Hardcore in field

[LaurenBay]

I took on a field in Sept time so this is my first winter. I wasn't sure how it would hold up. It has gotten quite boggy in one corner (rest of field isn't actually too bad) I was thinking of asking the farmer if he would allow me to put some hardcore down in the worst corner so that next winter it will be easier to manage the Horses (my hay is kept down here also as its the only access to the field) the Horses don't come out as they are all retired but they do wait around in this corner, it also slopes to this corner so when it rains it is always the worse effected.

So a couple of questions from a novice in this subject.

1. Would I have to dig the area first or could I just wait for the ground to harden and then put the hardcore on top.

2. Do I need a wooden border up to separate from the mud, or could it be just stone straight to mud?

3. Rough estimate of cost.

Thanks in advance

 

[MagicMelon]

I love my hardcored area. I had an area dug out by digger so it was nice and flat but I had stables built on top so it had to be. You wouldnt need to necessarily but if you just chuck it down on top then you'll have a bit of a hill up onto it? I have a hardcore area out the front of the stables as a yard so this is where their hay manger is meaning its a far less muddy place for them to stand about. You need to put a decent amount down, I didnt put quite enough down so I do get puddles in it (which then freeze in winter...) but I do live in an area full of natural springs. I didnt do a border of any kind, I did make sure the digger flattened the hardcore down as much as possible when it was laid and then had a roller thing go over it to really squash it together so it doesnt go anywhere but then I did have the area dug out so the hardcore area is the same level as the surrounding field meaning it doesnt have anywhere to go really. Im looking to extend my hardcore area which size wise would be enough for horses standing about on easiily - Ive been quoted £250 by my local digger guy who would provide the hardcore as well. Think this is cheap though!

 

[Antw23uk]

Also interested in this type of work and have always assumed for a decent long lasting area it would need to be dug out, hardcore bashed down and then either a topping of type 1 or scalpings and wacked down again. I need to do a little bit off my driveway going to gate, through gate and wrap round the yard. Dreading the cost but hoping to do a lot of it myself with hired digger and wacker ect

 

[turnbuckle]

As a bodge, just chucking some down will work OK. But it will need compacting down a bit, even just with the bucket of a loader. Is there any way you can cut a drain so the water runs off feom the corner?

 

[WandaMare]

Do you need planning permission for hardcore? I know it might sound a daft question but one of my neighbours put some down in front of her field shelter, field not overlooked by any houses and she ended up having to remove it all because of a planning complaint. I would also like to add some more to my yard but the previous yard owner got into planning issues when she put some down for parking her lorry. This has put me off doing it in the past but I'm wondering if the regulations have changed.

 

[Auslander]

My gateways are rubble, which was dumped in til it was about 2ft above ground level, then compacted, and finished off with road planings to fill in the holes, then compacted again.
The pens are part of an area which was dug out to a couple of feet down, filled with rubble, then about 1ft deep road planings.

 

[Antw23uk]

My gateways are rubble, which was dumped in til it was about 2ft above ground level, then compacted, and finished off with road planings to fill in the holes, then compacted again.
The pens are part of an area which was dug out to a couple of feet down, filled with rubble, then about 1ft deep road planings.

Yes yes and we all hate you for it ... just teasing, Love your new hard standing area 2ft down it is. I will be half using my planned space for driving on so makes sense to go the extra mile now and dig it out.

 

[Spottyappy]

Yes to digging out. My shelter is surrounded by type 1 which was put onto rubble/hardcore.
However, I would actually say if you can get road plannings to put them on top of the hardcore as my type 1 gets covered in mud and it’s an attractant for weeds when dries out, as it’s really difficult to shift the mud off of it without equipment. We had road plannings at a yard I rented years ago, and they didn’t seem so bad with the mud.
I think the only time you need planning is if you’re claiming subsidies for farming as it’s a change in the land.

 

[popsdosh]

Yes to digging out. My shelter is surrounded by type 1 which was put onto rubble/hardcore.
However, I would actually say if you can get road plannings to put them on top of the hardcore as my type 1 gets covered in mud and it’s an attractant for weeds when dries out, as it’s really difficult to shift the mud off of it without equipment. We had road plannings at a yard I rented years ago, and they didn’t seem so bad with the mud.
I think the only time you need planning is if you’re claiming subsidies for farming as it’s a change in the land.

Planning permission is needed for this type of activity,it has nothing to do with subsidies.

 

[Antw23uk]

Planning permission is needed for this type of activity,it has nothing to do with subsidies.

Im not convinced any of my neighbours have had planning for the hardstandings they have had done around gateways/ shelters/ extending yard (where yard is concrete so does have planning)

 

[WandaMare]

I think the only time you need planning is if you’re claiming subsidies for farming as it’s a change in the land.

The properties where I know there have been issues, including mine before we bought it, are both Equestrian use rather than agricultural so no subsidies involved. My suspicion is that you do need planning for installing a hardcore area unless its domestic grounds, but I don't know for sure. Our fields are greenbelt land so maybe that is why people get all worked up about it here.

 

[Spottyappy]

Planning permission is needed for this type of activity,it has nothing to do with subsidies.

Have you got a “thing” against me, as every time I make a comment you come back with a snide remark?
Round here, I did not need planning for this, and as Ant said (local to me) it’s highly likely his neighbours did not either.
I did not need it for my yard concrete either, which woudl amount to the same thing.
I did, however, need it for my arena which is a much bigger area.
When my neighbour was talking to me about his farm, he said that a change from grass to a hard surface would reduce any subsidies he hD.
My own land is Equine and not agriculture.

 

[ycbm]

I am in a heavily restricted Planning Area, The Peak Park. I was told by the planning department that if I wanted to change any surface to aggregate I would not need planning consent if I was going to marshall sheep on it or park a tractor on it. But I needed planning consent to put a horse on it, or to change ground levels noticeably.

 

[popsdosh]

Have you got a “thing” against me, as every time I make a comment you come back with a snide remark?
Round here, I did not need planning for this, and as Ant said (local to me) it’s highly likely his neighbours did not either.
I did not need it for my yard concrete either, which woudl amount to the same thing.
I did, however, need it for my arena which is a much bigger area.
When my neighbour was talking to me about his farm, he said that a change from grass to a hard surface would reduce any subsidies he hD.
My own land is Equine and not agriculture.

Dont see whats 'snide' about that . Of course a change from grass would reduce his subsidies you only get paid on actively cropped land its nothing to do with planning laws. There is a difference between needing PP and people actually applying for it .I am not sure quoting ant helps at all as I dont get the impression they actually know whether they had applied for planning or not. Im afraid you made a comment that was totally incorrect so I tried to put you right . Honestly if I had known it was you I wouldnt have wasted my time.
If you really think my comments are 'Snide' please feel free to call your local planners and maybe you will believe what they tell you .
Ycbm the reason you dont need it for agricultural use is that in most circumstances this is covered by permitted development for farms. However you are correct that anything that changes ground contours or surface needs PP you cannot even fill in a hole in the field.

 

[pixie]

I think that there is certainly no harm in contacting the council and enquiring about planning permission. Rather that than have to remove it at a later date because you should have had permission.

 

[OldFogie]

I've been in building and construction for fifty years and so have seen the march of regulation for good and bad.

Now about this business of do you need permission to put hardcore in a field? Well, think about it - if you could willy-nilly - what's to stop the entire countryside being hardcored? So yes, there are Planning considerations and Building Regulations and they cover most things ordinarily and complicated further if you live in a Conservation Area or other such place.

The fact that folks have been doing things on the quiet for years is neither here nor there - some councils don't go around looking for contraventions while others have a chap sitting in an office scanning Google Earth.

To the case in point - I would caution the use of "hardcore" for anywhere for animals unless you have complete knowledge of where it came from or have access to a good metal detector. Demolition sites are no longer "cleaned" Elf & safety has made it too expensive to salvage anything so the entire building is dropped and ground up in a crusher - glass, old bog pans - you name it and while the bigger pieces of scrap metal get recycled many small bits remain. Some "Type 1" (or 2 for that matter ) is demolition materials too.

As someone else has said - changing the land surface height certainly requires permission. If you hire or know someone with a digger - even a small one costs about £150 per day with the driver - but you need a surprisingly large one to do much compacting as the tracks are designed to spread the weight not concentrate it so you also need to add on a roller. I reckon a bit of digging, the hardcore, rolling and some road scalpings for a double stable block and apron would cost over £1,000.00 done at cost.

 

[samlf]

It depends how much you want to spend.
As a minimum, you'd need to ask the farmer to scrape off the very top couple of inches, as otherwise it'll just sink into the mud and become useless.
If you can afford it, then dig down about 5-6 inches and put some boarding in. I think the last time I put road planings down it cost me £12 per tonne, and about 8 tonne covered an area 2.5m x 4m at a depth of about 4 inches. It lasted 2 years and looks a little muddy now.

As yours is for a hay area, I'd go for a larger area of planings around the feeder, and I'd also get some old carpet from somewhere and put that between the hard standing and feeder, as otherwise the hay thats dropped will rot into the planings and make it go mushy on top.

 

[WelshD]

Scraping off the top layer is always the better and long term solution

Having said that I have put down stone in two gateways without too much preparation, sheer amount of stone will eventually settle ok but you have to accept youll lose a lot

- one gateway has granite chippings down, this went on to mud about four years ago, its now grassed over and is rock steady at all times, just fab

- the other gateway has generic rounded gravel on, this had the mud and water scraped off with a shovel, this has also grassed over nicely but its not as good as the granite and is a bit boggy now

Granite can be hard on hooves though but just using it as an example that not all stone is created equally

Granite type one for example can puddle but limestone type one would make a lovely better draining hardstanding and would be my choice if I were doing things properly

 

[Ceriann]

We’ve had a track done through two paddocks to the yard plus the yard and 5 gateways. All were scrapped or dug out (depending on what was needed) and hardcore put down, rolled and type 1 (finer stone) put on top and rolled to finish. It’s a godsend, as yard inaccessible by car in winter otherwise and access to my main winter field (through another field) a clay bog. I’m still chucking my horses in the field in the day for 12 hours - I tried the yard but they were making such a mess (my oh had ocd which didn’t help with dealing with this) and didn’t seem to be leaving the yard at all).

If you turn out on hard standing how do you keep it neat and tidy?!