Outdoor arena question

[Egon]

You may be one of the many Soundguy. There are lots more out there you know.

 

[Rara Avis]

Arenas and Footing

 

[Rara Avis]

At my new farm there is a horse barn. Behind it the previous owner spread an area 180' x 60' with gravel (for a parking big trucks I think?) I'd like to scrape off all that gravel and work the area into a good sand footing outdoor ring. It's worked into the ground, not deep.The ground is clay under the gravel. I'm in the process of deciding what tractor to buy.
What sort of attachments would I need and how would I begin? In other words, how do I get that darn gravel off? Box blade, rear blade, FEL?
This is my first big spring project after moving in!

TR3 Rake Arena Drag by ABI Equine >>> Best Selling Arena Equipment

 

[LBrown59]

Remember egon.. some of us that have already replied are those equine folks you refer to.

I got 4 hay burners right now...

soundguy

I went and picked up 2 55 gallon white plastic drums the other day and the guy had 8 or 9 horses.

 

[Snitch]

If you don't remove the rocks they will surface at a later date due to the constant harrowing you will be doing to keep your footing good. Best thing to do is clear the round of the rocks and add dirt.(all depends on what area you are in for what type of dirt you need to fill with).

good luck - here's mine

 

[Mike_Kanzer]

If the gravel is large unfortunately you should probably remove it. The larger rocks will definitely surface when you work the ring. We have a 10" compacted crushed stone base that was put over the compacted subsoil with a network of drainage tile beneath that. The riding surface is 2" of sand. The compacted stone was laser leveled. My ring was definetely over-engineered but it drains really fast. You could ride in it 1 hour after a 2" rain storm. The most important part of the ring I think is the base - you could get away with a thinner layer of stone dust but the gravel should go - my two cents - Mike

 

[johns_dmax]

With gravel that size you will need to be concerned about getting stone bruises on any unshod horses. We like to pull the shoes over winter and are careful what type of surface the horses are on. Bruises and abscesses aren't fun to take care of.
I just finished our arena we started this summer. We had a guy with a dozer come out and level the area then I spread a layer of sand over the base. We previously had the top soil scraped off to level the hill and the area was down to a layer of clay over sandstone. Works well for the arena, not so well for setting posts for the fencing. Wife's happy with is so it was all worth it.

 

[Soundguy]

I'd use those slip on rubber shoes if I had lots of that gravel coming up..

soundguy

 

[Egon]

I'd use those slip on rubber shoes if I had lots of that gravel coming up..

Why not just prepare a proper ring?

 

[Soundguy]

Egon.. you need to find a new hobby besides giving me a hard time.

Did you bother to read this thread at all????? Post #2.. I suggested boxing and scooping the gravel OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

If the person didn't.. ( hypothetical situation) and built it on top the gravel anyway, and had some gravel coming up.. I said I'd slip on those rubber temp shoes on the horse to protect it.

Go heckle somebody else!

soundguy

Why not just prepare a proper ring?