There is a Mud Pit at the Gate!

[Snowflake]

The barn I manage has a serious issue with mud at the gate that provides access to the large grass pasture. (Picture) The horses sink in this knee deep and in fact, I won’t turn my horses out in it but the barn owner and boarders insist that their horses go out to the big grazing area. I’m waiting for someone to get stuck or hurt.

I was thinking I may need to rent a backhoe, dig it out, put in a culvert and cover with gravel. Is there anyway to fix this without renting equipment? The barn is small so no tractor or heavy equipment. Can this be fixed by hand?

[fordtraktor]

I don’t think you need a culvert unless there is a stream? Can’t see the sides but this looks like a classic low spot high traffic drainage issue. You need to fix the low spot where water is accumulating. I would have someone come out with a bobcat, remove all the dirt and mud and haul it away, and fill it in with gravel/limestone dust. Put down geotextile if you can swing it, but it will be OK if not as long as you get to the hard stuff and scrape out all the mud.Mound it so water drains away. Take the stone about 20 feet out in all directions to help with traffic wear and tear, more if there is ground showing already. Basically anywhere there is wear, cover with gravel.

This cannot be fixed economically by hand, the bobcat at least is absolutely necessary. I think that would be better than something bigger because you can do so much detail work with them and this is a small space. Best of luck.

Ask around, my landscaper/handyman has a bobcat and runs it on my farm for $35 an hour. Cheap! And he is very good at driving it which I am not. You can probably find someone like him pretty easily. Lots of landscapers own them.

[Alagirl]

yeah, that’s 35 bucks well spend. It’s gonna take a few hours, vs a few days digging that mess up by hand (plus gravel is heavy.

that area is an accident waiting to happen. Horse or human.

[clanter]

Mixing cement into the soil will help stabilize it.

http://www.cement.org/think-harder-concrete-/paving/soil-cement

[Huntin_Pony]

Another strategy - put in a second gate, let the mud pit dry up THEN regrade and add porous material (gravel, dust). Alternate use of the two gates as necessary.

[lauren38026]

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I have a friend who just installed these new panels called Lighthoof Panels. She used to have problems with mud and puddles around her turnout shelters, main gate and near the barn entry. She purchased these panels and is now raving about them and I am too because they made such a difference! Here’s the link: www.lighthoof.com. She said they’re super light and easy to install.

[saddleup]

I just checked them out and they look great. Did your friend install them herself? I am trying to come up with a solution for the runs off of my horses’ stalls and was going to hire my landscaper to try to solve the problem. I clicked on their links for installers and suppliers but nothing came up. Did your friend buy direct from lighthoof?

[PeteyPie]

I might have to bump up Blume Farm’s thread about her run in… again.
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?434341-My-run-in-barn

The solution she used in her run in shed might work for you, OP. The thing I like about the treated 2x4s is that it seems like such a simple project, something I could do myself, and she said it has lasted a long time.