since were on the subject of rubber mats - moving - help please?!

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darksecret99

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I will be moving stables this weekend - currently in a 10' by 12', with 5 x 4' by 6' rubber mats... moving to a just over 12' by 12' box (and taking my mats with me, via a pressure washer and some disinfectant!)

I currently I use sticks like sh1t or simelar to seal my mats - which butt up very snugly (so only room for a VERY thin spread of sealent) - this lasts a month or so before it needs disinfecting and re sealing... (not easy to wash in a barn, with no drains inside!!) - the sealent should work better in the new stable cos the mats wont be butted up as close.... unless anyone can reccomend a better sealent - i have tried many with little success!!

I dont plan on buying an extra mat for now, so will leave a gap along the back wall which will have a bank along and a 6ins thick bed across the back of the stable (my gelding pees in the middle of his bed) and muck out daily

the new stable will be much easier to wash - very slightly sloped towards front, where it can be swept down the yard drain

whats easier - dont bother with sealent and wash out once a week or so, or use sealent (which is very messy and fiddly) and wash out less frequently?

Thanks
 
well, i don't want to horrify you, but i have rubber mats down, without sealant, on a dead level floor (no drainage) with 1/3 bed on top (full depth cardboard bed but only at the rear of the stable), and i never lift the mats, and never wash out the boxes. i take all the wet out as often as possible, and put a bit of disinfectant on top of the mats on wet bits after removing the wet bedding, but that's it. the bacteria that make the smell, can't breed without oxygen, so as long as you leave the mats down, no smell. honestly, it never smells of ammonia at all in my barn.
 
I've never sealed them TBH. When we were in a well drained stable I sluiced them weekly with Green Gloop and all drained away nicely.

For the past few years I've just folded them in half every couple of weeks and scraped the floor clean underneath with a snow shovel which I use for mucking out anyway and just remove the build up of gunge.
 
hmmm..... I might give it a go without sealent.... I just dont really like the idea of all that pee being under there!!!

I guess it will just be a case of trial and error... it definately pongs at the moment cos I havent bohered redoing the sealent since I know I will be moving.... could be the bedding I'm using though??? easibed is the one the yard buys in.... but I can change that too when I am off the main yard...
 
Mine are on straw so don't know about other types of bedding. Put it this way have had the Kraiburg mats 7 years and effectivley theyve been sitting in the sludge for most of that time with no ill effects, scrub up like new. The top stays dry so the horses have a good surface to lie on.
 
I have stables with no drainage and about a 1/3 bed on top . I take out all the wet and wash the wee patch away with the remains of the overnight water bucket and brush like crazy to get rid of the water. Once a week the bedding is put into a corner (a differnt one each week) and the floor is disnfected, the bedding is put down and topped up when the floor isddry. Once a year the mats are taken out and every thing is pressure washed, the concrete is given a good going over with jeyes. Never had any problem with smell at all - perhaps it would if you were deep littering or only taking out poo daily. Easybed tends to encorage the wee downwards leaving a dry top rather than absorbing, so perhaps thats the problem.
 
Used rubber matting for years and have never found a way of it not smelling and stinging my (albeit very sensitive) eyes.

Worse with straw than shavings but a nightmare full stop... ended up with minimal bedding and washing out nearly every day....

Still have moved now to 24/7 turnout.... and even merlin cant make a 10 acre field smell!!!
grin.gif
 
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