This seriously impacts my decision-making process. Well wool holds 40% its weight in water, so that makes sense. Very interesting Pippa. First layer of rock should be 40mm crushed rock, with no fines in it. Luckily it rains so much here that the dust quickly disappeared, but in a drier climate it could certainly be a health hazard. I have been on two rental properties and each time didnt think it was worth doing the geotextile, but even if you only stay 2 years, its worth it. So you could probably get away with less for each layer and maybe dont even need the 3 rock. Ive been researching every option, trying to come up with the best (and economical) course of action, so I apreciate your in depth article. If you let any organic matter build up, it will break down into soil/mush which will defeat the whole purpose, as your horses will now be standing on a wet surface. Also can you find any forums or message boards where people have experimented with both? And what you used. Yes three walls and an open stall doors to the outside. You might also want to look into the Paddock Paradise, or, Walking Track system. MSU, Inc. 1,100 lb. Because the 4 of gravel that was on top, has either been moved around by punchy horse hooves, or been thrown out along with manure that breaks down into tiny particle sizes. It permanently stains anything it comes in contact with (shoes, clothing, white horse feathers). how essential is the geotextile if you have scraped down a few feet? Its working out perfectly. The other stuff is too loose and just moves out of the way like pea gravel. Should I let my horses have one season of muddy feet and wait till summer to do the work? This dust forms a cement-like bond when compacted. In muddy areas, perhaps you would even start with 2-4 quarry spalls (basically what you refer to as a 3 clean rock; clean means doesnt have fines). Since I am not a millionaire, and Im weighing in on what direction to go, the gravel layers actually seems pretty affordable with less maintenance. I would put drains (herring bone or french) if I did it again just to avoid water logs. 3/4 in. You can order bulk limestone in Virginia today! Nevertheless, if its working well for you, then its always good to have options . It makes total sense though that it would be slippery when wet/freezing. Et voila! Because this is the most informative article Ive read I was curious what you would recommend under stall mats. since there is no way I will ever have a covid vaccine , This is an amazingly helpful article! Are wood chips the same thing that we call hog fuel or bark mulch here?? Thanks for all the valuable info. The trench feeding the dry well from the gutter downspout should be 11 feet deep and six inches wide, sloping gradually toward the dry well. He was stunned by the county thinking gravel is non permeable and says they are dead wrong. French Drain Basics 1.5 inches equals .125 feet It certainly looks ideal for walking paths, Ill be interested to hear how it stands up to your horses hooves. And unfortunately, I have to report that my experience has been similar. You should dig the hole 4 feet deep and just as wide. Have you ever read about this? THANK YOU!!! muddy , trail users frequently walk to the outside. If theyre coming end of April, youre well over the worst of it. . Then I will hire a bunch of teenagers to remove all the manure from this sacrifice field thereby removing all bots, eggs, parasites etc. Crushed stone trails provide a user-friendly, all-season surface for all types and ages of visitors, including strollers, wheelchairs, and road bikes. The solution is often not to remove them, but to heed their message and increase the health of your soil. It is mainly used in applications by bodies of water, which is why you commonly see it along streams, rivers and similar locations. Ill report back! I started with the crusher fines, but have not been happy with the pee spots, so Ill go back and do the pea gravel, or maybe put some sand down in the pee hole, then the next 2 layers? Either that or you need to lay the plastic drainage mats but thats even more expensive. Our horses stay in the barn overnight in winter and are out during the day, and this is reversed in summer so the horses graze when its cooler at night. Now, keep in mind that Dr. Swinkers advice is not tailored for a heavy rainfall area. Mix the Soil-Cement. I would still do the Nilex barrier cloth as the bottom layer though, and clear down to hardpan. I tend to scrape old chips off at end of summer because with wind and sun a lot naturally disappear. Its holding up well though and perhaps they will only need to re-do it every 3-5 years now; since theres such a good base on it now. The product is commonly used as erosion control, as a heavy drainage material, as a stabilizer or for landscaping. We have used it both inside the barn and outside. This concentrates it where the horses will actually be standing/walking. Ok so Ive spent some time thinking about this, but I dont think youre gonna like my answer! Remember, he uses 5-6 inches of 3 rock on top of the Nilex geotextile, then 5-6 inches of 3/4 minus gravel on top of that. How thick does each layer need to be? Base Products: 226,835,102 Total Tons Sold TCS # 166 1 1/2 Base View Spec Sheet. When choosing gravel, pea gravel, or limestone gravel, most experts say you should get crushed rock particles no larger than 3/4-inch, or they are not comfortable for the horses to stand on. Scraped out dirt, put in drain, geotextile, big rocks, then 57s, then screenings. RECYCLED ASPHALT. It doesnt matter how much they churn it up now, by end of June you wont notice a thing is amiss! I usually have my gravel delivered 2-3 days before the Bobcat/tractor guy arrives as my horses love playing on the gravel piles! Thank-you! Your site is so inspiring and YOU are so generous! A couple of extra tips; The discussion seems to be wide ranging and I would appreciate your thoughts. It seems there is nothing harder for wear-and-tear on gravel than horses hooves! One way to fix mud holes in the driveway is by filling it with small, crushed stone. Particle uniformity refers to the mix of particle sizes within the blend. Place crushed gravel on top of that, running the . Paul. Grades of limestone aggregate include: 2- to 3-inch Limestone - primarily a construction grade of Limestone. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I wonder if he was eating the crusher seeking to address a mineral deficiency You can just offer the plain (unflavored, no molasses) basic Hoffmans Minerals in a feeder/bucket in a covered area and let them help themselves. But outdoors slightly more tricky over time as wet climate works on absorbancy of chip too besides the urine. If you have loose or sandy soil, you'll need a base layer. Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the mineral calcite. Heres my French Drain post if you need it: Let us know what you decide and how it goes! Will last a lot longer. If you live in a place that only occasionally gets wet/floods, then you may be able to skip this step. Outside is not so good; it gets slippery when wet and is even worse when it freezes so this year I have put some gravel/sand mix on top of the chalk in some areas and so far that is performing better. 3 inches equals .25 feet Paulo from Winnipeg Drywall and Stucco in Winnipeg. When it gets real cold and freezes up, its nothing but thousands of frozen footprints that they can hardly walk on. e.g. Thx, Kimberly, Hi Kimberly see points #4,5,6 in the first section: Create a Dry Paddock in even the Rainiest Climate. Well, keep me posted if you can and let me know what happens! Crushed Gravel Cost. However, on the flip side of that argument, here's what a Farrier has to say about why she prefers crusher dust: "As a farrier, my favourite footing in this area is crusher dust. BUT your depth must also be in feet, not inches. Course you could always do gravel this year whatever packs down solid the best (in my region thats barrier cloth, followed by 3 rock, then 3/4 minus gravel followed by 1/4 crusher dust) and see how it goes with the mats on top of that. We rented the compactor from United Rentals, it is a seperate machine, but we did use a tractor to lift it off of the trailer that we brought it home with, it was heavy! 4 inch Dig 2 inches of lime stone compacted. Perhaps in smaller, high traffic areas concrete is the cheapest long term solution! It is the clay that especially packs down so hard the water will not drain through well and just runs off the surface. If you dont have the budget to hire a tractor to remove 6-12 inches of soil, what is a cheaper alternative that might still work, if youre in an area with only occasional rain or flooding? For a 2040 metre area I would put 20 cubic metres. If you have all your rock and gravel delivered and on-site, a guy with an excavator (to scrape down to hard pan) and a Bobcat (to spread the rock and gravel) can get all 6 steps done in a day. Crusher dust is gravel that has been crushed to the size of 1/4 or less. Ive heard gravel and have been avoiding it, but I am now considering it from your article/blog. However, I cant imagine anyone giving away fleece for free around here! Wouldnt have cost much extra, but would have greatly extended the life of the gravel I ordered. If you live in a climate that only gets occasional rain, or a short rainy season, then you may be able to just lay either a commercial-grade shielding fabric or a specialized plastic draingrid on top of the hard pan soil, then layer 2-4 inches of 3/4 inch minus pea gravel and top that with a 2-inch layer of 1/4 inch minus limestone gravel, or crusher dust. I would love to turn one of my higher ground areas into a huge covered area with drainage footing and then 8 inches of sand on top just for them to use to lie down Maybe someday. Your plants also draw nutrients from their surroundings, especially the soil, that help them to flourish. Okay, now that you know what to do Im going to tell you about all the options available and what other people say. But by April, the area around the slow feeders was wet and mucky. A muddy backyard in a small property can be solved with ease by covering the mud with concrete. Can anyone comment on the use and longevity of products like Lighthoof? I also found it really helpful to install a French Drain in my current paddock to help funnel the water off/away from the paddock and this made a huge difference in the effectiveness of my paddock surface. When you say horse rooms Im assuming you mean stalls or stables? Right now we have geo textile underlaymen, 5 1 1/4 gravel and 5 5/8 gravel. Where I will leave them for the entire summer and winter, let them trash it, etc. Limestone helps keep the soil pH higher. Its uses include: On Bike Paths. Angular crushed rock is what we recommend for use with Lighthoof mud management panels. My 2 boys dont poop in their 24 x 36 paddock area so I cant comment on how much base I lose to a manure fork. She said most of the time you can find sheep herdsmen to give you the fleece for free. Typically, a gravel driveway will cost about $1.25 to $1.80 per square foot, taking into consideration that the driveway is . 2. So, how do you fix and dry up a wet yard? And repeat, ongoing. The next winter, you will need to add another 4-6 inches of 3/4-inch minus gravel. When I showed it to my friend Mitchell, he said the two problems with what I did were (a) I did not use industrial-grade geotextile, and (b) I did not put enough rock and gravel on top of the cloth. What is Gravel? I was interested to see if it would work, as a woman had written in (who also lives in this Pacific Northwest climate) to tell me that its never worked for her horses. NOTICE I ended up calling a guy with a tractor anyway! Absolute BEST Barn Design for Horses or Cows Cold or Heat! Keep us posted! If I had known I would need him, I would have had him spend 30-60 minutes removing that topsoil/grass layer first, before spreading the gravel. Just wondering about freezing. If the supplier charges by the yard, then the costs can be about $27 . What?? It is still porous so urine soaks through reducing the need for bedding removal. Upload attachment(Allowed file types: jpg, gif, png, pdf, doc, docx, maximum file size: 8MB. Then I thought: What if they get a thrush infection and I need to keep them completely off mud I wont be able to do that without cross-fencing the paddock! Btw, nope, he doesnt know anything thats not already in this article. I also dont worry about having my horses loose when the machinery is here. Clear stone is sometimes known as drainage stone. Using pea gravel as a base for your hot tub has some distinct advantages.. Place 4 inches of medium-grade construction gravel on top of the landscape cloth, . I havent tried draingrids or mudgrids myself, so I cant comment on them. And I would think youd want to use sharper-edged gravel (not smooth) so it can bite into the limestone and hold I discovered this by adding a load of smooth gravel on top of my crusher dust (1/4 gravel) to see what would happen, and it just slid around and was useless. Do you have any pics you can upload? Live and learn! But that is the law. Crushed stone is also less likely to get kicked out into the yard. This has been SO HELPFUL!!!!! Signup for our newsletter to get notified about our next ride. We put down road base then put pea gravel on top. Fortunately, some remedies are transitory, while others are long-term. and has a variety of uses including as back fill and ground cover in landscaping. Dont worry about timing everything to occur on the same day. Your email address will not be published. . When hes building horse trails, he puts down the Nilex geotextile, then 5-6 inches of 3 rock, then 6 inches of road base (3/4 minus). Because it packs down fairly solid, it doesnt have the big pointy bits that are inclined to puncture and lead to abscesses. Please let us know how it goes for you. The cost per yard can start at $30 and go up to $45. And that should be no problem for their hooves either its such a short time. Find Your Local Distributor Pennsylvania GROWMARK F.S. It wouldnt be the most interesting thing Ive ever written, but it might be useful. All Rights Reserved. This guide introduced you to just some of the aggregates we have available. I read it for research in preparation to write a blog post about a horse farm that uses 1/4 minus for their horse arena and event venue. This size rock resembles lemons or grapefruits and provides a firm base for the driveway. yd.) will disappear and every year youll be laying new gravel. If you have hard ground underneath, you may be able to get away with 2-3 layers of gravel: Bottom: Large roadbase (3 minus) If your horses are restricted to a small area, they may then start pulling on the cloth to play with it. Meditation Claim Your Reality in this Crazy World, When your Horse says No Perhaps the Process IS the Point, How to Manifest the Land of Your Dreams Part 4.