Concrete Mix & Mud??

[perfectstorm]

My mom moved to her house, where her barn was already built. The previous owners did not build up the barn, so after weeks of rain it gets ridiculously muddy right outside the barn doors. The worst part is the back of the barn where turn out area is.

My question is this- if I kept the horses out of that area for a few days, could I empty out bags of concrete mix and rake mix it with the mud? Would it set up a little? I don't mind a little mud or unstable ground just want to cure this 6" of mud deal. Ghetto, I know but aesthetically it has to be better than deep mud.

I've tried rubber mats & we have hauled in a little dirt-- but since there is no place for the water to go it stays there & saturates. A dump truck or concrete truck could NOT access this area due to the muddy conditions. This area is not a problem when it is dry.

[fullsizeaggie]

Used to put Portland cement in low/wet spots before dirtwork to dry them out. I don't know if would stay/help long term. May need to look more at the drainage of the area.

[perfectstorm]

Yeah, the person who originally laid out the place gave no thought to drainage. To make matters worse the pond dirt didn't get used as a pad for the house or barn, but rather banked around the pond. So it forces rain to roll/drain towards the barn, instead of into the pond. The only water the pond gets is what directly falls into it.

And this is 10 acres on a former rice field.

[BrianL]

I think I would start with gravel.

[Tmag]

Cement will work, we have trucks that spread cement on oilfield location builds every day. Lime will work also and may be easier to work than cement. Get whichever is cheaper and go with it.

[carp]

I think I would start with pea gravel.

fixed it for you

[perfectstorm]

She has been liming it for over a year and it has definitely helped!!

I'll discuss gravel with her. Sounds like this is something we need to fix when its not the rainy season. Just driving me nuts currently. She lives in Winnie and the weather has been brutal lately as far as rainfall.

[aggieman12]

Gravel, especially pea gravel, will not hold up if the ground gets extremely saturated. I would suggest a few loads of 3x5 wash rock.

[rileydog]

She has been liming it for over a year and it has definitely helped!!

I'll discuss gravel with her. Sounds like this is something we need to fix when its not the rainy season. Just driving me nuts currently. She lives in Winnie and the weather has been brutal lately as far as rainfall.

I wish we could battle some mud.....

[BrianL]

I forget what it is called, but I always ask for driveway gravel. It has fine to 1 inch stuff, and packs like concrete. You don't want a gravel with all the same size, because it won't pack down.

[kparker158]

Crushed concrete. It'll harden up just like concrete. This is what we use for our drive ways

[roadgoeson20]

Flexbase.

[Playa]

I wish we could battle some mud.....

This was my exact though too.....

[topduarte]

No matter what you put down you will always have water problems.

You need to get rid of the ponding by creating a swale and/or installing a 4" pvc pipe with perforated holes and placed in the ground.and covered with 1" river gravel.

[Tmag]

Crushed concrete. It'll harden up just like concrete. This is what we use for our drive ways

Definitely would fix it, I would dig some of the dirt out and replace it with crushed concrete to keep your ground good from getting too high at the doorway.