Mud hole in front of barn door! Suggestions?

[sam5570]

The neighbor has horses and is not able to drain water anywhere. The local gravel pit sells very fine limestone sand/powder. I think it is left over from crushing the rock. He put a load down in the feeding area and a path from the gate to that area. It has been 2 years and no muck. It gets hard like concrete. nice

yeah here they call it pug mill and yes it will set up just like concrete. but tofix your problem you need to get the landscape to the point where the water run's away from the barn so you can cure the problem once and for all. if you use the pug mill and it gets ice on it you and the horses will suffer.

 

[Ted Summey]

We had the same issue around our feed barn for cows. We dug out the mush down to undisturbed soil then put in crusher run gravel about 12 to 16 inches deep. The crusher run gravel was packed with the machinery we were digging with. In addition we put gutters on the barn and routed the down spouts and drain pipe away from the barn. Once we got the old mush/manure/mud out and gave the the proper slope to the gravel we've had a good base. We regularly scrape the manure away and every few years refresh the gravel with an inch or two. The cows no longer sink 10" in the muck!

 

[SPIKER]

One other approach is to mix in cement & sand. (search soil cement) there are some good resources on the net. You would need to get the horses off/out of the area for a while to get it to "set" after it has been graded for slope and form to get the water away.

Adding anything the decomposes is temporary and can make it worse in long run.

Mark

 

[clovergamecock]

Our entrance into the barn for our two horse is a shallow sloped ditch that removes run off to a deeper ditch. I have sloped and ditched everything because of the clay and spring mud season. My barn yard is 4 to 6 inches of gravel. I find the key to keeping it from getting sloppy is to plow in the winter and frequently rake up any messes and shavings that spill out of the door. That keeps everything to the bare gravel which sheds moisture well. (just like cleaning another stall!) The grit/slag sounds good. Stall mat needs to be watched for slipperiness.
With gravel and grit- you have to clean their feet often to keep it from getting embedded and driven up between the wall and whiteline. (My horses are barefoot.)
Goodluck.

tcreeley, You hit the nail on the head with exactly what I have been doing. This weekend I spent a lot of time raising the area around the front of the barn, I then scraped down a drainage ditch. We get rain today and tomorrow so I guess I will find out if that helped. One thing I know I am going to have to do now is raise the floor in the common area inside the barn. Right now it is about 4" below the outside but the drop off is right up against the sliding doors and undert the 12" over hang. Of course that want hold up long to 1000+LB animals!!. :-o

hosspuller, The gate area is another issue. Like you said they hang out there waiting for food. Also where do I get "geotextile"?

Thanks
Wade

 

[MikeFarm]

Hi

You can get thick rubber mats that lock together. Here is an aussie link to give you an idea, there will be something similar in the US.
Australasian Rubber Supplies (this link covers equine uses too)
It makes a robust floor, can withstand outside use, and water drains through it.

Mike

 

[unbidden]

We had similaar issues at one corner of our outdoor arena. We did something similar to what 'vtsnowedin' suggested a few posts up. If you want to do it once and be done with it, thats the way to go.

 

[hosspuller]

+LB animals!!. :-o

hosspuller, The gate area is another issue. Like you said they hang out there waiting for food. Also where do I get "geotextile"?

Wade

Geotextile is a generic name for fabric used to stabilize soils and such. Clover is near Charlotte NC so it should be easy to buy locally at a construction supply. A Paving company might have odd pieces for a good price.

I found a small roll at auction.

 

[bobm6996]

Had the same problem this year with all the rain and snow, we walking out of our boots. I got a tri-axle load of what they call "Flume" in this area, it is limestone that is ery small like flakes/chips. We put it about 8 inches deep in three stalls that were constantly mucky (new stalls this past year) and then placed the 3/4" stall mats on top after compacting with a compactor. It has been almost a month of more rain and snow and no problems, almost like concrete. In front of the barn same issue as you are having, sun (when it is ever out) does not get to that area. It was so muddy walking and bringing in the horses and was miserable. I come out from the barn barn about 8 feet and went from one end to the other putting down the flume and compacting it. I did not dig out and for a few days there were soft spots from the muck under the flume, but now even with the bad weather it has really packed down to an almost concrete state, but is still not uncomfortable for the horses to walk on. I use a hand compactor for any spots the horses hoofs dig in and now that is happening very rarely. It costs about 9.00 bucks a ton here and so for about $400 bucks problem solved, we can now go out to the barn without needing to put on the mud boots.

 

[Coyote machine]

Home Depot among other places sells a roll of fabric like heavy duty cheesecloth which is meant to be slipped over a perforated 4" drain pipe to keep fines from jamming/clogging perimeter drains and such. I would, depending on how you can run some drainage tile, use this in conjunction with whatever you choose to replace the mud with, thus allowing any water that gets under your stone/flume, etc. to be carried away in the drainage pipe to where it will keep the area in front of the barn from turning to muck.
Show us some pics of before/after:thumbsup:

 

[PMA]

What about slag which is a byproduct of a mini mill steel plant. Once wet it will set up like concrete.there are a few of these plants in South Carolina

I have a slag driveway around 2 tenths of a mile. Slag works great. Been there for 8 years and I only have to kill weeds that grow through it.

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