Field mats...anyone used them? If so some questions

[madhector]

I have a small yard area in front of the field shelter which I cant shut off and keep the horses off the field, at the moment it has wood chips down but they are slowly disappearing into the mud. I was thinking of putting some of the rubber field mats down and getting the grass resown so it grows up through them. Had a few questions to those that have used them..

When is the best time to put them down? When the ground is dry? Wet? Spring? Autumn?

Do they actually work? I want to create a mud free area for the youngsters to stand next winter 9asume there is no point in doing it now!)

Will they sink into the mud?

Any other tips appreciated

Thanks

 

[ExRacers]

Haven't used the field mats but we did lay a huge old carpet down in summer in our field gateway and once nags got over 'extreme' fear of crossing it, it's done the job perfectly in winter!

 

[Eaglestone]

I have the Fieldguard honeycomb mats in front on my field shelter where my old boy goes out into during the day. I put them down when it was dry and on top of existing wood chippings and added more on top. It is holding up well, however, I cannot really be sure whether it's due to the overhang of the Field Shelter, giving that extra bit of protection, or the matting, although I must say that I am sure I remember it being muckier there last year and as we know, it was much drier then

So not sure if this is much help or not

 

[SpruceRI]

I'm hoping to get some of the honeycomb mats next year. When I spoke to a local dealer about it, he said I need the ground to be as level and hard as possible.

I'm putting my mats down outside my field shelter like Eaglestone but in an area amongst the trees where the grass doesn't grow.

In this case the dealer said I should lay a sheet of membrane (the black nylon anti-weed weave stuff) underneath and then the honeycomb on top as otherwise once the rainy season arrives they honeycomb is likely to just sink into the mud and disappear.

The anti weed stuff is about 20m x 3m on a roll for approx £45, so I'm going to go with that if I can save up enough.

 

[ivenoidea]

Planning to get some.

Do you use the interlocks they sell to join them together/leave them loose? If so how many do you need?

 

[Eaglestone]

With my Fieldguard ones I used the interlocks to keep them together .... I think they suggest 3 per mat, but as I was locking them together in very cold weather I only managed to use 2 of them, however I think the more you use the better

 

[Donkeymad]

I bought some a couple of months ago and actually laid them on slight mud. We did lock them together. I am so impressed with them I shall be buying more as soon as I have the money.

 

[ivenoidea]

Many thanks

. I'd been guessing four per mat as a minimum but didn't want to be too far off on how many I ordered.

It will be interesting to see how they do. I can always sell them on if they aren't suitable for the circumstances.

 

[mitchellk]

Don't wate your money on posh field mats- get a carpet from the dump and put that over the mud- its cheaper and my spooky youngster will now walk over anything on the floor.