Best implement/method of conditioning a sand arena

[PabloT]

Hi All,
Just wanted to get some opinions on what is the best way to smooth out/groom a sand horse arena. I have tried a rear blade but my poor little Kubota B7100 2wd sinks and wheelspins /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif. Any ideas out there ?

 

[RickNC]

Pablo,

I have a B7100 also, and I use a single spike harrow or drag harrow that I attached chain link fence to the underside with fence wire. The teeth of the harrow kind of breaks up the clumps and manure piles and the chain link fence smooths out the sand. It works great.

Good Luck.

 

[cowboydoc]

With that small of a tractor I would probably just use a flexible tine harrow. To better smooth the arena get the three point carrier for it. flexible tine harrow

 

[PabloT]

Thanks for the info Rick !
Is yours 2wd or 4wd ... and what kind of tyres do you use.
Do you have a photo of this harrow that you can post here ?

 

[green4710]

We used to use a drag harrrow, and had really good luck with it. The problem we had was our arenas are so large, that after time, you would start to see them getting wavy. If you arena is pure sand, you should be alright. We went to a parma arena groomer and that helped a bunch. We pull the groomer with a ford 8n and it seems to work well. The only downside is that it was 1500 dollars. But I think a drag harrow on sand would work well, and if you have a blade to level your arena, that would work too.

 

[Fireman_dcb]

PabloT,

We have a stone dust ring - finally broke down and bought a drag harrow (or drag mat) from TSC - VERY pleased with the results. They're made in variable widths for use behind a large tractor, CUT or garden tractor.

Doug

 

[MicroPilot]

WOW!!! Over $1k for a 6ft with lift!!

 

[cowboydoc]

That includes shipping and there are cheaper ones out there. Considering these things last forever and you can use them for numerous other projects beside the arena I think they're a pretty good deal. more uses

 

[MicroPilot]

And I thought my gun hobby was expensive!!!

 

[Mark4510]

Pablo, There are a lot of folks here who have success with the tine harrows on a sand arena. Based on what you are saying your needs are I think that there are better and less expensive solutions. If we assume that you are trying to smooth out the sand in high traffic areas or to get a more level surface to begin with then I would try to find a 5'x12" welded pipe fence to pull behind. With just a bit of weight it is amazing what a better job this does in really smoothing out the surface. To break up the top 1-2" you can lay a section of chainlink underneath the fance section. I have used this on arenas as small as 60x80 outdoor and up to 140x280 indoors with equal success.

There are a lot of great solutions depending on your needs so be creative.

Mark