Dirt Moving best impliment to level a paddock

[critter986]

You could put sand down and then mulch over it. That would allow the water to drain through the sand.

 

[855ROOKIE]

Thanks for the suggestions folks..

The Moon is a good analogy. Except it is a very wet and very muddy Moon. The mud is literally a foot deep in spots. The paddock is about 90 x 200 ft. With some gentle roll to it. When we moved in it had not been used in quite some time and it was turf covered and had been maintained. The barn is a about 22x30 containing 2 stalls a tack room and a 3rd stall with a 10ft sliding door opening into the paddock. We use this "3rd Stall" as a sort of run in. The ground in front of this sliding door is brutal. Total muck and has dropped below the threshold of the barn door. This is probably the lowest spot in the paddock as well. This is where the deepest mud is from the traffic it receives. I have had suggestions of filling it with wood chips or pea gravel etc. to build it back up. Which I will do. I just need to find a way to not let it get so bad again and levelling the ground a bit is where I plan to start. I'm afraid of doing it and watching the fill disapear into the mud again.
The paddock is still too wet to even contemplate taking my turf tire JD into for fear of it not coming out again.

Can you do me a favour ? When you speak of these implements can you give me an idea what they are ? I have no idea...really. Also, How do they get loaded onto the 3 point ? These things Im sure are pretty heavy ??

By the way I am on a 24 hp JD 855 with a 3 point hitch and it does have a FEL .

 

[sweettractors]

This implement may work well. Ken Sweet

New 6 ft Track, Arena and Pulverizer Maintainece Tool | eBay

 

[Johndeere3720]

There are actually a lot of things you can try to minimize mud. My grandpa put in hog fuel several years ago (it was a 4' thick layer) and it held up very well for many years with a major amount of horse traffic (78 horses on 4 acres). Another thing that my Dad has tried is pit run and a 1'-6" thick layer of hog fuel which held up pretty well for a few years but turned to slop in the end of year two. This last winter I went in with the 3720 (we had the whole area in 1' of deep mud which i estimate to be around 60'x90') and i just spent several hours on the 3720 (wishing I had a steering knob) scooping and dumping the mud/manure into three big piles. Why did I do that? It gets the mud off the ground, having it in a pile means it is less likely to be disturbed, having it in a pile is a much smaller foot print, and we plan to spread the manure/mud in the pasture this summer when the ground dries up. It is great for the pasture, you can fill in holes, level areas better, it will be great for the grass, and it involes more seat time. :thumbsup: I Also have tried gravel in some spots and put a thin layer of hog fuel on top and that held up very well, i was actually surprized how well it worked out. I've attached a few pictures to give you an idea. The last is my grandpa's hog fuel pasture, you can see the gravel which is right in front of the gate.

 

[whistlepig]

Are sacrifice pasture is next to our barn also but we don't allow daily horse traffic close the barn. We keep them at least ten feet from all sides of the barn with electric fence. Of course if you are using your barn for the horses to get out of the weather that's not possible.

 

[dmay]

The implements everyone is talking about are 3pt implements. To see and learn about the different implements Everything Attachments has some excellent videos to watch:

How To Video Demos - Implements & Attachments

To aid in not getting stuck in the mud, get yourself some chains to go on your rear turf tires. They work in mud and snow.

DUO-Grip tire chains for farm tractors

For your high traffic horse areas you will need to level the ground then I suggest you put a geotextile driveway fabric down to separate your dirt base and top drainage material. The geotextile driveway fabric is similar to garden landscape cloth just much heavier material available in 14 ft wide rolls. This way the materials will not mix together, degrade and you see your time and investment dissappear.

Get some practice using your FEL/bucket. You can accomplish a lot of ground levelling with just your bucket. Here is a video that shows what I mean:

YouTube - John Deere 2320 blaze a new trail in 5 minutes

 

[855ROOKIE]

Thanks guys for ALL your help and suggestions..

Is there a unit available like a fast hitch for my 855's 3 point hitch ?


Ive been looking on you tube and have seen some pretty interesting implements.

It crossed my mind to try tilling the paddock to eliminate the deep hoof holes in the dirt/mud and also help it dry faster ..then start to level it off with another piece of equipment such as suggested or even a power "Harley" rake. or the pulverizer and blade you have suggested. Then find some way to compact it until I can get some kind of base in there....whatch think ? Am I making things more difficult then it needs to be ?

You guys have cme up with some great stuff so far..THANKS

 

[dmay]

Is there a unit available like a fast hitch for my 855's 3 point hitch ?

John Deere calls their's an iMatch quick hitch. In Canada, Princess Auto carrys the Speeco Quick Hitch.

It crossed my mind to try tilling the paddock

If you have a tiller, go for it.

Then find some way to compact it

Back dragging your FEL bucket is a good way to compact.

 

[SGBotsford]

Lager, there is a risk with wood chips. If there is no drainage, the wood chips soak up water, and seem to never dry out. The action of the horses churn up a mess of chips and wood.

If you want to do this, I would suggest creating a drainage plane: Bring enough soil in that the corral is higher in the center, and slope it down hill right to (or beyond) the edges. Doesn't have to be much slope 1" in 10 feet is enough. Pack that as hard as you can, then put your chips down.

Even doing this, you will likely need several batches of chips.

 

[chickenman]

how many horses use the paddock, and for how long?