Arena base question -- rock dust

[knic13]

I’ve read that people use rock dust for a base and ride on it for awhile before either further compacting or letting it naturally compact and just adding footing on top.

My question is what exactly does the “rock dust” that people have gone this route with look like. It seems like this is a somewhat ambiguous term and the particle size varies a lot from different vendors in my area. The smallest I have found semi-locally is a mix from 1/4" down to actual dust. Is this product similar to what folks are talking about or have you found actual “dust”?? 1/4" seems kind of big to be riding on?

For reference, this would be going over a sub-base of clay that has been crowed, graded and compacted.

[Jim_in_PA]

The term for the material varies…around here, it’s called “screenings”.

[khall]

Or M10, same difference. I actually do not use the M10 for base, I have a sub base of clay (our natural dirt around here) a rock road base and then M10 over top for the footing. As long as I keep it watered or it rains, it is wonderful safe footing.

[Jim_in_PA]

khall, many of the outdoor arenas in this area are build exactly as you describe…compacted road base with screenings as the footing; often with angular sand mixed into the screenings. It’s an “all weather” type surface for the most part.

[knic13]

So would 1/4" Rock as the larger pieces be consistent with what is in your arena
Khall? I had always envisioned rock/stone dust to be finer.

Arena is for my personal use, so will be very lightly used, with mostly flat work and some light jumping.

[SugarCubes]

1/4" sounds a little big to me, they just put down our base on Friday and the screenings look more like sand than rocks. They are pretty fine…

[khall]

No M10, screenings aka rock dust is more like size of sand. Pretty fine and can get dusty if not watered.

My arena holds up extremely well even during heavy rains. I host clinics 3 times a year here and during the clinics lately we have had heavy torrential rain (and a tornado in April!) and yet the arena holds up just fine. We paid high $ for the arena to be built as it is but it has been worth it.

[fordtraktor]

1/4 fines are totally acceptable, we have been using those for a long time back home and I put them in on my farm last year. They call them “limestone chips” here. it is not totally sandlike IMO, it’s a little bigger. IN the first pic you can kind of see the sizing.

Here are pics of mine I put in last year: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207519091997455&set=a.1492536715412.68690.1293847780&type=3&theater

In use after a week or so: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207561522258185&set=a.1492536715412.68690.1293847780&type=3&theater

This week after a long winter of snow and rain (hasn’t been drug after the rain, it looks prettier when it is, and I try to drag it weekly!): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208996555293114&set=pb.1293847780.-2207520000.1462885964.&type=3&theater

[HRF_Second_Chance]

OK oddly I was coming here to get some arena advice myself. OP let me know if you’d like me to start a separate thread. We have a ring with sandy loam, however, it’s not consistent footing. I’m looking for thoughts/ideas on how to make it stay consistent and still be waterproof without costing a fortune.

[Mosey_2003]

It depends on the quarry. Our screenings have a few chips in them. They’re the size of nerds candy usually, not a full quarter inch. Usually something like that is smaller than the name, because the material fits through a 1/4" sieve, not that someone measured the rocks and that’s what size they are.

Anywho, that’s totally fine for your arena

[knic13]

[QUOTE=khall;8656423]
No M10, screenings aka rock dust is more like size of sand. Pretty fine and can get dusty if not watered.

My arena holds up extremely well even during heavy rains. I host clinics 3 times a year here and during the clinics lately we have had heavy torrential rain (and a tornado in April!) and yet the arena holds up just fine. We paid high $ for the arena to be built as it is but it has been worth it.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for clarifying. One of the challenges I have run into is apparent regional differences in term use, hence my seemingly simple question of what does rock/stone dust mean to everyone

The screenings I have found locally consist of a range of particle sizes, from 3/4" (3/4" minus) or bigger depending on the product down to dust all mixed together. Rock dust was described to me as a mix with the largest prices being 1/4" but mixed with smaller particles.

[knic13]

[QUOTE=fordtraktor;8656446]
1/4 fines are totally acceptable, we have been using those for a long time back home and I put them in on my farm last year. They call them “limestone chips” here. it is not totally sandlike IMO, it’s a little bigger. IN the first pic you can kind of see the sizing.

Here are pics of mine I put in last year: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207519091997455&set=a.1492536715412.68690.1293847780&type=3&theater

In use after a week or so: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207561522258185&set=a.1492536715412.68690.1293847780&type=3&theater

This week after a long winter of snow and rain (hasn’t been drug after the rain, it looks prettier when it is, and I try to drag it weekly!): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208996555293114&set=pb.1293847780.-2207520000.1462885964.&type=3&theater[/QUOTE]

Thanks! Your arena is lovely (as well as your horses!). What do you use to drag it with? I’ve been researching options on that as well.

The pictures are helpful, I’m definitely planning on seeing the material in person before purchasing but wanted to be sure I wasn’t going down the wrong path or wasting folks time putting quotes together.

[knic13]

[QUOTE=Mosey_2003;8656475]
It depends on the quarry. Our screenings have a few chips in them. They’re the size of nerds candy usually, not a full quarter inch. Usually something like that is smaller than the name, because the material fits through a 1/4" sieve, not that someone measured the rocks and that’s what size they are.

Anywho, that’s totally fine for your arena :)[/QUOTE]

Thanks!

[fordtraktor]

[QUOTE=knic13;8656496]
Thanks! Your arena is lovely (as well as your horses!). What do you use to drag it with? I’ve been researching options on that as well.

The pictures are helpful, I’m definitely planning on seeing the material in person before purchasing but wanted to be sure I wasn’t going down the wrong path or wasting folks time putting quotes together.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! I use a spike tooth harrow. Though I would love something fancier, the price on this was right and they had it at the Rural King when I needed one. It has wheels on one side, and I flip it over to harrow, and can adjust the tines to whatever depth I want. When the footing is fluffy I run it almost flat, when it gets harder I run it much deeper so it gets fluffier again. It’s actually really great to have that feature. It also cost like $250 on sale, and it’s very sturdy.

It is super heavy to flip over, though – hard for me to do alone and I’m pretty strong – so to be honest I don’t flip it that much. I park it somewhere horses never go and just leave it.

ETA: it looks a lot like this: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=spike+tooth+harrow&view=detailv2&&id=443C7DF76A8D1EE803FEE47520EF4BB3F52704AA&selectedIndex=143&ccid=o2UgUnHf&simid=608011857926422878&thid=OIP.Ma365205271dfb634e2153c3e7b70a378H0&ajaxhist=0

[Jim_in_PA]

[QUOTE=HRF Second Chance;8656471]
OK oddly I was coming here to get some arena advice myself. OP let me know if you’d like me to start a separate thread. We have a ring with sandy loam, however, it’s not consistent footing. I’m looking for thoughts/ideas on how to make it stay consistent and still be waterproof without costing a fortune.[/QUOTE]

You need to get rid of the organics (the loam), contour for runoff, put down a compacted base (over geotextile if you can) and then install a footing such as what we’ve been talking about to have a resilient arena for all weather.

[khall]

I just use a flexible drag like this https://www.google.com/search?q=arena+drags&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKqazTsdDMAhUElx4KHSOKBn4QsAQIOQ&biw=1350&bih=777#imgrc=zdjZ1VRpHw5eaM%3A

ours is 10’ wide and heavy, with tines down but not at the most aggressive. Does a good job smoothing but periodically I need our landscaper to go in and take out wash areas. Maybe once a year, adding in some footing at the same time.