ponytug
Super Member
I think that the "cheap" solution is to find a way with a back blade to make it easy to clean out your ditches, and refill the arena with sand as needed.
If you can prevent the arena from having flowing water, you will eliminate washout. So, I would suggest a better berm around the perimeter to hold the water. The downside is that the arena is out of action while ponding. Depending on your equestrian uses, it may, or may not, be usable for some of that time.
I went the other way. I graded the whole arena to 1% slope long ways and 2% slope cross ways. I installed subsurface drains every ten feet, with a 2% slope, in trenches backfilled with 1/4" washed rock. I used a fancy flat drain that in hindsight probably wasn't worth it. Once the subsurface drains were in, I covered the whole arena in heavy porous geotextile, and put in 4" or so of 3/8 washed pea gravel. It turned a rainy season clay swamp that was 2' deep in mud into a solid, all weather surface. It needs next to no maintenance, even 15 years later.
So, yes, it was a lot of work, mostly because I had make it all up as I went along because I didn't have a plan to follow. If I made another tomorrow, I could probably do it in less than a week, and it would be better than mine. (I didn't think about having a way to flush the inevitable dirt out of the drains.) By way of disclosure, I do own my own trencher, and have a 4n1 bucket for my FEL that is great for back filling.
All the best,
Peter
If you can prevent the arena from having flowing water, you will eliminate washout. So, I would suggest a better berm around the perimeter to hold the water. The downside is that the arena is out of action while ponding. Depending on your equestrian uses, it may, or may not, be usable for some of that time.
I went the other way. I graded the whole arena to 1% slope long ways and 2% slope cross ways. I installed subsurface drains every ten feet, with a 2% slope, in trenches backfilled with 1/4" washed rock. I used a fancy flat drain that in hindsight probably wasn't worth it. Once the subsurface drains were in, I covered the whole arena in heavy porous geotextile, and put in 4" or so of 3/8 washed pea gravel. It turned a rainy season clay swamp that was 2' deep in mud into a solid, all weather surface. It needs next to no maintenance, even 15 years later.
So, yes, it was a lot of work, mostly because I had make it all up as I went along because I didn't have a plan to follow. If I made another tomorrow, I could probably do it in less than a week, and it would be better than mine. (I didn't think about having a way to flush the inevitable dirt out of the drains.) By way of disclosure, I do own my own trencher, and have a 4n1 bucket for my FEL that is great for back filling.
All the best,
Peter
