Muddy Gateways

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peanut

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It's only the beginning of October and my gateway is already 6 inches deep in mud/water. Has anyone found a solution to this annual problem? I've tried putting down straw but that just turned it into a swamp to wade through which was even worse!
 
Get it all dug out by about 2 feet and then put down Grade 3 Pre-Crushed Hardcore (check there is no wire or glass in it) and get it compacted and rolled down. That will keep you going for years.
 
OWLIE185 said:
Get it all dug out by about 2 feet and then put down Grade 3 Pre-Crushed Hardcore (check there is no wire or glass in it) and get it compacted and rolled down. That will keep you going for years.
Click to expand...

Trouble with that is your mud will just start at the edge of the hardcore.
Have used field mats in the past. Doesn't eliminate the problem, but certainly helps!
 
joeanne said:
Trouble with that is your mud will just start at the edge of the hardcore.
Have used field mats in the past. Doesn't eliminate the problem, but certainly helps!
Click to expand...

Never used Field Mats but i heard that they should be put down in the summer as the grass can grow threw in the summer where if you put them down now it kills the grass!!
 
Never had a problem with the mud starting at the edge of the hardcore. Our fields did used to get water laying on them, but never more than a top layer of mud. ie. you could still wear trainers in the field all winter!

Field mats at current yard were put down in the dry, grass grew through and now they have sunk. Rubbish
 
We use hardcore at a gateway and around the shelters, it stays where it is and has formed a hard level surface of dry area. We didn't find it that expensive (cheap, local quarry and we picked it up ourselves) I tried mats around the shelters and they shifted and sank. We have used wood chip before and bear in mind it does rot and does need topped up but it wasn't too bad and lasted a while.
 
We live in the muddy pennines, and suffer loads with mud. Wood chips, shavings, and grass mats are fine in not very muddy fields, but sink without trace in deep mud.

As someone said, work really needs to be done in summer, but you could tip hardcore/ road planeing through the gateway from the dry side and work outwards if you're desperate.

Ideally with hardcore you need to cover a large enough area inside the gate that all the horses queueing to get in are not churning it up - so a 10m half circle perhaps? We paid £100 for a huge lorry load of hardcore - albeit some was rough,and needed breaking up. Its the only real solution really against heavy mud.
 
What we have done this year is fence off the bare earth bits near the gateways with electric, the main gate to the stables is still fenced off. Yes it creates a muddy ring a little further out but the problem is a lot less. If you can get a good growth of grass on it (and ours has despite being trashed every winter for 20 years) that will slow down the rate it turns to mud.

We didn't seed ours, so whilst I say its grassed over, it short but quite weedy, some grass species, but also some docks (knotgrass) and mayweeds. They might not eat it, but at least it will get muddy slower :)
 
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