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Dry cement in mud?

Has anyone ever tried mitigating mud in a small but annoying spot by mixing in dry concrete? Would this work to make the spot less of a sucking mud area? What do you think would happen?

I have plans to eventually dump a bunch of stone dust or gravel on the area but I have this leftover bag of concrete just sitting there…

You could end up with something hard but uneven and very treacherous to walk across

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Valid concern.
What if you rope off the area & flatten with whatever: shovel, lawn roller or ?

Following with interest, as it would help the mudpits by my gates where I foolishly told excavator the geotex wasn’t needed :roll_eyes:

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I think cement is tricky to level on an unstable base. It could also sink into the mud and become a giant rock in the mud.

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I wonder if it did turn into a rock in that spot, would my mares who insist on peeing there be offended by the splashing and quit making the mud worse?

They would manage to slip and trip and hurt themselves :slight_smile:

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They are pretty savvy about all the other rocks and hard places in the pasture and I think the mud is actually more treacherous, so maybe that’s a factor for my particular situation.

It’s going to be hard to take it out when you want to redo it properly.

I mean you can try. But you are unlikely to get a nice smooth concrete pad. Are you going to mix it into the mud? What about if it sinks in the mud?

I definitely don’t want a nice smooth concrete pad. What I’m wondering is, if I mix it into the existing mud, will it help the mud be more stable and dry out into a firm spot instead of a squishy slippery one?

I don’t know. I vote try it. Worst that happens is you have to dig it out and fix the mud/concrete area, which still solves the problem. Report back!

Well, I gave it a shot and it seems okay! I don’t think it’s a permanent solution but the spot is a lot less offensive and it sure was cheap and not that hard.

I scraped off the gushiest layer of the mud and then decided since I was playing with mud anyway to dig sort of a trench and build a mini berm to help with the overall drainage. I mixed in the bag of concrete (with my hands in garden gloves) as I moved it all around and then worked in the last of the bag on the new flattish surface. Then I misted the whole thing with the hose and roped it off for the sunny afternoon.

This morning it’s definitely not a rock but it does seem much firmer and although horses had walked over it the dirt held its shape pretty well. Boss Lady Mare still wants to pee there so I dragged over a mat to further dissuade her for a few days which will help with compaction I think. I am sure I will still end up dumping gravel or something there but I’m curious to see how it does after the next rain first.

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Hello! How is the cement / mud mix holding up for you? Did you use plain cement or did you use a compound such as Quikrete? Thank you for any tips.

Hi! I used Quikrete. It held up pretty well until the rainy season really took hold and then it was like it was never there, lol. I ended up finding some mats to put down there. I’ll be fighting that spot forever. Anyway it was an easy enough experiment!

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