Stone dust

[spellbound]

I'm redoing stall floors and I'm considering using stonedust this time.
Where is stonedust sold locally? How do I figure out how much I'll need?

 

[Robin]

what do you already have under you stall mats? I know when we did all the ones at Greenwell and at my friends we made sure there was about 2-3 inches pounded level. helps with drainage. The stone dust also packs even tighter.
Chaney in Calvert was the only place we could get it at the time. Her Husband loaded one scoop at a time in the back of her truck and we backed the truck up tp the stall, and shoveled it in one at a time. If I remember it right One scoop almost did 2 stalls. It has gotten expensive. We plan on getting a small truck load when we are ready for our stalls. Hopefully since we live around the corner, delivery wont be that bad.

 

[spellbound]

I have clay right now.

 

[fredsaid2]

Here's 4 places in Leonardtown to call.

AAA Materials
42707 Saint Andrews Church
Leonardtown, MD 20650-4012
Phone: (301) 475-2939
Business Types: Crushed Stone & Rock, Material Handling Equipment, Sand Gravel & Aggregate

Maryland Rock Industries-Breton Bay Plant
Breton Beach Road
Leonardtown, MD 20650
Phone: (301) 475-3003
Business Types: Sand Gravel & Aggregate

Sloan Materials
40840 Parsons Mill Road
Leonardtown, MD 20650
Phone: (301) 475-3651
Business Types: Crushed Stone & Rock, Sand Gravel & Aggregate

Sloan Randal
Leonardtown, MD 20650
Phone: (301) 475-3651
Business Types: Crushed Stone & Rock, Sand Gravel & Aggregate

The AAA Materials, I think, is the one just up from the Willows Apartments. When you call tell them your dimensions and depth, they should be able to tell you how much you need. I'd be interested in what you find out for pricing. tks!

 

[SPF001]

We got the crushed bluestone and larger bluestone from Sloan Materials for ours. We put the larger bluestone in and then put in 2x4s on end and filled in with the crushed bluestone. Adds a lot of drainage, provides a flat, level (slightly sloped for drainage) surface for our stall mats. Even if you don't have stall mats, your shovel runs along the 2x4s so you're not digging any of your gravel out. Has worked great for us so far!

We got a dump load of each, but had (still have) quite a bit left over. We did 4 10x12 stalls.

 

[Sparks]

Stone Dust and hauling is really expensive right now.

You could compact the clay you have and put mats down.

 

[Four*Leaf*Farm]

Spellbound.. I have clay under my stall mats. But after that began to get squishy, I put a good 3-4 in. layer of stonedust. After a few months, some of my stalls are getting squishy again. I am assuming after a while, it sank a bit and is mixing with the clay underneath. I would like to do what a poster above said and lay 2x4's and then fill in the spaces with more dust. That way I'll be able to screw the corners of the mats to the boards and prevent bedding from getting under them. I got my dust from Hance up here in Calvert. I just backed my truck up to the pile and they loaded 2 tons. It did about 4 stalls for me.
Good luck!

 

[spellbound]

I have matts over the clay. The clay is compacted already and I hate it. That does not stop it from shifting.
My younger mare wreaks havoc on stall floors and manages to tear them up quickly. She is very good at demonstrating the resemblance of her stall to a racetrack starting gate. Their stalls are open to their pastures when they are turned out.

Anyway....
Whenever I fill holes, the new clay never blends with the old, it just compacts in another layer and the layers shift over the old layers, making the hills bigger, and the valleys deeper.
No matter how much sawdust is on top of the matts, the urine seeps right through to the bottom layer of sawdust and pools until it can find an outlet through the cracks between the matts. So a lot of urine ends up underneath the matts, even when the clay floor is very flat.

Even in the stalls that are not being used, the matts hold moisture between them and the clay. I've lifted matts in the empty stalls and found mold growing underneath them.

So I believe I need drainage under the matts. I am considering the Stable-grid product. Which brought me to ask about where to get stone-dust. I would only want to do one stall right now, as an experiment. So I would not need a large enough amount to have it hauled.
The one thing that I've always wondered about with using drainage materials under matts is that eventually the urine will get to clay underneath the screenings. Won't it still just collect on top of the clay 6" below, and still cause an odor problem???

 

[fredsaid2]

The one thing that I've always wondered about with using drainage materials under matts is that eventually the urine will get to clay underneath the screenings. Won't it still just collect on top of the clay 6" below, and still cause an odor problem???

I've wondered the same thing. Unless you make the fluid move away and out of the stall the urine will just go a few layers deeper before it sits and pools.

Have you considered making your floors concrete? You could slope them for drainage maybe.

 

[spellbound]

Concrete would be my first choice if there were a place that the liquid could drain. The barn's footprint is in the lowest spot on the property. If I could make liquid flow uphill, I'd have to be genius.

 

[fredsaid2]

Concrete would be my first choice if there were a place that the liquid could drain. The barn's footprint is in the lowest spot on the property. If I could make liquid flow uphill, I'd have to be genius.

Sump pump!

 

[fredsaid2]

Here's the other product I remember reading about, one-piece and non-porous. ComfortStall Equine Horse Stable Barn Flooring Mattress Surface Surfacing

 

[appendixqh]

I tried everything you are talking about! I finally switched to concrete, and usually bed with woodypet. I use the giant mats "SoftStall Mats" from Linear Rubber, Linear Rubber Products - Soft Stall Mats In my 12x12 and 12x16 stalls, each stall used 2 mats, so there is only 1 seam. On concrete it is maybe 1 time a year that I have to lift and clean the joint of the 2 mats, and it only take 10 minutes...and it is only 1 horses stall that I have to do this for, the rest I have never moved in 4 years. The woody pet is so absorbent, moisture is not an issue, and I treat the stalls with sweet PDZ if I have a horse that soaks his bedding. ALSO, I have 2 stalls linked with run-outs. I use practically no bedding in them, and the horses (especially geldings) end up going outside so urine doesn't splash their legs. The soft mats are awesome, and in the summer I use so little bedding, I sweep the stalls clean every couple of days and that really helps keep the flies GONE! In the summer I just dust the stalls with sawdust to keep the poop from sticking. Just some ideas...I was going to try the grid stuff...but to make that work I was told by several people that had them that you have to have a GREAT drainage base that goes 2 to 6 feet deep, otherwise the amonia pools underneath. Good luck!

 

[fredsaid2]

I tried everything you are talking about! I finally switched to concrete, and usually bed with woodypet. I use the giant mats "SoftStall Mats" from Linear Rubber

The sizes of those mats sound really nice. Did you get them locally or have them shipped? Wondering if shipping makes them a lot more expensive than the ones we can get here.

 

[appendixqh]

The sizes of those mats sound really nice. Did you get them locally or have them shipped? Wondering if shipping makes them a lot more expensive than the ones we can get here.

They are trucked in from Linnear Rubber. Even with shipping they were not that much more expensive. Considering I have only had to lift 1 mat to clean under it in 4 years...they were worth every penny! And because of the material, they are softer than regular mats and don't require nearly the bedding. They come 6 ft wide and whatever length you need.

 

[Tazgirl]

Just wondering what would happen if you put pea gravel on top the clay then the mats?

 

[spellbound]

but to make that work I was told by several people that had them that you have to have a GREAT drainage base that goes 2 to 6 feet deep, otherwise the amonia pools underneath.

That's what I was wondering about. That makes sense.

So you say you have concrete now - do you have a drain in the concrete? or just a flat slab? I guess having no drain wouldn't be much different from clay. The urine will just sit on top. Of course, I wouldn't be able to hose it down periodically.

 

[appendixqh]

That's what I was wondering about. That makes sense.

So you say you have concrete now - do you have a drain in the concrete? or just a flat slab? I guess having no drain wouldn't be much different from clay. The urine will just sit on top. Of course, I wouldn't be able to hose it down periodically.

You are more then welcome to visit to see it! It is a flat slab of concrete, no drain. Because of the size of the mats and being that there is only 1 seam in the stall, moisture doesn't really pose a problem. The pelleted bedding is so absorbant that it catches 99% before it can reach the seam. And if they don't pee near the seam, nothing gets under. Every other year we pressure wash the barn inside the stalls, Very easy to clean and dry.

 

[fredsaid2]

They are trucked in from Linnear Rubber. Even with shipping they were not that much more expensive. Considering I have only had to lift 1 mat to clean under it in 4 years...they were worth every penny! And because of the material, they are softer than regular mats and don't require nearly the bedding. They come 6 ft wide and whatever length you need.

How long did it take between order and delivery? Was there a minimum required? tks!

 

[appendixqh]

How long did it take between order and delivery? Was there a minimum required? tks!

I don't know that there was a minimum, but bulk is cheaper with shipping...I only did 5 stalls. I believe I had them within a week.