Do I want to Harrow a rutted area I ride in?

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Scot123

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Hello - can you help me with what's the best thing to do please? I have cornered off a small area of the field for riding. Access to this part isn't wide enough for a tractor. I have been strimming it to keep the grass down. It isn't too badly drained but the soil is quite heavy. After using it for a few months it is now quite rutted from his hooves and will soon not be safe to school on. So... what do I do?!!
I have been reading up and think it sounds as though rolling might not the best option as the soil will become very compacted - is that correct?
Sounds as though a chain harrow might be the way to go, I could pull one along behind my 4x4. Does this sound sensible? And if so are there any major Do's & Don'ts involved?
Or if anybody else rides on a 'grass arena' (sounds very fancy for the manky old bit of field it is:)) do you have any tips on management?

Thank you x
 
Please help....! It was probably a rubbish title for a post, but if anybody has a 'grass arena' then hints and tips are much appreciated :)
 
Hopefully someone more expert will come along. Harrowing will help, particularly if the ground is soft... but not too soft! Ground maintenance is an art, trying to do it when the ground is just right.
 
I had a grass “arena” for many years.
I would Harrow first then roll it, and it was perfectly fine apart from (being on clay) when it got really wet.
I generally harrowed and rolled in spring, and again in autumn if it needed it, which it didn’t too often.
Harrowing alone may work,but you need the right consistency. Too wet, and the tow vehicle leaves tracks, too dry and you may as well not bother.
 
Thank you. So if conditions are right, the harrowing should reduce the ruttingwithout the need for rolling too? Is it a chain harrow you used? If so did you need to wright it diwn? I'm guessing it's kind of trial and error til you know just when to do it without it being too wet or dry... x
 
I have a grass area I used for schooling, itis also lightly used for grazing Feb/March time. In Spring when it has dried out enough to get tractor on it gets harrowed with chain harrows and then rolled and it is fine for the rest of the year. I do have to be careful to look after it, no jumping if wet enough to cut up and I take care not to make tracks in it, stamp divots etc.

I have harrowed to repair a field this late in the year with good results but we used chain harrows that are on a frame, I can't see any way you could do this without tractor access. I would think the ground will be too hard for rolling alone to work.
 
A quick and free way of trying harrowing is to use a pallet, weighed down with old wheels or something heavy, towed with your 4x4 so the slats are laying side to side. I was going to buy some harrows, but actually this works just as well for what I need (levelling ground rather than improving grazing).
 
Hi, thank you very much! This gives me something to start with as I really had no idea til I started Googling... I really like the idea of giving the harrowing a trial run with the pallet. Husband already at sucking teeth stage with me proclaiming I need a harrow, if I got one and it didn't actually work then it wouldn't lead to a happy house! I'll give that a go when the ground seems up to it. Thanks too GoldenWillow, it has been and continues to be a learning curve with what conditions I can use it or not! A few occasions I thought it had dried out enough and then within a couple of minutes use the divots were flying!
 
We're on clay, harrowing with a tractor (so tine/spring harrows, not chain) did a biiiit, but rolling made all the difference, like a bowling green afterwards!
 
There are companies that offer field maintenance using quads rather than tractors so that may be an option

you could always lightly scarify the worst areas, knock the peaks off any ruts and get some sand down but it will need some time to recover.

i have a grass schooling area and graze a few sheep on it. It's amazing how much they flatten the area. Failing sheep it's just a matter of using the area wisely, I stay off mine completely after prolonged heavy rain no matter how tempting it is to use it.
I let the grass grow a little so it has some spring in it and protects the ground underneath. Ponies are not allowed to graze it unless it's bone dry mid summer.
With all of this we get about six weeks a year on average that it's not useable.
We were using it in January when it was dry!
 
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