Is fine flake or extra fine flake shavings better? Which is less dusty? Someone mentioned that the fine flake shavings from tractor supply is dusty compared to other fine flake shavings brands. Has anyone who’s ever used TS fine flake shavings noticed this? And is there a difference in dust between fine flake and extra fine flake? I’ve heard queen fine flake shavings is good too, but I wish tractor supply sold it since I’m always there.
I hate the TS shavings, they are overpriced. I use shavings that are fine or soft flaked as long as they are absorbent and not dusty…TS has neither.
ETA, have you sought help for your shavings/stall obsessions? LOL
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I have never purchased TS shavings (I’m in Ontario and we do not have TS stores) but I do purchase “sawdust” from a local mill. The shavings are very fine but are not dusty. I prefer the fine shavings as they do bed better. They are a lot more dense than the larger flaked shavings, are easier to pick, they stay put in a stall a lot better (as in they don’t all shove to the sides when horses get up like the larger flaked shavings do) and absorb urine a lot better as well.
As a plus, sawdust is cheaper to purchase at our mill than the large flakes. I have purchased bagged shavings to take to shows for years and years, but I prefer my sawdust now that I actually bag it at home and now take it to shows with me.
I use TSC extra fine shavings and I love them. Not dusty, fall right through the fork, and convenient.
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Check to see if your TSC carries the fine shavings packaged in brown paper.
Really heavy, packed bags, priced 50¢ more than the TSC branded fine, but worth the extra cost.
This stuff:
In the recent past I was able to get sawdust from a local furniture maker for free.
But he’s cut back to his older Regulars (& has horses himself) as business slowed.
That was dusty at first, but settled.
I use the Tractor Supply fine flake shavings and I do not find them to be overly dusty.
I find favorite horse bedding to be one of those things that each person has their own preference.
Buy a few bags of several kinds of shavings and try them to see what you like best.
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Right now, my TSC has the American Excelsior for $1 less than the TC brand 
Unfortunately they’re not in-store, but I may look into this to have ordered in to pick up if it’s no additional cost. 7cuft for $1 less than the 5.5cuft I use now (their yellow bag, fine shavings) is awesome.
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They’re still a good deal for me.
My even better option is a 2h drive to get 50# bags from an Mennonite guy.
Who loads my trailer with a forklift
If you buy a pallet (35 bags) it’s $4.25/bag.
My 16’ stock can hold 3 pallets.
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I am lucky to get Wayne Davis here in Michigan.
I have not used their website, it’s kinda unfinished. Been getting for years. Most of the time they are fine, but occasionally the flakes are larger in the bag which I don’t like as having 2 minis makes it more of a hunt for poop LOL.
WD Quality Bedding | The Quality is in the Bag!
Like $6.30 or so a bag. I am sure it would be less if I bought a pallet (I have to get some today and will ask). The feed co-op I get them from is 1 mile from my house, so I usually just get 10 bags.
I very rarely use my stalls so when I go to the feed store and ask for shavings, I just tell them whatever brand/ flake is cheaper. I’ve never noticed one kind working better than another
Maybe this was a one time thing - but the last time I bought TSC shavings they were ground up pallets which were brown and dusty after one day. Not to mention the pallet chunks in the bag. But I suspect TSC sources shavings from different locations and tries to buy them closer to their distribution channels. So your experiences with them may vary. I am going to stick with my closer supplier and hope he does not run out. I did not see a difference in the size flake versus quality.
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Regarding Tractor Supply, check pricing online and compare the cost between other Tractor Supply stores nearby, here their shavings are $5.59 at some while the very same shavings are $6.59 at others. (these stores are less than 12 miles apart)
TSC will adjust pricing of products to match what they believe an area will accept. The more affluent the area the higher the pricing.
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Because you have posted this before, while I had the website open today I checked this very thing.
I checked all the stores within an hour of my typical store, some of them in very not affluent areas, and every one of them have the shavings at the same price ($6.79).
I wish this applied to my part of the world, but it does not.
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here we have many sources other than TSC
surprising to many there are approximately 80,000 horses in Dallas and Tarrant counties and a lot of competition between the suppliers
(Texas, as a state, has a significantly larger horse population, with estimates ranging from around 748,829 to over a million horses)
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I have always preferred to bed on sawdust…but it has to be the correct type. We have a mill where we can get get ‘green’ sawdust, sawdust from milling green or non-kiln dried pines. There is a natural ‘damp’ to it that keeps any dust down. But its not SO damp that it looses its absorbency or we worry about horses standing in it, feet, etc. It’s hard to describe…its grainy like sand, not dusty.
My dad is a woodworker and always used to get me to take his sawdust. The problem is that he mixes his table saw sawdust (fine), planer shavings (ok) and sander sawdust (awful, too fine and REALLY dusty).
I like the sawdust because
- best absorbency
- cushy
- easy to sift and pick out
- when bedded deeply enough, absorbs the pee and minimizes the spread of bedding as my messy gelding walks through it…and walks through it again
For me, my messy gelding does not do well on shavings. I either toss too much good shavings out or don’t have the stall as clean as I would like it and it never absorbs the whole pee spot.
That’s an interesting point…I also see that there are different brands of shavings at at some. At mine they suck and are overpriced but I have three options within my area to buy from a local business so I do.
There used to be a sawmill north of Birmingham that sold those sorts of shavings/ sawdust. I think they called them “Greenwise” or something implying that they were ecofriendly. I bought some at one time and when other baled shavings were $5 a bale for compressed bales, these were about two shovels full for $5. I liked that they were not dusty at all but the price was untenable for two shovels full. I have not seen them advertised for years so I have no idea if anybody is still selling them. If they had not been gold-plated I would have bought them.
