Arena Project

[Casimir]

Alex_Mendoza asked to see pictures of our arena project, which finally gave me a reason to sit down and organize them. When I figured out how many I needed to tell the story, I decided to post them here, since I know you guys and gals always like photos, and it would take a long time to attach them and download them from email messages. (I am basically lazy, so I prefer to do things only once, if possible /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif.)

The area we had for the arena was wooded, so the first step was to hire a professional with the right tool for the clearing job. There is a Cat Track Hoe in there:

 

[Casimir]

More clearing:

 

[Casimir]

Had to pile and burn the stumps and anything not used for firewood /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Casimir]

We somehow missed getting photos of the next phase, which consisted of using the York Rake and a LOT /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif of hand picking to remove the roots and branches left from the clearing operation.

Then I started in with the Box Blade. The area only sloped a couple of feet in the 120 Meter length and about a foot in the 20 meter width, so I didn't hire a dozer:

 

[Casimir]

I got a lot of practice with the Box Blade:

 

[Casimir]

The area was longer than it seemed /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Casimir]

I thought I would never get through with the Box Blade /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Casimir]

The weather being what it is in Virginia, I had to stop several times when it rained and give the area time to dry out. As you can see, at one time, we even had weeds sprouting between work sessions. The good thing, however, was that it helped to settle and pack the sub-base material:

 

[Casimir]

Since we do get a lot of rain, I decided to install a French Drain to help carry the water away faster. Since I didn't really have anyplace for the water to go, I just dug a big hole at the end of the perforated pipe and filled it with gravel.

Also, since I don't have a backhoe, I had to rent a Mini-hoe to dig the trench and hole (FUN /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif). Wish I could afford one full-time.

 

[Casimir]

French Drain filled to arena level with gravel:

 

[Casimir]

Once the sub-base was close to where I wanted it, we outlined the arena (120 Meters X 20 Meters) with a string line. The previous owner had lined the driveway with railroad ties -- we didn't like them there, but they came in handy to define the arena boundaries. The 4-in-1 Bucket was a real handy tool (as you can see, I sit too close to the dinner table to lift railroad ties by hand /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif)

 

[Casimir]

Placing the ties was easy, with the 4n1 /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Casimir]

A little backfill behind the ties to hold them in place --

 

[Casimir]

Then came about 10 twenty-ton loads of crusher run for a base (that's a lot of rock to spread and level with a box blade /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif)

 

[Casimir]

Another use for a railroad tie -- just suspend it from a boom pole, chain both ends to the lower links of the 3-pt hitch, and you can really smooth things out /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Casimir]

I was on a roll, and didn't want to wait for another couple of rains to compact the crusher run, so I rented a small roller and let my wife's visiting nephew play with it --

 

[Casimir]

No sign of rain, so we rolled it some more --

 

[Casimir]

Next came about 6 twenty-ton loads of granulated sand for footing. Looking back (hindsight is always 20-20 /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif), I wish I had added a couple inches of stone dust between the crusher run and sand and then compacted it before adding the sand. Oh, well, if I ever do a second one, I will remember that (I hope /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif)

 

[Casimir]

You know, it's really hard to get sand spread to an even depth. I still have deep spots and shallow spots that I am trying to even out. In the shallow spots, the horse's hoofs tend to pull gravel up from the base, especially if the horse is movin' out---

 

[Casimir]

We had a pasture project going at the same time, and hired a fencing contractor, so we had them fence off the end of the arena near the road, just in case Mama falls off, or a horse gets loose /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. They brought this handy little Dingo along to dig post holes--