When to drag after rain?

[SugarCubes]

I have a new-ish arena and am still figuring out the best way to maintain it. My builder told me to “seal” it before it rains with my chain harrow flipped over to the smooth side, but how long after it rains should it be drug again and with which side of the harrow?

Do I wait a day? A few hours? Is there a certain moisture level that it should ideally be at before dragging? I’m afraid of messing it up if it’s too wet still. My footing is a mix of sand and stonedust, if that makes a difference.

It’s raining now, I didn’t get a chance to seal it before the storm hit, so now I’m wondering how long before I should drag it and I am good to ride on it?

[FrittSkritt]

Not sure what your arena material is, but ours is sand and can get really saturated after a heavy rain. I tend to just eyeball/foot test it. We had about an inch of rain last night and it’s quite soft today, so I’ll give it a day or so to dry out and firm up before I run the drag through it. (We have an old-fashioned chain harrow with only one side.) The flip side is if you wait too long, it’s really hard and I have to run the drag through twice to get it broken up enough.

We’re also in a unique situation as the footing is old and thus the sand is dusty. It retains moisture under that top layer fairly well, but once you drag it, it dries out and gets dusty. (Especially when it’s 90+ degrees every day!) If I know I’m not going to ride for another day or so, I’ll just leave it and let it “hold” the moisture, then drag right before I ride so the moist sand is kicked up to the top surface.

Anyway… YMMV, especially with a new arena!! My rules are based on observation and some voodoo. :winkgrin:

[Pocket_Pony]

Drag before the rain if you can. When I lived in CA and we’d get heavy rains I’d drag it beforehand, then maybe have to wait a day or two depending on how much rain. I could ride on it and it would be great, I wouldn’t have to drag it again right away. Then after maybe a couple days I would drag it again and it would be perfect. If it is really soupy and wet you are going to pull sand in not-good ways, so I’d err on the side of waiting a bit longer.

[SugarCubes]

Ok, thanks! It’s currently pretty soupy/squishy, so I’m thinking wait a day or two until it feels more firm but still damp to drag it?

[Palm_Beach]

I don’t think that dragging with a chain harrow flipped over seals a surface. It needs to be compressed and smoothed, usually with a heavy drag or roller, so the rain does not penetrate. Then it needs to be harrowed to unseal it before being used for riding.

The only reason I would drag before rain is if the surface tends to channel and wash out, and dragging would help prevent this.

I drag when my surface is damp but not wet. Keeps the dust down. If we did have a heavy rain and the surface began to channel, dragging restores consistency.

[LilyandBaron]

I use my harrow upside down to smooth it out and it does help the rain flow off the surface better, without washing footing around. I do have a heavy roller, but the upside down harrow works just fine. I debated building a box drag for that purpose, but so far, no need. I feel torn on timing - I have a full time job, so can’t drag just exactly when conditions are right. So sometimes I drag and it’s still a bit wet - and sand sticks to the tires of the UTV I use, as well as the drag. But if I wait for it to dry out, I feel like I lose a lot more in dust! I think it’s a bit more art than science depending on your particular sand, and local conditions.

[Pocket_Pony]

You’ll have to just feel it out. If when you step in the sand and it puddles under your foot, it is definitely too wet to drag.

Regarding “sealing” with a harrow . . . that’s all I used for years and it works just fine. Basically you want to get the surface smooth enough that the water doesn’t pool in the “cups” of the hoofprints that are already there. If you have a roller then I agree you would probably want to drag again, but a harrow is fine.

FWIW, I never ever turned my harrow tines-down for working the arena, always tines up.

[Wonders12]

It’s very dependent on your arena (and weather). Moderate rain followed by a windy afternoon or day can dry up an arena very quickly. Older arenas on clay soil may take days before you can drag.

I definitely don’t want me or the tractor sinking into the footing. I’ll generally drag once I consider is ride-able. I might ride on it a little earlier than I’ll drag. But we don’t ride in sloppy footing because we have an indoor arena available and I don’t like to risk damage to the arena.

Generally, puddles mean no dragging. If you sink into the footing, no dragging. If you walk and your footprints fill with water, no dragging. But you’ll have to guess and test a little for your arena.

[Miss_Motivation]

See my response #50 in the other thread here, called “Closing the arena when it rains…”. Everyone has their own little tricks and tips- I describe my ‘toe tap test’ in the mentioned post… works for me!

[myrna]

i try to drag the arena before it rains and only use the smoother side of the harrow.works well for us.

[judybigredpony]

I don t drag until the surface water is off and the footing firming up…other wise you run the risk of tractor ruts and the harrow marks drying into a crusty ridges when ring dries out…Correct to seal a ring or track you have to ROLL it or campact it…flipping harrow doesn t do that…ask a Race Track Maintenance guy!!!

Wonders12"Generally, puddles mean no dragging. If you sink into the footing, no dragging. If you walk and your footprints fill with water, no dragging. But you’ll have to guess and test a little for your arena." Nailed it…

[Libby2563]

[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;8836573]
You’ll have to just feel it out. If when you step in the sand and it puddles under your foot, it is definitely too wet to drag.

Regarding “sealing” with a harrow . . . that’s all I used for years and it works just fine. Basically you want to get the surface smooth enough that the water doesn’t pool in the “cups” of the hoofprints that are already there. If you have a roller then I agree you would probably want to drag again, but a harrow is fine.

FWIW, I never ever turned my harrow tines-down for working the arena, always tines up.[/QUOTE]

I agree with all of this, except I drag with the harrows tines-down as instructed by my very knowledgeable arena builder. Because the drag is too heavy for me to flip myself, I seal it with the tines down too and that works just fine. The main goal is to get rid of hoofprints that water will pool in. I never used to seal it but I have found that it makes a HUGE difference in how quickly the arena is rideable again–like hours instead of days, especially in the winter and early spring. In the summer I don’t worry about it as much because the sun and heat help it dry out fast.

My footing (sand and rubber) is perfectly rideable after drying from a rain (doesn’t get crusty like other people describe), but it is a nice time to do the job without creating huge clouds of dust. FWIW, I don’t think dragging it too wet can possibly mess up your footing itself. The concern is more that if the base is saturated it might be soft, so tooling around on the tractor could cause damage.

[SugarCubes]

Thanks for all of the good info! We ended up getting 6" of rain over a 48hr period so the ring was pretty soupy. I finally ended up dragging yesterday, probably could have done it a day earlier, but better safe than sorry!