Need advice building riding ring

[wkw]

I would like to build an outdoor riding ring for my wife. She would like to have a 200x100 ft ring. I need to know if I can do the landmoving/landscaping with the equipment I have and if I would need any other attachments. I would prefer to hire some heavy equipment to do this but I live in an area of Alberta that has a lot of oilfiel construction and exploration occurring. The equipment owners charge us farm types the same rates as the oil companies but they want cash with no receipts.
My current equipment consists of a 1965 B414 in good running condition with an Allied 100 loader. I have a 6 ft rear blade and an 8 ft chain harrow. I also have one of the following "road graders" for my 3pt that is 7 ft. http://www.conterraindustries.com/PDF_new/Grader_1.jpg

We don"t have much for topsoil at my place. We are at the bottom of a large creek coulee. Not a lot of level spots on my place.

Our soil is predominantly bentonite once you get past the very shallow topsoil.

You can get an idea of the lay of our land from photos I have on webshot at: wkwalsh's photos and albums on webshots

Look in the albums labeled "2005 Foal" and "First Deer Hunt" to see our land- p.s. that was my wife's very first effort at deer hunting and is out my "back door" on my place.


I know that I have probably left out some very important information for proper answers but ask away and I"ll try to provide.

This is my first year owning a tractor so I might not seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I appreciate any advice that you all may be able to provide.

Thanks
Ken
Hesketh, Alberta

 

[jimmy1]

Ken, looks like you may have a bit more to handle than you have equipment for. I am not familiar with bentonite, is it heavy? Maybe you get a dozer in to roughly level the area then finish off the final touches on you own if you have time to work at it.

Jim

 

[drssg]

How particular is your wife about the footing in the arena? Are you just planning on leveling out an area, and ride on the soil? Or are you planning on doing a sub-base (compacted soil), then a base (compacted crushed stone), then footing (washed sand or something)?

If you're not particular and are just riding on the soil, then I'd say it's up to your ambition. Worst case, you'll end up hiring a professional after some wasted time.

If you're planning on bringing in materials to build a better quality ring, I wouldn't dream of attempting it with your equipment. For a 100'x200' arena, you're talking about a bunch of money, just in materials. If you screw it up, you won't necessarily be able to reuse the materials.

I ordered a pamphlet called Underfoot from USDF, and I found it quite helpful for understanding the overall design.

Hope this helps,
Rick

 

[wkw]

Thanks for the responses.

My wife is quite particular about the footing she wants. Boy I was hoping this project wasn't heading towards hiring a contractor but I quess this is less expensive than constructing an indoor riding arena!!!!

 

[LarryD]

Well I wouldn't run out and hire a contractor yet. I used my TC33D to scrape away a 40'x60' area this summer. Took 4" on one end and almost 8" on the other end all done in one day. The key was just loosening up the soil and then use the bucket to haul it away. I did use a box blade with the rippers down to tear things up though.

If your road grader can "dig" down a bit, that might be all you need to get started. Not sure what betonite soil is like (I know how it's used in well drilling) but it sounds like you could make a run at it and see how effective your equipment is, maybe even rent or BUY a box blade.