Footing ideas...

Just cleared an area for my riding ring... any ideas on what to put down for footing..

Crusher dust/small rocks then sand on top.. ?

my sister used what they call masonary sand.. it's held up really well..

I have to put some footing in my round pen that has been "settling" for almost a year. Ideally, because I have soil that turns to muck when it rains, I want to put down a layer of pit run gravel and let that settle and compact a bit. Then I want to cover it with crusher dust. That's what I did in my turnout area right around the barn and it holds up really well and drains quickly after a hard rain.

The cost is the big reason I haven't done it yet though. Pit run is $100 a load and I will need 6-8 loads and then the crusher dust is $300 a load. I'm hoping to get away with only 2 loads of that. I'm going to hold off till fall to put the pit run down because I want it to compact really good over the winter before the crusher dust goes in. It will be unusable unless there's snow though until I can get the crusher dust so that's why I'm waiting.

I figure if the crusher dust compacts too much and gets really hard, I can have sand brought in later. Atleast my base will be solid and well drained at that point.

Sorry, no suggestions for footing. I think it really depends on where your located. Do you have a cheap source of sand?

Sexy, when we built our barn we had 6+ loads of shale brought in and smoothed out, then they layed down a load or two of pit run. Then the guys brought in some kind of pounder, which compacted the pit run and made the runin smooth and level. Its been 3 years and the barns floor is usually as hard as cement (except when its really wet, it gets a tad bit moist but it drains REALLY well). Can you rent a pounder for to compact the pit run before you add the crusher? I'm just thinking back to that time and it just occured to me that they may have also used a roller prior to the slammer....similar to what they use on the highway. Anyways, my point is I think it would help you really settle things.

Thanks for the info....guys....:)