Barn Aisle

[Pepipony]

I will be putting down an aisle next year and am toying with a bunch of ideas. First choice is 16" or 24" cement pavers. Aisle isnt driven on with anything bigger than a 4-wheeler. I like the pre-made barn pavers ( the rubber kind) but not the price. Any ideas on what is good but not expensive? TIA!

 

[Marty]

Its cheap and not fancy.

This is chat about $125 a truck load. Its crushed gravel mixed with sand and limestone. It sets up tight like solid soon as you run it over a few times with the 4 wheelers. Its clean and absorbant if you drop a bucket of water it will absorb right in and the spot will be instantly dry. It has plenty of give and is great on their feet and mine. I walk barefoot on it all summer long. They can get tied up in the isleway and paw till the cows come home and won't bust their toes off on it and also they cannot dig holes through it.

 

[Pepipony]

Marty, looks very pretty are you sure they cannot dig? I have a QH who is a digger from hades. Wouldnt be bad if she dug nice post hole sized ones LOL Nope, she digs enough to get her body through LOL that and she gets her eniter body into the dig action.

 

[Keri]

Good idea Marty! My alley way is dirt.

But we plan on slowly concreting the barn in.

I have a friend that has those rubber clip together mats that you would see at auto shops. She got them at an auto supply store. They are squares of rubber with puzzle type ends that snap together. Easy to sweep and clean up.

 

[jayne]

Three years ago when I had my barn build, I went with a poured concrete aisle and where I planned to put my hay and work areas (the stalls were left with sand over which I put rubber mats). Here is a picture the day it was poured. I'm not sure you can see it, but I had a rough surface put on it and not once has a horse slipped on it. The only thing I don't like is that it's kind of hard to sweep clean, but I guess so is an aisle that's not concrete too!

Good luck with your barn planning. I had a blast when I did mine!

Jayne

 

[White Socks Miniature]

Mine is similar to Jayne's. It is concrete with the striated surface to make sure there is alot of traction! Our floor also has something special under the concrete...i forget what it is called to absorb the shock from the horses feet as they walk so it is better for thier legs. The stalls have rubber floor mats in them over the concrete.

Cheers

Masako

 

[MinisOutWest]

I went to our local farm store and got rubber mats, we use the 4x6 and the 5x7s in the isle and in our stalls. I love them, cause when its cold outside or 5 ft of snow and cant get out.. I can set up 2 jumps in the isle and practice and set up my obstacle course too. very easy to clean and great on the horses hooves and my knees.

 

[Equuisize]

Every barn I'd boarded at in the past 30+ years had concrete floors with rubber mats

in the aisles and stalls.

When we bought our place 15 months ago the barn had been used as a shop and didn't

have the heavy brushed surface, slipping could have been an issue, but I like the mats

so we'd have matted the aisle anyway.

For cleaning we do some brooming for touch-up but use our leaf blower and blow all

the shavings, dirt and all the other stuff that seems to accumulate out. LOVE

that blower!!!! I can't stand messy aisleways!

Michael loves it so much he's trying to figure a way to modify

a leaf blower, that it wouldn't be so powerful, to use in stalls.......he thinks it'd

save a lot of sweeping there, too. But he's been recovering from knee surgery

so had lots of time to come up with ideas and plans LOL