Regularly moving muck suggestions

[dixie]

My stables should be going up in the next couple of months and I have a conundrum about the much heap.
As my OH is non horsey and the stables are pretty close to the house the idea is to put the muck in a trailer or some sort of tipping truck and take it to the top of the field where there’s a suitable place to have it.
Obviously this will be difficult once it gets wet although we have a hard core track which is grassed over which will make things easier. I will need a 4x4 though as it’ll be wet at the top I would imagine.

Suggestions most welcome - cost effective ones!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Is it too far to barrow the muck daily straight to the top of your field?

Notice that you’re in Devon - your field could be rather steep!

 

[dixie]

Yes ! Correct, it’s up hill !
And my mum still mucks hers out and at 74 she wouldn’t be impressed

 

[Smitty]

I used to rot mine down, bag it up and sell for 50p per bag. Circa 15 years ago. Amazingly popular.

Any chance of interesting an allotment group in it, or a garden centre?

 

[paddy555]

how many horses, what regime ie stabled night type regime, if the track is steep, what happens to it when dumped at the top ie does it just stay there or is to remove at some stage. How long can it stay by the house for,
Do you have anything ATM ie a trailer, vehicle etc do you have access to a nice farmer next door who will move a trailer for you. There are lots of alternatives, just finding all the problems with them for your situation.

 

[Pinkvboots]

My friend has a quad with a tipper on the back which she mucks out into then drives it through a field to tip it.

Only other option is put it in a trailer and pay a local farmer to empty it this is what I do.

 

[dixie]

My friend has a quad with a tipper on the back which she mucks out into then drives it through a field to tip it.

This is my favourite option.
It needs to be moved more regularly than to wait for a farmer to come.
It can rot nicely at the top and then be moved at the end of winter or the allotments next door to us will have it.

It’s 2 horses, 1 pony stabled overnight.
It’s not dead steep but slopes enough for it to be hard work in the winter to narrow up daily especially when I need to be quick and get off to work.

 

[catembi]

I have a muck trailer & pay a farmer to empty it. I have 4 horses & it needs emptying it every 11-12 weeks.

 

[webble]

If it's at the top of a slope when it's wet is it going to get slushy in your fields?

 

[Pinkvboots]

This is my favourite option.
It needs to be moved more regularly than to wait for a farmer to come.
It can rot nicely at the top and then be moved at the end of winter or the allotments next door to us will have it.

It’s 2 horses, 1 pony stabled overnight.
It’s not dead steep but slopes enough for it to be hard work in the winter to narrow up daily especially when I need to be quick and get off to work.

I have often seen tipper quads on ebay that's where my friend found hers was about £1,500.

 

[Clodagh]

If it's at the top of a slope when it's wet is it going to get slushy in your fields?

And gradually leach to the bottom?

 

[Meredith]

I used to bag it straight from the stables and stack the bags near our front entry. Local gardeners took it away and returned the bags, flat not folded for ease of next use. I had one horse but there was never enough muck even for our small town / village.

 

[ihatework]

Would the budget stretch to something like one of those Polaris atv? Muck directly into then whizz it up field to dump.

 

[webble]

And gradually leach to the bottom?

Leach was the word I was looking for not slushy

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Our neighbour has an electric wheelbarrow which she extolls the virtues of while we have a motorised tipper truck on caterpillars that is fantastic for moving muck and taking it up the muckheap. We are pretty hilly, too

 

[dixie]

Our neighbour has an electric wheelbarrow which she extolls the virtues of while we have a motorised tipper truck on caterpillars that is fantastic for moving muck and taking it up the muckheap. We are pretty hilly, too

That sounds great

 

[dixie]

If it's at the top of a slope when it's wet is it going to get slushy in your fields?

No, doubtful. It’s flat at the top and will be behind an old large stone barn.

 

[Miss_Millie]

I'm curious, is there an issue with any potential (parasitic) worms wriggling back onto the field if a muck heap is in the field? Thought I read somewhere that they can travel up to 3 metres?

 

[Lois Lame]

No, doubtful. It’s flat at the top and will be behind an old large stone barn.

I imagined it tipped out somewhere on the top of the hill, then the next lot tipped just in front of that, and so on. I like the idea.

 

[Red-1]

This is my favourite option.
It needs to be moved more regularly than to wait for a farmer to come.
It can rot nicely at the top and then be moved at the end of winter or the allotments next door to us will have it.

It’s 2 horses, 1 pony stabled overnight.
It’s not dead steep but slopes enough for it to be hard work in the winter to narrow up daily especially when I need to be quick and get off to work.

I have 2 horses that I muck into a trailer. It is emptied about every 8 weeks in summer, 4 in winter. It is relatively close to the house but because it is stacked daily, emptied so regularly and has a sheet roof over, there really isn't smell or many flies.

Not the most cost effective, but really easy and convenient. The trailer even looks relatively attractive on the driveway.

 

[rabatsa]

Be careful if tipping out to a muck heap as the muck heap spreads. You are better with a non tipping quad trailer and forking/shoveling the muck onto the top of the heap. This gives a tidy heap and it rots down better.

 

[cauda equina]

If you are going to be trailering it anyway is there a farmer nearby with a heap you could dump it straight onto?
Unless of course you want to keep it to spread it yourself

 

[honetpot]

My stables used to be at the back of my last house, and I had three compost bins made from pallets and used processed bedding flax, mischanthus, pellets and deep littered, and by spring I would have either good compost for the garden or people with allotments would take it away.
As long as you stack your heap well, even if its a larger heap, it will compost and shrink, my now bigger heap is only taken out once a year, up six horses plus cows on mainly straw, the walls are tin sheets, so I would work out the most cost effective way to get it taken away.

 

[Goldenstar]

One it’s worth considering is the bedding you use .
If you choose chopped rape straw it composts down really quick and it makes excellent compost for gardens under hedges etc etc .
It composts hot so it good for killing parasites .
You get a fine compost that has a decent PH a for use in the garden and for putting wherever you need some .

 

[dorsetladette]

Be careful if tipping out to a muck heap as the muck heap spreads. You are better with a non tipping quad trailer and forking/shoveling the muck onto the top of the heap. This gives a tidy heap and it rots down better.

We have a quad and tipping trailer. You can easily drive on to the muck heap and tip on top on the pile. My muck heap has actually shrunk in area since I've got the quad and trailer.

If i bought a trailer again I'd get a taller one (as in bigger wheels/higher off the ground). The trailer we have doesn't tip enough without unhooking it from the quad and tipping it right over. So if you need a tipping trailer I recommend the depth on the trailer is the same (or less than) as the height of the wheels so muck actually comes out.

 

[Squeak]

One it’s worth considering is the bedding you use .
If you choose chopped rape straw it composts down really quick and it makes excellent compost for gardens under hedges etc etc .
It composts hot so it good for killing parasites .
You get a fine compost that has a decent PH a for use in the garden and for putting wherever you need some .

Some of the beddings also are more absorbent and so doesn't need as much removing - I've found straw pellets to breakdown really well and not fill a muck heap very much.

 

[Lucky Snowball]

A properly stacked muck heap doesn’t smell. Why not try keeping the muck near the stables (temporarily ) and see how things pan out. You might find OH gets used to it and there isn’t an issue.

 

[tda]

Also don't underestimate how much mess you will make trying to tow a loaded trailer up a hill in the winter I have a quad and medium size tipping trailer
In my wisdom I decided to start a small muck heap at the back of a 2 acre paddock , bad idea. I've gone back to tipping it up the lane on the farmers muck heap

 

[PeterNatt]

I would suggest that you get a Big Ab as they sit on the ground and it is a lot easier to get the muck in them. They also have a high sides to prevent wind blowing everything everywhere

 

[QuantockHills]

My stables should be going up in the next couple of months and I have a conundrum about the much heap.
As my OH is non horsey and the stables are pretty close to the house the idea is to put the muck in a trailer or some sort of tipping truck and take it to the top of the field where there’s a suitable place to have it.
Obviously this will be difficult once it gets wet although we have a hard core track which is grassed over which will make things easier. I will need a 4x4 though as it’ll be wet at the top I would imagine.

Suggestions most welcome - cost effective ones!

I have a quad and tipping trailer that I was considering selling as i no longer use them.... i'm in Somerset if you're interested....