That muddy, soupy, squishy area by the gate - can it be fixed or helped?

[JJARAB]

So, like the title says… is there anything that can be done to firm up the area in the pasture by the gate? The rest of the pasture stays moderately firm, a little soft in areas, but right by the gate, yikes. Even the horses don’t want to cross it and I’m getting frustrated with getting my boots sucked off while trying to convince my horse that he really won’t drown crossing it (he gets sucked into it just as bad as I do) while he tries his best not to slide around and step on me.

Wood Chips? Stone Dust? Crusher run with something on top?

I don’t want to spend a ton of money (it’s not my own place, but BO doesn’t have a problem if we make improvements on our own) but I’m willing to put in a little $$ as is his pasturemate’s owner to making this more manageable. The worst of it is about 10 x 10 or 12 x 12. TIA.

[mountainhorse]

Not a long term fix, but if it’s not your own property, some kind of rubber mat that you can make a path out of the field and through the gate with, over the muck, might be best. That way, if you leave the property later on, it’s something you can take with. ?
Rock and permanent fixes get pricey, but are more traditional, permanent ways of fixing the problem.

[Chaila]

My BM stabilized a muddy patch by mixing it with some dry concrete and raking it in with a metal rake. Made a huge difference.

[JJARAB]

Tell me more about the concrete part - did it harden completely or just become more firm? Was it leveled after it was mixed it and allowed to sit?

Willing to invest a couple hundred in materials if we need to. We could probably have free-to-cheap access to equipment. Interested in the mechanics of how it’s done either way if someone’s willing to share.

Not that worried about the leaving an improvement behind. BO’s health hasn’t been great of late, so anything we do that takes a load off him and makes it better for someone else later, I’m ok with it. It’s a pretty DIY place.

Also very ok with not getting a rotational fracture in my lower leg from twisting and sliding around.

[SonnysMom]

Scrape, geotextile/cow carpet with stone over top. Wood chips instead might work to get you to summer and would be cheaper than stone.

If you just put stone or chips on top of what is there it will get sucked up and disappear in the mud.

[Ambitious_Kate]

Dig it out, scrape it out, geotextile and add stone dust, then don’t allow any kind of biodegradeable anything to sit there. That means no hay, (don’t feed them near the gate)can be left on the ground, pick up all the manure, and especially don’t purposefully put any kind of stall shavings, wood chips or bedding on that area. Keep it picked up and it won’t get bad again (after you’ve dug out the mud and manure and fixed it with stone dust.

[PNWjumper]

Hogsfuel (wood chips) works great for a short-term and relatively inexpensive solution for an area that’s already a muddy mess. For a longer term solution you’ll want to scrape it back down and go the route others have suggested with geotextile/rocks once everything dries out.

[enyo44]

Ecogrid

[Foxtrot_s]

Ditch and culvert to divert extra water, hard fill on top…that’s what we have but it does not get a lot of use in the winter with multiple horses clamoring to come in at supper time.

[st_francis]

I have the same problem , I was wondering if I could build some kind of bridge, a mud bridge instead of a water bridge?

We just got our driveway re done last fall and a gravel apron around the barn and the excavator cost was…really high. Just to get the equipment there would eat up half the budget.

[mkevent]

I found this link when I was researching for my website and it has some great information

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id164/id164.pdf

When I had my farm, I scraped down to the hard pan and filled up the area with recycled asphalt. It set up well and was relatively inexpensive.

[gumtree]

There are a number of “engineered” ways to go about as some have suggested. Me, I have too many other more important things to devote my time and sweat equity. I dump 3-5 tons of #2-mod gavel, level and compact the best I can with my tractor and FEL. Sometimes that will take care of it but usually needs a couple more tons a few months later. Gravel and mud, like water will “seek its own level”. Once found problem solved. That’s what I did at our hi-traffic gates and it has not been a problem since.

Forgot to include. IMO it is best to do this while it is still a quagmire. The gravel will settle deeper, quicker. But it can take quite a few tons of gravel to get it “walk-able”. Bit of a learning curve to it. Tossing and working in some grass seed helps “bind” things together.

[Frog_Pond]

[QUOTE=gumtree;8047728]
There are a number of “engineered” ways to go about as some have suggested. Me, I have too many other more important things to devote my time and sweat equity. I dump 3-5 tons of #2-mod gavel, level and compact the best I can with my tractor and FEL. Sometimes that will take care of it but usually needs a couple more tons a few months later. Gravel and mud, like water will “seek its own level”. Once found problem solved. That’s what I did at our hi-traffic gates and it has not been a problem since.[/QUOTE]

This is also very affordable. Always a bonus.

[Kestrel]

Depending on how much work/$ you want to invest, you could try one of these:

http://www.lighthoof.com/

http://www.hoofgrid.com/

I was planning on putting one in my horse’s 48’x16’ run-out, but our winter was so dry that there wasn’t much of a mud problem. They put down an old mat right where he steps out of the stall, and it solved the problem. If it was in a place where the horses could run, I would use a mat with bumps on it, not a smooth one.

[EAH]

I have clay and it used to get really deep when wet and even pull off my boots. I do not like to spend money when it is not needed. To solve the problem I obtained old house carpet (from carpet stores that install carpet–it was free. Make sure no carpet nails are present). I level the area to about grade then lay the carpet then cover with decomposed granite or similar material. The area will be slightly elevated and will stay dry!!! I love this and have used it in many areas including the exit to a run from a stall.

[bdj]

For a small area (like just outside a stall door) - I’ve had really good luck with ring mats like this: https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft_equine_supplies-ft_equine_flooring_wall;pg108620.html
Just dug the area flat(ish), and laid the mat down. After a while, it sinks in a bit, and then sort of fills itself in with dirt, which the grass will grow through. They’re not terribly expensive for a small area, and next to no labor.

[Fred]

[QUOTE=SonnysMom;8047040]
Scrape, geotextile/cow carpet with stone over top. Wood chips instead might work to get you to summer and would be cheaper than stone.

If you just put stone or chips on top of what is there it will get sucked up and disappear in the mud.[/QUOTE]

This is what I did in a number of my gate areas and it has worked great.

[costco_muffins]

Keep an eye out on craigslist and your local facebook free/trade/sale pages. We got 10 yards of recycled asphalt delivered to our rural address for $100, as they basically wanted to dump it.

If you scrape out the worst of the mud, you can put this down as a cheaper alternative to gravel.

[kalidascope]

Realistically, scraping/removing the mud is a huge and costly effort, especially at this time of year (getting machinery in over soft soil??), and well above OP’s stated budget. Even to do one gateway by hand is a loooooot of work (and where do you put the mud?).

Get some quotes for a couple of tons of gravel (aggregate/whatever) delivered, and buy a bag or two of concrete if you wish. It will do :).

[fredsaid2]

We boxed in the area on both sides of the gate and dumped stone dust down. We didn’t scrape off the topsoil or add anything other than the stone dust. Surprisingly, it’s stayed in place and remained firm even with all the snow/rain we’ve had. This was done several years ago, so far it’s working out great!