Arena excavation cost and some arena base questions

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

It’s time to move on from my grass “arena.” I’m thinking 200 x 80-90. Do you think the extra ten feet of width is that big of a deal? It’s just me.

I know this will vary wildly by region, but before I get bids, I’m curious as to what people paid for arena excavation. This is already a relatively flat area, but will need topsoil removed and a crown. I do want a grass swale put in along one side. No French drains. The area already drains very well.

Also, what did they bring in for equipment? If someone tells me they can do it with a skid do I run? I know it needs to be compacted with water.

Finally, did anyone build up their base with clay before adding stone, or just do a stone base? I’m just thinking removing a bunch of topsoil is going to make my subbase quite a bit lower then the surrounding ground. I have read Underfoot, just looking for COTH experiences.

Anything you wish you had done differently with regard to your base? Did you have it mechanically compacted, or wait a winter? What material did you use, or rock size for your base?

[findthedistance]

My indoor arena is 80’x200’. It’s plenty of width to set a jump course or do all the flatwork your heart desires.

Sorry, I’m no help on prices. The arenas were here before me. Do spend the money getting the base right, and laser-leveled. An unlevel base is a huge PITA to fix.

[SugarCubes]

My ring is 85x140 and while I wish it were longer, it’s PLENTY wide. You’d be fine with 80’ IMO. In my area, it’s common to use a skid loader plus a heavy duty compactor to build a ring. We have clay soil already, so our excavator just dug out the topsoil and graded the clay, added several inches of screenings which were watered and compacted. I had previous issues with my base, so this time we let it sit over the winter and just added the sand last spring.

I also have a swale along one side of the ring, and while I wouldn’t consider it “all-weather” it drains well and is usually good to go 24 hours after a rain storm. IIRC, in total it cost me around 20-25K, but we didn’t do any fancy french drains or fancy footing or anything like that.

[clanter]

Do you think the extra ten feet of width is that big of a deal?

depends on depth of your pockets …to put just 6 inches of base/sand over 2,000 square feet takes about 37 cu/yards of material… average double axle dump truck is about 10 to 14 yards… so about four more truck loads

[ToTheNines]

Just finished mine, and love it. Mine ended up 220 x 115. I was going to go narrower, but glad I didn’t because now I can set a hunter course and still have plenty of room to drag and ride even with all the jumps in there.

I’ll re-read your post and see if I have comments on your questions about the base.

[Brave_Mucker]

I live in the North East…lots of snow, lots of rain:

Completed our arena this spring. I visited a local 4 yr college that offers degrees in equine horse management/equestrian studies. They have 4 outdoor arenas. I spent a day with the man who maintains all of the outdoor facilities…best time I could have spent. Couple of things he advised:
1- solid compacted sub base…ITEM 4 3 inches
2- stone dust on top of the sub base 3 inches
3- sand
4- slope = 1 degree on the long axis left to right…recommended this vs a crown…crown gets shave down
We ended up with a 100 x 230 ;wife is a dressage person and wanted a full size arena with room to ride around the markers.
cost = 2 arms, one leg, my kids inheritance…good news is it drains like a dream and no soft spots

[ToTheNines]

Re excavation: My arena guy was not an “arena expert”. His main gigs are roads and foundations. But he knows the dirt around here like no one else, and he is local and accountable. Plus with his main gig, he has fabulous equipment. They brought a HUGE grader and bulldozer for the excavation. I loved his track dozer with the laser level. He said the laser level atltachment was a $30,000 piece of equipment. So don’t count out a local road/foundation guy if you are willing to research and give guidance along the away.

Mine was cut and fill into a slope, about 4’. So one long side is below grade. He sloped the earth down to the long side, then cut a swale. I had the sub-base leveled and compacted, then about 3" of base, then put in my fence posts, then a 2x6 footboard, then about another 3" of base. So far so good. The base is screenings, 1/4" minus. Glad for that choice so far.

I went ahead and put granite sand on the base after it was rained on and re-compacted a few times. However, my sand is only about 2" deep, which is fine for my personal use for now. I don’t mind babying the base through a summer while it sets up more. I feel like more sand would make it too hard to dry.

One other comment you might consider. I did not crown mine. I have been in too many arenas that are so dang deep around the outside. The sand gets thin in the middle, and moves to the outside. Mine is graded less than 1% across the short side. In other words, one long side is slightly higher than the other. I drag in a “hotdog” pattern to keep sand from migrating to the low side. The low long side dries a little more slowly, but my higher practice line is along that side. So if it’s been raining a lot, I won’t use that long side the first day or two I get back on anyway.

And one more thought. I live in Central Texas, and made sure I got a couple of hard rains on the base before adding sand. I wanted to make sure it drained evenly. One of the rains was Hurricane Harvey, so it got a good test! After Hurricane Harvey, there was some “tunneling” at the low side, but that was easily repaired. Don’t be in too big of a hurry to put your sand on!

[Horseman15]

I had a few quotes for an arena here. 100 x 200. It included a crowned center, drains (think drain field - large stone, perforated pipe, wrapped in textile fabric) around all 4 edges with 2 discharge pipes run to the drainage ditch. Geotextile fabric underneath the base, base compacted with a 20 ton vibratory roller, 3 inches of angular sand and 1 inch of rubber. The property is slightly sloped so excavation in to the hill on one corner moving that to use as fill in the other side. The grading was about 50/50 so I didn’t need additional fill. The angular sand would come from a quarry about 95 miles away. All 3 estimated were around $50,000. I’m in PA around the Allentown area

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Thank you all for the responses!

I am thinking about doing the base this fall and then letting it sit over the winter and coming back after the spring rains next summer and doing any touch ups before adding sand.

Interesting comment about not crowning the arena. Wouldn’t an arena sloped from one side to the other still have the same issue with sand moving “downhill?” The land already naturally slopes a little from west to east and even more the long way from south to north.

Perhaps the arenas with too much sand drift are more then 1-2 degrees sloped? IDK.

[ToTheNines]

Re, whether sand will shift to the outside, I am in somewhat uncharted territory here, but with my arena (described above), my hope is that proper drag patterns will keep everything in place. I have heard that the “spinning” pattern in the following video is good for preventing sand from always being pushed out to the edge. With the 'spinning" pattern, half is going to the middle.

Again, mine is not crowned, and not severly sloped. Less than 1% drop from one long side to the other.

But my arena is new, so I can’t speak from experience. And I have not found much helpful research other than this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNRvq_fQ0lA

[Brave_Mucker]

Re the sand moving “south”, not an issue, another key component is to get a good piece of equipment to drag your arena. We drag our arena every two days…it gets heavy use. This insure that all of the material stays in place. One other thing you should consider is the “fencing” around your arena. We put our posts on 8’ centers and started with a course of 2x8 pressure treated boards…to keep the sand in the arena. Next came a 3 strand flex fencing with multiple gates.

Wish you the best