# Ideas for cheap yard surface



## cronkmooar (6 February 2011)

Looking for ideas for cheap yard surface.  Have previously used quarry scalpings which whilst have provided a solid surface can't be brushed, hosed etc.

Anyone used tarmac road planings and  whacked them down - does it go just like a road if done whilst warm??  Do they stand up to wagons tractors etc??

Can you lay quarry scalpings then put cement dust overthem to create a better surface??

All ideas gratefully received - concreting the yard is completely out of the question


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## equine addiction (6 February 2011)

I used road planings which, over time, levelled out and worked a treat - it helped that we were a working farm so the heavy machinery helped with this.  I laid down some large patio slabs on a bed of levelled sand 
around the entrance of the stables and as an area for the farrier.


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## Dexter (6 February 2011)

just to very rudely hijack! I'm wanting to create 3 corral areas, slightly smaller than stable size, to tie up to feed, tack up etc. This will be at the highest point of the field, will road planings work for that?


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## cronkmooar (6 February 2011)

Hijack away  just wish there were more responses


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## JanetGeorge (7 February 2011)

I used road planings in 4 large stables used mainly for weanlings in winter.  They were well compacted with a vibrating roller - and under the bedding, they've set into a fairly solid surface.  However, in the doorways, we currently hav some big dips that need filling - and on the odd occasion when very heavyrain causes flooding - they DO go soggy.  

I don't think they'd stand up for too long to heavy use outdoors (and if you're on clay, forget it!) - but of course you could keep topping them up.


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## Alec Swan (7 February 2011)

Road planings are terrific,  but they are only a surface.  The base has to be considered first.

As J_G,  if you stick them on top of clay,  or any earth for that matter,  then you'll end up putting down more,  on an annual basis,  and forever!!

Alec.


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## mon (7 February 2011)

we had granite stones which work well but they were an off shoot of a rail track job when they dumped 1200 ton on our farm to use on a landslide on busy track.


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## The Fuzzy Furry (7 February 2011)

I've had tarmac scalpings on mine (have concrete yard outside stables as both blocks face each other, but scalpings are from main gate & parking patch to muck heap) for a number of years BUT as others have said, they do compact down & unless they are 'on' a surface they do tend to give. Its fine for horse traffic, and it can be cleared reasonably by using a leaf rake (to tidy up hay etc). 
Works a treat UNLESS you keep driving vehicles over in bad/hot weather. Also you will get a build up of earth etc over the top eventually (but this will take 3 or 4 years to do so).
I got it all for nothing when the local roads were re-surfaced a number of years ago - it was just back breaking in moving it all by hand from the big heaps where it was tipped out 

Have now got to the point where it needs ripping up to get a decent surface so at the cost of about £2k am putting in a soak-away drain at the end of the concrete & then a pipe across rest of scalping area - to take water run off under the drive instead of over it & towards muck heap. Then scraping back about 8-10+ inches, putting some hardcore in and covering with crushed limestone which is going to be compacted down over the top. Fingers xx'd this will do the trick for long term.

I do have tarmac scalpings in several of the field gateways, so no deep mud, but over the years earth/grass has built up on these patches & they can become slippy when wet & still produce some mud anyway.


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## Mainland (7 February 2011)

Planings are good for binding back together once laid as they are a bound by residual bitumen unlike quarried Granite or Limestone. Planings will not arrive 'Hot' as suggested by a previous post. There is a certain amount of friction generated when they are planed but by the time your Planings are delivered they are unlikely to be anything warmer than air temperature.

Unfortunately because the Road Planings bind so well they tend not to allow water to percolate down as other aggregates do. Having said that they will create a very hard surface. My recommendation would be to lay them with a camber or cross-fall to allow the water to fall away. The biggest reason for pot-holes appearing in any surface is standing water. 

The days of obtaining free Road Planings are long gone so expect to pay in the region of £8-12/tonne delivered depending on your area.


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## Maesfen (7 February 2011)

What about proper tarmac and if you only did the 'desperate areas' you could add on more later as you could afford it?  If you use anything like planings then you'll have regular maintanance costs plus the inconvenience of doing it all the time whereas with tarmac, job done and dusted.  Another option would be slabs which would be cheaper but as with them all, your ground preparation would have to be spot on to stop them rocking or cracking.  Or, if you have lots of bricks, you could lay them down, edge to edge which was done here over 70 years ago as a track out to the fields for the cattle and it's still going strong (if covered in mud and a few bricks crumbled but what do you expect after all that time?!)


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## Mainland (7 February 2011)

Tarmac is incredibly expensive. It also requires a compacted sub-base of MOT Type 1 or similar plus experienced contractors to lay it. I wouldn't consider Tarmac as a comparable option to Road Planings due to the costs involved. You will also need a drainage system with tarmac to disperse the water accumulated.


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