Shed floor dirt?

[jon f mn]

The sheds on the farm I bought are going to need some fill hauled
in. The pole shed is half concrete, but the back half is dirt.
Both the rear of the pole shed and the quanset had cattle or
horses in them and the dirt needs to be brought back up to grade.
My question is should I use sand or clay? I have access to both.
I can't afford class 5 or any other expensive fill, plus I don't
want the rocks. I'm wondering if the clay would pack better than
the sand, which I'm afraid will stay loose. It will be dry so mud
wont be an issue. I'm looking for as hard and solid a floor as I
can get with what I have.

 

[MJMJ]

Of the two, clay sounds like the way to go. Sand will always be loose.

 

[ArleninOr]

Use the clay and then get a plate compactor to go over it.

 

[old]

Clay will pack where as sand will stay loose. If it was me I would probably go with a load of dirty base. But I would also haul it in my self even if all I could get was a pickup truck load at a time

 

[M w J]

I had dirt then put drainfield rock in now I'm hauling that out and am putting in recycled blacktop in and it will pack hard . It should cut down on moisture problems . It is $10 bucks a ton plus freight . a sidedump trailer holds 27 ton and with freight is about $ 325 per load.

 

[Bud Sather in MT]

I used recycled asphalt in mine. After driving on it I have a few loose rocks but most of it is starting to compact nice. I have the same on my driveway and sure like it. Bud

 

[L.Fure]

Crushed limestone, the stuff you put on your fields to adjust the PH. It will pack pretty hard if you have a way to water it down after you level it off. If you have clay soil on the farm, you can haul yourself, then that would be the cheapest.

 

[carvel minne farmer]

good afternoon jon, I use recycled ashphalt as well, it will pack down hard as concrete over time.

 

[wilson ind]

about 1 /3 sand to 2/3 clay seems to work well

 

[john in la]

Are you ever going to put a slab in??
If so I would not use clay.
It expands when wet and even more when frozen.
It will break a slab in your weather conditions.

If it will always be dirt then clay is your best choice because it will pack harder than sand.
Sand never really packs tight.

 

[Roger Tomfohrde]

Lime with a lot of clay, will set up like concrete.

 

[wd9garymn]

Jon, I would use clay. My base for my shed was a knoll cut down about 6 feet to make a level area so it was all clay. Built the shed and covered the clay with 2 inches of class 5. now over 10 years the part with the heaviest travel has turned much of class 5 to sand. still don't pack solid. As was said, if the future is cement, then use sand. Gary.

 

[onefarmer]

Years ago my grandfather had clay put in my shed as fill. It's still there and fairly hard packed. No way I'd like sand in there.

 

[Destroked 450]

If you have good drainage clay will work, if rain water runs in you'll have mud.
I put ag lime in my hay barn and watered it, after driving over it and stacking round bales on it it's like concrete now.

Recycled asphalt is good if you can get it.

 

[jacksun65]

When I lived in Florida they would make what they called semi crete. They would use the sand or marl and mix in dry cement with a tiller. Then run a compactor over it. let it sit or even put a sprinkler on it. In a day or two hard driveable surface. Not concrete but not loose either.

 

[flying belgian]

I have clay in one and black dirt in the other. Both pack real good.

 

[led]

L.Fure has it right!!
Led

 

[JD Seller]

Jon if you have any Blue clay it will pack like concrete. All the old barns around here had blue clay as the fill. Both Grand fathers would tell me to quit pitching/digging manure when you say blueish ground.

A customer of mine had regular clay in his barns. He kept them swept like a concrete floor.

You can not have any water get into the barn. It has to drain away from the barn all the way around or the clay will be slim when ever it rains.

As for sand. If it is crushed sand it will pack. IF it is natural sand it will not pack very well. The difference is natural sand is round and processed sand has flat sides.

I would not like sand in general. If your looking for cheap and easy to level then fill lime would be better than sand.

 

[Hobo,NC]

(quoted from post at 02:28:07 08/10/18) about 1 /3 sand to 2/3 clay seems to work well

Sand Clay is as about as hard as it gets its is what is used on baseball infields. Sand Clay is EZ to come by around here it would be my #1 choice for a dirt floor... If it drains well it can rain on it all day long the next day you can play on it... Ell they wet it down before a game and in the 7th ending wet it down again..

When they build roads they add lime to the clay to make it hard I don't know how that works...