After a few years of doing stalls the regular way, we’re looking to save wear/tear on ourselves and maybe save some time.
Which of these two solutions will work better? Cost is a factor but not an obstacle.
We use mini-flake shavings if that matters.
The barn in NY where I board in the summer has both. BO and staff really like the stall sifter – barn owner has used for a number of years and feels it saves on bedding and allows staff to clean stalls more quickly once they get used to it. The shakn fork is used to clean poop from the indoor arena (rubber crumb footing) and works well.
I’m only thinking here, but unless the sifter is significantly faster, having a shaking fork seems more versatile and affordable. There is no need to move bedding back and forth and it’s portable should you take it to a show. You can sift as much or little as necessary. Finally, I could afford two of them which means two people can get the stalls done in half the time or have one as backup.
My in-laws have a sifter machine and we borrowed it once for a trial. It would be interesting to put it head-to-head against the shaking fork. I’m sure I could sell the shaking fork if it turns out we didn’t prefer it.
A barn I ride at uses the sifter. I’m not sure if it actually saves any time, but does save effort, I guess. My question about the fork would be how much vibration would you feel in your hands? I could see that getting old after a while.
[QUOTE=Mango20;8820151]
A barn I ride at uses the sifter. I’m not sure if it actually saves any time, but does save effort, I guess. My question about the fork would be how much vibration would you feel in your hands? I could see that getting old after a while.[/QUOTE]
My guess is that because it only vibrates a fraction of the time you’re using it, and because it’s not a heavy implement, it’s not very irritating. (This is based on my experience with string trimmers and chainsaws)
I have a stall sifter and I really like it. I only use it if I have to do a lot of stalls or really dirty stalls. The things I like the most are: it does a REALLY good job of getting stalls clean. I’m anal, so that’s important to me. Secondly, it is easier work than by hand. Third, it does save shavings. Dislike: not any faster, not slower either. Does create a fair amount of dust, so best used after horses are turned out. There are some tricks to using. You have to clean out wet spots first and you need to use small flake shavings. Good luck! PKN
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