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Discussion on Securing rubber stall matts
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Member:
Savage
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Posted on Sunday, Aug 10, 2003 - 4:40 pm:
I had been very frustrated with the matts in my horses outside pen moving around every which way, I have six of them in there and each weighing about 100 pounds that gets to be a heck of alot of weight to have to keep pulling up and resetting. Well about a week ago I just sat there and stared at them trying to figure out a way to keep them secured without using 4x4's that a majority of people use to keep them in line. I got this idea about using baling twine to hold them, but not sure how to go about it. Then the light bulb went on. I drilled holes in all four corners of the matts,(making the holes large enough to pull the twine through) then used the baling twine to tie the corners of the 3 matts that line the front of the stall to the lower pipe, then tied those to the second set of 3 matts, and WALA! they have not moved at all!..i'ts a safe way to secure them and not have your horse get hurt IE: smacking his legs when rollong or laying down on 4x4's and breaking an ankle etc. Nothing to get his foot caught on and the twine is really tough and durable. I am sure at some point I will need to get new twine as over time they will get worn down.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 27, 2003 - 11:05 am:
Hello Linda,
Great idea, I wonder if you just tie them to each other if they would not stay put?
DrO
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Member:
Scline
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 27, 2003 - 9:56 pm:
What type of drill and bit did you use to drill the holes? I have rubber stall mats also and love them except for the fact that they are always moving and are hard to cut to size. Any ideas on what would cut them easily?
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Member:
Tagloili
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 27, 2003 - 10:06 pm:
All I've found that will cut them is a razor knife with a new blade using a steel straight edge to guide the knife. Even then you have to make several passes to cut thru the mats.
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Member:
Mwebster
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 27, 2003 - 10:24 pm:
Folks who haven't bought mats yet might want to consider interlock mats. We bought ours from Summit, and our entire 36x36 barn floor is stone dust with Summit's interlock mats. They don't shift, even when driven on (fully loaded hay truck).
M
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Member:
Savage
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Posted on Friday, Aug 29, 2003 - 10:24 pm:
Thank you Dr. O  . I am sure they would stay put even if they weren't tied to the lower pipe. I had been so frustrated with them moving around that when I saw the chance to immobilize those suckers I went full tilt..haha! By the way, the pipe pen that my horse is in has a lower pipe that sits on the ground so it wasn't a problem, but ifin one didn't have that then it would be quite a "lift" if one was to tie the twine to it.
Linda
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Member:
Savage
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Posted on Friday, Aug 29, 2003 - 10:32 pm:
Hi Susan, I used the basic "Black and Decker" drill with the largest bit that came with it. I needed the hole to be a bit bigger so while I held the corner of the matt up, my girlfriend ran the bit in and out and kind of sideways to enlarge the hole more. Then we pushed the twine through it and tied it.
Linda
Just curious, what are you sizing your matts to?..are you in a barn? And it looks like George has a good idea for cutting them.
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Member:
Savage
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Posted on Friday, Aug 29, 2003 - 10:39 pm:
Hi Melissa, Were those matts easy to fit together, and can they be taken apart pretty easy?
Linda
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Member:
Mwebster
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Posted on Saturday, Aug 30, 2003 - 6:00 pm:
Linda, yes they were easy to lay, maybe easier than the straight edge, since they keep each other in place. We made sure the entire stonedust floor was well-watered and level before we started. They've been down a year, and the hay truck left some tire depressions in a couple places after the 4th full load driving right into the barn (our loft is partly open), so we lifted a corner, added some more stone dust, smoothed it, and popped the mat back down. Very easy. It's great they don't shift at all, and of course it makes for a very impermeable surface inside stalls so we can capture all the urine with the dust from the shavings and not have it running down into the stone dust where it'll start to smell. The only downside is these mats cost more than the straight-edge mats, and it's not as simple to calculate coverage: the interlocks have a cutout edge where 2 mats will meet, so you have to work with fractions and plan your layout in advance, to order the right number of each configuration, meaning mats with one straight edge, 2 straight edges (for a corner) or no straight edges.
Melissa
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Member:
Savage
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Posted on Monday, Sep 1, 2003 - 12:18 pm:
Melissa, thanks for the information. I am glad I asked because I didn't know you had to really plan ahead.
Linda
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Member:
Mwebster
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Posted on Monday, Sep 1, 2003 - 12:31 pm:
You're welcome Linda! Summit will help you with your layout, by the way. It's tricky because you lose a little on each of the cutout edges where the mats interlock. And, the mats with a straight edge actually are a little wider to make up for that so they can sell 12x12 sets easily. In our case, we laid the entire floor as one big sheet, and DrOpped the dividers down through U channel to make stall partitions. For an existing barn, you may need to treat the aisle and stalls as separate square footages, if you have sills or thresholds between them (we don't!). You know the old saw "measure twice, cut once?" Applies here!
M
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