Arena levelling.... advice needed please

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rebmw

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I was super lucky to have a sand and rubber arena built in summer 2013. At the time, the contractor recommended using a keep-a-level grader to maintain the surface, but to be completely honest when we looked at the price we nearly fell over backwards.
Needless to say we didn't have much cash left over after the build so my husband copied a basic leveller design (the metal gate style with prongs on one edge that you can drag behind a quad) and welded together our own version.
This seemed to do the job quite nicely, but after a while I could notice that there were uneven areas where there would either be a scattering of rubber with sand quite visible (especially when the surface is dry) or areas where the rubber feels a lot deeper (not horrendously deep but obviously a lot more rubber than other areas).
So I had a good dig out round my edges last summer and redeposited the rubber to the areas which looked low on rubber which obviously helped. However i am noticing the rises and falls of the distribution of rubber again and I am wondering what the long term solution is.
Do I need to buy an expensive leveller? I presume that grading an arena isn't rocket science, but could it be that I am doing it wrong somehow?
I feel so fortunate that I have an arena but I am now slightly paranoid that I could be ruining the surface, if that is indeed possible?
Any advice or help would be gratefully received
 
Î have the same problem with my arena which I had put in 13 years ago but its still fine and works perfectly. I have spent lots of time & effort raking/harrowing rubber back to sparse areas only for it to migrate out to the edges again ! I have a leveller that sounds similar to yours I usually go round with the tractor a few times & then hand rake the places where rubber has built up.
 
We have slate sand on our arena and the same thing happens. We have a build up of the surface material on all four sides. We use an old iron gate (found anything else too light) that we use behind the quad to level off and rake/shovel the excess from the sides. Husband is working on an additional 'blade' that will pull the sides into the arena (hope this makes sense)!
 
Thank you for your replies.
Its not so much the migration of the rubber to the edges that puzzles me. I know that pulling the rubber in from the sides is one of those jobs that needs doing from time to time.
Its more the difference in depths of rubber over the whole arena that I can't get to level out that's the problem. For example a 20m circle at a/c has areas where you can see sand yet the middle of the circle has a build up of rubber. I am constantly moving around the arena when I'm riding, never put jumps in the same place and certainly don't get stuck going round and round in the same places, yet I can't get the rubber evenly spread with my leveller.
Is this a common problem with rubber arenas or do I need to buy an expensive leveller to sort this out??
 
I was in the same situation a few years ago. I was shocked how expensive levellers were. My arena was sand and fibre and it was just for personal use. I bought an arena mate (www.arenamate.co.uk). There is an additional attachment that works for fibre, rubber etc. Off the top of my head it was about £1K which was considerably less than any other levellers out there. There is no question that a more expensive one would do a better job but for a private arena it is sufficient.
 
I know I'm resurrecting a v old thread but we've found ourselves with a similar issue and I just wondered if anyone had any advice or solutions? Brand new arena and some areas are v deep and others light on surface. Is this to be expected or is it something we need to ask the builder to address?
 
You need to get the surface level ie the same amount in inches over the whole surface the people who laid the surface should have done this .
It can be done carefully with a mini digger .
I had a friend to do mine last summer as the surface has moved about over the years over the years when the surface was built it was done with big JCB’s and drivers who knew what they where at .
Then roll it using a clean roller the type that the tractor can lift are best
Then you need a leveller I have an arena mate I made the huge mistake of struggling on with a home made one when I first got my school , the arena mate made a huge difference .
At first you need to level Daily that should reduce as the surface settles .
The more rain it gets on it the better at first keep it levelled don’t let it sit churned up .
 
Thank you so much for the replies. We kind of thought the same, common sense etc but it's good to have that confirmed. We didn't know if we were being overly picky or expecting too much or had done something wrong. We've rolled it and waited and been patient and not used it prematurely. We'll speak to the contractor and invest in a proper piece of kit to level it.
 
I have relevelled mine using a scraper on the back of the tractor. Measured the depth with a plastic fence post's metal spike, then skimmed the high spots towards the shallow areas. My friends have their school levelled with a laser-levelled bulldozer every couple of years.
 
I had the same problem this year. Arena was put in in 2014, always OK using gate type leveller. With the very dry weather it got very uneven, two areas where real build up. Couldn’t get it level. Had to bite the bullet and buy expensive leveller - does a much better, job and can do it in half the time!
 
I havent been able to find a leveller that works on my rubber strip arena. We’ve had a couple of the expensive leveller manufacturers out, incl arena mate and they just dont work on the surface. The rubber just bunches. We now use a decent chain harrow.
 
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