| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| debsnboz |
Posted - 13 Nov 2011 : 4:48:04 PM
Advice wanted guys - our 1st winter at our lovely field. I have a 20x10 'mobile' field shelter with a gate in the middle - essential 2 stables.
We put rubber mats onto the grass in the summer and inside the stables you would not know they are onto the soil.
BUT outside the doors is another matter!
I have my slope of a field divided into 2 to prevent ridiculous speed building up running up and down.And to spred the load form the wear and tear point of view. Also they use the top during the day, and have up to now been coming down to the bottom half at night, nets and feed in stables but door open still so they can go out when they are done etc.
The field slopes away from the stables uphill, and the land the stable is on clay. Everywhere else in the whole field is pretty good, but the approach the the stables is slipperier than an ice rink. I scraped away the top sludge last weekend and dumped it, but of course they have made more!
I know i should have dug it out in the summer but there always seemed to be other things to spend money on - these kids and their growing feet - shocking!
I am hoping someone is bringing me some crush tomorrow. Am i wasting my money putting it down on top of the clay - even if i scrape away the sludge again? I have some old carpet i could put underneath? And i am going to try and dig a diagonal trench infront of the stable to direct anay water away from the doors - if i can with a 4yo daughter in tow!!!
I need a real mini-digger.......... |
| 17 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Callisto |
Posted - 15 Nov 2011 : 5:19:30 PM
 well donechildren can be really usefull if properly trained 
When I was 15 and my sister was 12 (along with my Mother) we hand dug the foundations for our 3 stables and stable yard (clay, sandstone and treeroots)....so you are starting right  |
| sab2 |
Posted - 15 Nov 2011 : 5:17:21 PM
 round of applause for your effort, hope it works for you |
| debsnboz |
Posted - 15 Nov 2011 : 5:12:10 PM
Well guys, armed with my trusty children (well the 4yo sat in the car watching a dvd!) we have dug a small ditch-let across the front of the shelter curving off around the corner, levelled the rest the best we can and removed the sludge. THen laid the old carpet i had stashed down the back of the stables, removed when i got rubber matting, and kept 'just in case!' It is ready for the stone to come tomorrow and i am very pleased with our efforts And yes Callisto, nobody could accuse it of permanency hahahah!
We are all filthy. We defo smell. We have earned our tea
 |
| Callisto |
Posted - 15 Nov 2011 : 1:35:00 PM
Frankly, if you are going to lay a membrane or carpet before the stone chips, I don't see that you need to dig up the gloopy stuff, as the stone will sit on top of the membrane/carpet which will stop it sinking into the gloop - just a thought Since it is rented land it would be easier to remove (if required) when you leave. Also beware of installing too permanent a solution - it can lead to issues with your planning department. |
| Eeyore |
Posted - 15 Nov 2011 : 12:13:04 PM
Good luck with it.
It's a shame you don't live locally and I could send my hubby and the digger round
|
| debsnboz |
Posted - 14 Nov 2011 : 10:01:53 PM
Originally posted by Judith SOnce it is poached you are wasting your time and money putting stone or mats on top without scraping back to firm dry soil.
It is not poached, deep gloopy mud. It is a thinnish layer of wet clay sliding over a very firm base of hard clay. The prob being once you scrape one layer off they make another!!
It is not my land, only rented, so I am going to just have to go for doing my best this year and keep my fingers crossed! |
| Judith S |
Posted - 14 Nov 2011 : 8:04:41 PM
Once it is poached you are wasting your time and money putting stone or mats on top without scraping back to firm dry soil. If you are at the bottom of a slope you have an even harder battle without a decent yard area and track up the field. Don't things look so much better in the summer |
| saddlebred |
Posted - 14 Nov 2011 : 8:00:35 PM
I have had this problem and the stones/rubble dont last more than one winter no matter how thick you put it. I had to redo mine the following winter and that disappeared too, even though I had got the guy to dig all the soft stuff back with a mini digger.
I have found the only way to deal with the problem longer term is to lay a concrete slab which is costly but effective.
Its a nightmare isnt it this mud!!! |
| Callisto |
Posted - 14 Nov 2011 : 7:18:06 PM
I don't know if it's any help, or how wet the area in question is, but I levelled the area outside the field shelter by driving my car backwards and forwards over it to flatten the lumps. If it's already a quagmire then that probably wouldn't work...good luck |
| debsnboz |
Posted - 14 Nov 2011 : 6:12:55 PM
Oh yes Caryn i had not thought of that!!! I have had someone from a hire company to look at it today and they think prob £200 to scrape the soil back. Then i will have to pay for the stone to fill this enormous gap
The guy who came said i should have sorted it in the summer. I had asked someone who was coming to the field to do some work anyway if he would do it ages ago and he said he would have a look. So i was waiting and waiting for him to come. Now it turns out from a mutual 'friend' that he prob would not have wanted to do it. Why could he have not told me (or for that matter her!) Why do folk not just say what they are really thinking/// makes my blood boil. But rant over!!! That is why we prefer our horses!!!!
So i will use my morning off Wed to try and dig/clear the best i can, stick some carpet down, and hope this stone that is coming to go on top is half decent (but as it is coming from my 'friend' who knows.
Am sulking.... |
| Kharidian |
Posted - 14 Nov 2011 : 11:39:41 AM
Deb,
If it is recycled crushed rubble/bricks/hardcore, then please be careful that it hasn't got metal reinforcement in it - that can be lethal.
Caryn |
| debsnboz |
Posted - 13 Nov 2011 : 9:24:20 PM
Oh Eeyore you are lucky - i have only a spade and unwilling kids!!!!Your arrangement sounds perfect!
Tae i am not too sure - my mates hubby owns a plant hire company and she said it was recycled stuff. i have a feeling it is crushed up rubble and bricks a bit like hardcore....
Anything would be better than sliding around............... |
| TAE |
Posted - 13 Nov 2011 : 7:15:59 PM
By crush do you mean the old road planings?
1st winter on clay my OH just put down planings and they quickly dissapeared into the mud.
Last year we put more down but on top of a layer of membrane (like that used to stop weeds) and this worked great.
It did get a bit mucky, but that was mainly due to the fact that my boys only just go outside the barn when the weathers bad. They couldn't possibly walk into the deeper mud so created their own dung heap on the chippings, just outside the barn.
Untill it has compacted down it can be tricky to lift the dung without taking away the stones. But it never got that bad and definately not deep enough to start loosing wellies.
Hope this helps. |
| Eeyore |
Posted - 13 Nov 2011 : 7:09:54 PM
It sounds as though you have a similar set up to me. My two fields slope down to my field shelter and last winter when it got wet there was a muddy race track down to the shelter. I'm on gravelly soil so didn't think it would get too bad but it did. We are lucky enough to have a mini digger so dug out, put down membrane and stone on top. We also did a track up the field in the same way which I can electric fence off. Now it's getting wet again the horses have the top of the field to graze and come down the stone track to the shelter which also has stone in front. I can't believe the difference it's made, the horses never have to stand in wet or mud and the stone track is not as inviting to gallop up and down. |
| debsnboz |
Posted - 13 Nov 2011 : 7:07:33 PM
I was planning on putting the carpet under the stone crush that is on its way.
I agree Callisto the grass mats are the best long term answer, but i was always planning to get the front area dug out over the summer, but it was so dry i did not try it myself, and the local guy who has diggers etc and does these things is an expert at not answering txts and i never liked to pester!!!!!ANd before oyu know it winter is here!
And my horses would walk over anything to get to food lol. I have got some 2nd hand flag stones i spotted being given away, just right at the door. They work great but they slip and slide up to them!!!! |
| Callisto |
Posted - 13 Nov 2011 : 6:06:15 PM
We are on clay as well, and last year was a nightmare, particularly in gateways and in front of the field shelter - was losing a welly in it and falling over while fighting to get the wheelbarrow through - nightmare. So this year have invested in grass mats, available from ebay, have placed a couple in each gateway and four outside the field shelter. So far so good, but they are only really being tested in earnest now.
If you can't run to then I suppose old carpet thrown on top would stop you sinking in, as long as you don't have issues persuading the horses to walk on it to get into the field shelter. We have rubber mats inside the field shelter with straw on top. |
| Vik1 |
Posted - 13 Nov 2011 : 5:58:14 PM
Is there not mats or something that you can put down, so that grass etc can still grow through it? Ive read somewhere about them, they are normally used in gateways to help prevent poaching. |
