How well does the Geotextile fabric work?

[horsepoor]

[QUOTE=Jim_in_PA;7913926]

For folks who are having an issue with it being dug up…it wasn’t installed under a deep enough base then. A few inches of stone, etc., is not enough for a proper footing and there should also be a well compacted, interlocking base over it. In driveways, that’s typically 6-8" of 3/4" modified installed and rolled before the surface layer goes on, for example. For a paddock, I’d probably put down 4-6" of modified, compact it well, and then put in stone dust footing. But that’s me…[/QUOTE]

Well…it also depends on the determination of the horses. When we first did our sacrifice paddocks, we did geotex with about 6" of 5/8" minus, compacted, then topped with a couple inches of pea gravel. It was GREAT while I had just the retired horse and mini mule on it, then I brought home the 2 year old warmblood. Who would dig. And dig. The layer of 5/8" minus was so packed, I couldn’t move it with a shovel, but that #$%! horse would manage to dig it up. We usually got it refilled before he hit the geotex, but not always. Had the same issue with another dumb warmblood, but not all of mine have had the desire to dig.

For the one, since he is still here and has to be on a dry lot as he is EMS/IR, I spent the money on hoof-grid – no more digging. The other paddock is half grid, half the original geotextile topped with gravel and it does great. Probably been close to 10 years now since we did the original, and we’ve just had to pull out mucky gravel (no matter how much you clean up, it still eventually gets mucky from the poop churners) and replace some maybe twice in that time.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

[QUOTE=Lady Counselor;7912332]
I did a search, but nothing specific to this question came up. To those who use Geotextile fabric, how well does it work?
How long does an application last?
What sort of base/fill did you use?
I am dealing with a lot of mud and muck this winter, already. I have a guy scraping the sacrifice area and laying down river sand tomorrow. That should get us through the rest of winter and mud season.
I think I want to install geotextile next summer. Around the feeder, the gate and waterer, and a path from the gate out. I have clay over gravel, so drainage can be iffy in spots.

Any advice? Things you would have done differently? I am looking at Lowes for the fabric; is that good enough or are there other companies who specialize in animal footing?
TIA.[/QUOTE]

I can tell you this: I spread 2" of gravel on muddy area last winter. It’s gone. Every last speck has been pushed down into the ground. As far as you can stick a shovel into the ground before it hits something solid - that’s how far the gravel will end up sinking.

Geotex is the only thing that will keep that from happening. You need the base and you need thickness on top to keep it from coming up.

David

[Jim_in_PA]

hoofpoor, there are always going to be exceptions and some horses who think they are backhoes… The grid is an excellent idea when that’s a possibility!

[Lady_Counselor]

Thanks for all the input. I am not sure where to look for my local soil and conservation people though…I’m in New England. Ignorant question, but do they exist out here?
I am checking out Farmtek too. I really want to just do it once and not have to tear it up and redo it in five years.
It sounds like it will be well worth the time and money spent on it.

[Simkie]

[QUOTE=Lady Counselor;7915639]
Thanks for all the input. I am not sure where to look for my local soil and conservation people though…I’m in New England. Ignorant question, but do they exist out here?[/QUOTE]

Google the name of your county and “soil conservation district.” I can’t imagine they don’t exist out there!

[hosspuller]

I used geotex at the gates 17 years ago. Where the horses would mill around waiting for feed. As they milled around they churned the dirt into shoe sucking mud. The geotex with gravel on top fixed the problem completely.

[Lady_Counselor]

Thanks Simkie. I just found them. They seem to be low key around here. I see they also offer help with invasive plants. Since the flooding from Hurricane Irene, we have that knotweed all over the place now, as well as that awful bittersweet vine. Hoping they can give advice on eradicating that over the winter as well.
Will let you guys know how it works out. Thanks again for all of the input.

[wildlifer]

As well as it is installed. This type of work is part of my job & doing it properly DOES require understanding of hydrology, soil, topography, & the materials involved. Get with someone reputable who knows what they’re doing; extension/Farm Bill agents are always a good place to start, as is NRCS.

[fatappy]

My situation is a bit different… but i am posting for the next person who searches ‘Geotextile.’

I put stuff from the big box stores down underneath the pea gravel in front of my barn and I hate it! I don’t hate it as much as when it was just pea gravel on top of mud, but i really do hate it. The fabric is now trapping the muck. Muck being from dead leaves, dropped hay, and the stray poop balls. I have a layer of sludge on top of the fabric and under the pebbles. It’s just a mess. I bet it would be much different with something that is compacted, but for me, it’s just been a headache.

[winter]

I put down fabric on my lane way with gravel overtop. I love it. We did not remove topsoil, just put it down as-is and it has comletely solved our mud problem. It will rut when the underneath is soft and wet, but wet I can handle, just not mud. In our all weather turnouts we did fabric over topsoil with crush compacted over that and pea gravel over the crush. Works great so far, no mud whatso ever. Removing all of the topsoil was more expensive than crush for us.

[Jim_in_PA]

fatappy, the landscape cloth under bare stone is fine for gardens, but not what you want for the situation you describe. There’s no compacted base on top of it and pea gravel “moves” a lot, allowing debris to filter down like you mention. That said, without it, you’d likely have even more muck because you’d have the stuff moving down from above as well as the soil migrating up from below…