I have various blades in my shop. It is best to use one that has at least 80+ teeth blade. There is a blade designed to cut Trex decking boards that are made out of recycled plastic. I assume they are designed to prevent gumming. Plastic melts at a pretty low temps and LOTS of repetitive cuts will be made in one “sitting” when building a deck. A gummed up blade would become a PITA. The blade can be used for wood also.
At to gumming up the blade. Well, IME this depends on the experience/confidence of the operator. It sheepish, goes slow when making the cut this will cause heat build up and tend to melt the rubber.
The best way to about it is to take a 2X4 and place under the marked cut. If there is enough lap/fold of the mat on both sides of the 2X4 the weight of each will cause the cut to expand away from the blade while cutting. This will prevent “blade binding”, excessive friction heat. The trick it to make the cut quickly also.
Yes mats can be cut with a knife. Do it the same way as above. The ease of this depends on the thickness of the mat and its composition. If only 1 mat or 2 needs to be cut might not be worth “setting up a cutting station”. Especially if one does not have blades and saw on hand. But I can tell you from experience of doing both ways. Cutting with a saw is far easier and quicker for me.
If using a saw with a blade “on hand” and gumming is a problem. Try taking the blade off and reinstall “backwards”. So the teeth kerf are in the wrong direction for cutting wood. The same that is done when cutting metal siding,
As to the cost of bedding, straw verses shavings. In my neck of the wood, hands down, straw if cheaper and IMO and experience easier, faster and leaves a cleaner stall when done correctly by someone with experience and know the tricks of the trade.
The cost of straw is area specific. The quality of the straw the same. Not all baled straw is the same. A lot of producers are using the newer more efficient rotary combines. Unless they change the “set up” and most don’t the “straw” kicked out the back can be very much on the “mulch” side of things. Instead of the nice long stemmed that pre-rotary machines kick out. 1 35 lb bale of long stemmed straw will easily expand and fill a nice fully 12X12 stall. Only about a 1/2 bale will be needed there after for a while per day. Depending on how tidy the horse is. “Mulched” straw may take 2 bales per stall.
As to cost around here I pay around $2-3 per bale in quantity. Usually right out of the field. $90 per ton if I bale it after right after being harvested by the producer. They don’t mind the lower price because it is one less time consuming job so they can turn round and plant the next more valuable crop ASAP.
The price of straw will depend on harvest weather conditions. We had a couple of very wet wheat baling years. Straw can be rained on once maybe twice with quick dry down and have little to no effect on the baled product. Other than not being bright yellow. But it can tend to get “crispy” and break down much more under the feet of horses.
But if there is prolonged rain/wet conditions for days the longer the straw lays wet the more it breaks down. Its not worth baling. Which is what happened around here. So it was just tilled into the ground when prepping the field for the next planting. Supply was very short and the price sky rocketed to $5 per bale. Hay prices!
I am in the mushroom growing capital of the country. Straw muck out is used/composted for mushroom growing soil. So they come and pick it up and pay me about $150 per truck load. But this service is not offered to small hobby operations. Takes too long for those with a small number of horses to generate a big enough “fresh” pile to fill a truck. No one will touch shavings. Have to own, rent a dumpster and pay to have shipped to a land fill.
When I compost it takes around 6± months for my muck to turn into dirt with my weather conditions.
As with all my comments over the years. It is based on my experience in my neck of the woods running a business not a hobby farm. Those of us in the business of horses and run a fairly large farm have to go about things differently than those with hobby farms. All, or just some of what I talk about may or may not apply.
