i am trying to figure out what to buy for my sacrifice pasture to help mitigate the mud. I have read to lay down a geotextile fabric but I’m not sure what type… I’ve read pavement type, woven, unwoven, cow carpet? Can someone please point me in the right direction. What to get/ where. Must stand up to Maine winters. Planning on topping it with crushed rock and then sand…
This is what I was always taught, but IME you may not even need it if there aren’t places where water pours onto it and collects. Make sure any shelters are guttered off and make sure your area - especially under the gates - drives water to low traffic areas.
IE: if for example 4" of new rock/sand cost the same as the geotextile, the rock/sand might be more effective and possibly easier to maintain.
Keep in mind I live in the pacific northwest and our issue is winter rain, not snow.
You put the fabric down to prevent mixing the fill rocks and dirt under it. You need a good DEEP layer, 5-7inches, over the fabric to protect it from hooves. We had put fill on the paddocks before, big truckloads, more than once! Fill just disappeared into our clay dirt after a year or two with horses on it. Boot sucking mud came back. No fill lost with fabric layer, they stay firmly gravel under boots and hooves.
We bought a whole roll of a felt type geotextile fabric. You can about see thru it, cuts with scissors, but it DOES hold the fill in place. I think it came 14ft wide, is very light to lift the roll and handle while laying out the material. Overlap the edges at least a foot, spike them down to stay in place while moving the fill around on top of fabric. We rented a bobcat, skidsteer machine to move the fill.
Check at landscape places, see what they have for fabrics. Perhaps you could purchase a roll from them. I was surprised at how tough this felt stuff is, how well it has held up over the years. It just looks so sleazy! Not even Halloween quality black felt for art projects! I consider the fabric to have been money well spent, haven’t lost a boot in years!
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Contact a specialist in your area. Preferably an excavator that has tons of experience with similar projects. Have him come out and give a quote and tell you what materials he will use. Ask for recommendations of customers whose completed projects you can visit. Ask lots of questions about what worked, what didn’t work. Decide if you can do the project on your own based on the proper specifications.
We are in NY and have clay soil which can get very muddy. Some textile laid on top of the clay soil with the proper amount of crusher dust put on top made the world of difference. It takes a lot more crusher dust than you might think, but if it is done correctly, it is wonderful!
We’ve used both crusher dust with a sand coating on top or straight crusher dust with no sand on top. As long as the total depth is appropriate, either works. I would probably opt for the straight crusher dust. It seems to settle faster and need less raking to remove the divots.
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We bought our geotextile from a company directly-- an erosion control place. Like Goodhors, we installed directly over hard packed clay in summer, covered by 5" of screenings-- smaller than 5/8" minus-- and it’s been perfect for 12 years. Well we added gravel a few times.
You need somebody with a good eye to advise you. In our county the Soil Conservation staff will send out a person to look at what we have and make suggestions. You might try and call your county office and see what they can do for you.
You might also try the Extension Office. If they can’t help you it’s a good bet they can give you a name or two.
Good luck in your program.
G.
Non woven. It’s water permeable which is what you want.
