crushed limestone for muddy yard

I usually have my gravel delivered 2-3 days before the Bobcat/tractor guy arrives as my horses love playing on the gravel piles! Which Paddock Surface is Best for a Rainy Climate? Dont be tempted then to just throw more gravel down, thinking its got a good base now. The only other option I can think of, is to save your money on the material underneath and put that towards having custom-cut mats that fill the stall, wall-to-wall in one piece. Fantastic information Pippa thanks so much for letting us know! I think the punchiness of horses hooves disturbs the gravel so much, that all that needs to happen is for them to punch through to the geotextile in a very small spot and then that quickly enlarges. Boredom = monkeys . It will all look normal. Hi Pat, if you just laid the gravel, but no geotextile cloth underneath, youll get one good winter out of it, possibly two. Heres a full list of inch to feet conversions so you can figure out the depth of gravel you want for your calculation in step #1 above: 1 inch equals .083 feet You need the jagged edges and different particle sizes for the footing to pack down well and not just slide around every time a hoof punches down on it. The best way to fix a muddy driveway is with TRUEGRID permeable pavers. And in a paddock entryway with 8 inches total of gravel/crusher. But as mine are so hard on footing, and theres so many of them lunging around, I have to level and add more crusher every year or two. I forgot to mention our new barn has 12 stalls, so this will be 12 paddocks. just in case you want to waste your money like I did. Arizona River Rock. Any advice? You can use this scraped-off earth to create a nice hill for them to climb/play on in their pasture, which will also create an area of high ground to stand or lie on during winter. Thanks Margaret glad it was useful/helpful! Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Stabilizing a Muddy Road. (normally everything here gets wet from rain, but dries the next day to hard surface). And yes, your farrier is correct but that is one of the reasons I LOVE gravel; it allows the horses to self-trim. By February, all the horses hooves were still in great condition (they are also fed low sugar hay, which makes a huge difference to hoof health) and the surface was still in good shape. However, later experience taught me that depending on the type of crusher dust, and how hard the ground is when properly prepared, the horses wont lie down on it anyway so this is an unknown factor. Clear stone is sometimes known as drainage stone. Also goes a long way to keep down the fly/flea population. 3/4" Crushed Limestone Rock, 57 Stone. Now I can focus on other things (water, feeders, trailer, star thistle, fences)! Because it packs down fairly solid, it doesnt have the big pointy bits that are inclined to puncture and lead to abscesses. With 2400 square feet of gravel, my horses were able to self-trim enough that they only needed the farrier to come out and trim every 5-6 months. He says it grinds away at their soles and bars in particular. Youre welcome And how terribly EXCITING!! Someone suggested gravel or crushed limestone, but 1) I don't really want a bunch of little rocks in my yard where I have to mow right next to them and have it throw a rock up at me and 2) I think the dogs could slip on it or, perhaps worse, run another mud path right before the limestone. You will probably have to clear the top surface of the yard after a while and then let it air dry. Well, keep me posted if you can and let me know what happens! Luckily it rains so much here that the dust quickly disappeared, but in a drier climate it could certainly be a health hazard. 2015-2023 Listen To Your Gut Enterprises Inc. ALL images and text. Slope the ground surface 5% away from the stable and divert surface and groundwater away from the stable site (Figure 8). Then they add 3/4 inch gravel, and then crusher dust. Your email address will not be published. The finer material compacts easily but will move under heavy traffic. Coarse aggregate does not compact easily; many voids may result leaving the surface uneven and difficult for livestock to walk on. This may seem like a small point, but trust me, it makes a huge difference to the time spent scooping manure AND the loss of expensive gravel that gets tossed out with the manure. You should dig the hole 4 feet deep and just as wide. A. Rutter Company, a provider of . He suggests you lay down 5-6 inches of a 3-inch minus rock layer first, to provide that hard layer and then put your gravel on top of that, or you will just have to dump the same amount of gravel every year, year after year, because it just keeps sinking. I am curious as to what you went with if you could let us know. I only had the farrier out once this entire year and even then one of the horses didnt need anything the rest of the time they either self-trimmed or I helped them out with a touch-up here and there. Thought it was super great idea and she layered it with old hay/brush/sticks and other stuff (hence the lasagna reference) and said it had held up for two winters now! Ive always used crusher runits pretty, soft (good for the horses to lie on and me to fall on), keeps their hooves impressively manicured, and easy to clean (kinda like scooping a giant litter box). I received your email, but no need to send the link now I see. And yes, that 3 rock is endlessly coming up through the 3/4 minus, and the crusher dust I layered on top! Might be a case of dont ask apologize later if you have to Some of those bylaws are aimed at developers though and they may not bother with small usage it varies though, some are more rabid dog about it. Great info Donna thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! On a full rainy day, these patches fill with standing water there is no drainage: So why not just use the 3/4 inch gravel? I have also not had to top it up in any way, although I pick manure daily, and also harrow it weekly as I dont want to mess up my base by having holes in my sand from the horses playing out there! It doesnt matter how much you scrape and pack, your gravel (even 3 road base!) In the middle of the worst rains of winter, the 3/4 inch gravel has the best drainage and keeps the surface drier, even during a full day of rain: On the same day, heres what patches of the 1/4 inch crusher dust look like you can see how the mud and soil underneath has been churned into the crusher dust. . Larry. This should be perfect. However, you cant just use 1/4 inch minus with smooth edges, or 3/8 inch minus smooth gravel with no dust as then the gravel will not pack down well. Have to be careful, Ive seen a smaller piece (at another barn) of chip get wedged up hard in between the bar and frog. A really interesting topic, and I have a question: is gravel 4/3 & 4/1 good as an alternative to fine sand in horse rooms, or is fine sand better? We have a rescue donkey and rescue OTTB that love to roll in mud but after 4 days of rain, its too much mud! Bridges of Kentucky > Blog > Uncategorized > crushed limestone for muddy yard. She began riding at age 2 in Kenya, and got her first horse at age 8 in Alberta, and so continues a life-long journey and love affair with these amazing creatures. Touring the world with friends one mile and pub at a time; best perks for running killer dbd. However, on the flip side of that argument, heres what a Farrier has to say about why she prefers crusher dust: As a farrier, my favourite footing in this area is crusher dust. Crushed limestone typically produced by mining limestone or dolomite rock deposits. wearing surface. Lime is spread on lawns that are not growing well to help the soil become more hospitable for grass. Divide your answer (cubic feet) by 27 to get the number of cubic yards you need. 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? Now Im going to moving my other mare over so wanted to check whats the best footing as I live on Vancouver Island, the place with the most rainfall on the planet. 2. Thanks again for the very informative article! approximate weight per bag. Now lay a layer of large rock or recycled concrete (3 inches wide or larger rock) on top of the Nilex barrier, about 5 inches deep. The pea gravel has to be changed over to new, clean material every few years, I think. When you say horse rooms Im assuming you mean stalls or stables? These are the best options for driveway surfaces gravel, because they are small stones combined with rock dust, which makes a more solid driving surface. The same problem occurs when you shovel manure. Hes recovering, but its been a slow, agonizing process. If you do this, be certain to fill up the ground back in with soil and sow turf seeds so the grass grows back as well as the ground doesn't lose absorbent planet. Gravel is extremely simple to put on lawns and offers a long-term solution. 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. After scraping down to compacted subsoil, put a commercial-grade barrier material on top of the hard pan soil. One yard of #57 limestone gravel weighs approximately 1.4tons. HOWEVER, now that were heading into 2022, Ive had almost 3 years with the professional job that Mitchell did and the geotextile cloth is coming through. This layer of stone is your simulated bedrock, and it's the foundation of your new driveway. Also be sure and check out our French Drain post as that worked brilliantly and may replace your trench: https://listentoyourhorse.com/paddock-mud-or-flood-problems-install-a-french-drain/. A number of articles Ive read on this subject suggest using a minimum of 3 inches of footing (surface drainage material), or to use the same depth your mud gets to. The water will travel through the rocks or gravel before entering the pipes. My arena is also used as the dry area on wet days and overnight hours, I am very happy with my surface. See more related content in our article about, Pros and Cons of Prefinished Hardwood Flooring. Scraped out dirt, put in drain, geotextile, big rocks, then 57s, then screenings. 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. Some horses freak out and run around, others are curious and want to look inside the bucket and cab, but either way, once they start working the horses move out of the way. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Clear all soft organic soil, grass, down to the compacted subgrade soil.