, which compared to some other manufacturers products is almost double the thickness and protected from corrosion with the galvanised coating. Compare pushing the front of our floats and the sheet metal will not deform like some others. The floats strength is achieved by using decent thickness sheet metal that is welded onto the frame, and not riveted like so many others. Prior to fitting the sheet metal to the frame, a bead of polyurethane sealer is applied to the frame, which provides an insulating bed between the two, helping to prevent rust from forming in between. After all the sheet metal is fitted and the floats metal fabrication is completed, all the seams are sealed and coved with polyurethane sealer, including bonding the fibre glass roof onto the roof frames. This completely prevents water etc. from getting between the frame and the sheet metal and causing rust. Flooring: All the floors in our floats are 2.5mm galvanised sheet metal stitch welded to the chassis beams. This is coated from the under side with a "Tar" based body deadener to again prevent rusting. The top of the sheet metal is protected by our exclusive "Moulded Rubber Floor", applied by ourselves in-house. |
