Arena woes

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My_Eeyore

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I laid a new arena surface of sand with 2" of rubber on top 6 months ago. I purchased a leveller from the rubber company to supposedly enable the rubber to be kept on the top.

Despite our best efforts the rubber is dissapearing into the sand in all but the centre of the school. It now rides very deep. I don't understand what I have done wrong.

To those of you that have or ride in a sand and rubber arena. Is it mixed up or does the rubber sit on top, also does it ride deep.

I just don't know what to do now
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what sand do you have?
ours is silca sand with rubber on top it mixes in a little bit but the rubber does stay on the top. we have an arena mate leveller
 
when I had ours done we had seriously expensive sand and then rubber on top - the rubber stayed on top. I put the level over it and no sand ever came to the surface. I hate to say it - I believe your sand is not the correct sort.
 
The sand is silica sand and the rubber is chunks bought from softrack. I also use the leveller advised by them the keep-a level. The guy that did it says it will ride deep until its all mixed in. But infact the reverse seems to be true. The mixed stuff rides very deep and the non mixed rides the best. Softrack said if i bought this particular leveller the rubber would stay on top but it hasn't. My neighbour has sand and rubber and hers is all mixed up so freezes in winter which mine also does on the mixed parts.
 
Hmm I queried the sand with the contractor and he assured me its the same sand he always uses for arenas he even had the quarry guy come down and confirm it was equestrian sand. How can I either prove or disprove what he is telling me. Can you tell by looking at it. When it arrived it looked just like the sand in the early learning centre sacks (play sand)
 
Have you got a reciept that shows what type of sand? Does the supplier give a warranty you could claim against?
 
I had the same problem and had our sand analysed and it turned out to be single sized and round which basically meant it was like riding on a bag of marbles. Sand needs to be angular and of different sizes to enable it to compact. I went back to the company that supplied it and said it was not fit for the purpose it was sold for and after alot of arguements they refunded my money in full but only after threatening them with court action. I won't say on here who supplied it but we got it tested using a company called something like Site Analytical Services and they were brilliant. It will never improve so it may be like us that you have to start over again. We used Trackright the second time and it is excellent.
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Little scribbles, you can tell by looking at the individual grains, if you have good stuff to compare it to... i can send you a bit in the post if you like, mine comes from the same quarry as Charles Britton uses, it's definitely silica sand. for equestrian use, it must be subangular particles, i.e. they will lock together because of the angles, they aren't like little marbles that roll against each other. it makes a massive difference.
the type of rubber matters too. certain types float on top, the bigger the pieces the more likely they are to do this. they will mingle a bit with use but the sand is washed off with any rain and the rubber is on top again. what size rubber particles do you have? post a pic maybe.
i have equestrian sand + Springride shredded rubber and it's great. had exactly the same at my last place, also great. unless i won the lottery, i wouldn't have anything else.
have you tried rolling your arena to get it to consolidate a bit more?
 
What a shame, sorry to hear that because I know they are quite expensive. At our yard they had a sand and rubber surface put down over 12 months ago, put more rubber down as advised after about 3-4 months and they level it with an old gate attached to a quad bike and it rides beautifully. Never goes deep and doesn't freeze. Maybe it's the type of sand or not enough rubber or would insufficient drainage cause a problem? Will they not come back and advise you?
 
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