Lime-- mud relief? or urban legand?

[Tim D]

I had never seen lime used for livestock lots until I moved to where I presently live. The neighbor up the road had me use a box blade to spread lime in barn lot where he runs horses and cattle. He says that there is no gravel base under the lime and when he cleans the lot he is not spreading rock with the manure. We often do chores for him and his wife when they are gone and I can honestly say that his lots seem to have a bottom in them when it is really wet but they are sloppy 2 to 3 inches deep. His lots are on top of a hill with very little clay.

 

[carpenter383]

Interesting thread, I wonder what kind of affect the lime would have on grass growing after it has been spread?

 

[two_bit_score]

I googled lime stabilization. Here's what it said:
Abstract
Clay soil can be stabilized by the addition of small percentages, by weight, of lime, thereby enhancing many of the engineering properties of the soil and producing an improved construction material. In order to illustrate such improvements, three of the most frequently occurring minerals in clay deposits, namely, kaolinite, montmorillonite and quartz were subjected to a series of tests. As lime stabilization is most often used in relation to road construction, the tests were chosen with this in mind. Till and laminated clay were treated in similar fashion. With the addition of lime, the plasticity of montmorillonite was reduced whilst that of kaolinite and quartz was increased somewhat. However, the addition of lime to the till had little influence on its plasticity but a significant reduction occurred in that of the laminated clay. All materials experienced an increase in their optimum moisture content and a decrease in their maximum dry density, as well as enhanced California bearing ratio, on addition of lime. Some notable increases in strength and Young's Modulus occurred in these materials when they were treated with lime. Length of time curing and temperature at which curing took place had an important influence on the amount of strength developed.


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Now, can someone put it in englich?

 

[orezok]

I googled lime stabilization. Here's what it said:

Now, can someone put it in englich?

I guess they are saying sometimes it works, sometimes it don't

 

[two_bit_score]

I guess they are saying sometimes it works, sometimes it don't

That's what I thought.

 

[miramadar]

So, when you add lime to mud, you're making...concrete? It makes sense that it would harden up and not be so "muddy" anymore.

I'm prety sure that lime is a strong alkali, and will make soil basic (pH > 7). Some plants like alkali in the soil, others can't stand it. I'd do some reasearch on this aspect of lime treatment before I went and spread a bunch in my yard.

 

[SARG]

They sell ag-lime by the bag full. It's used in barnyards etc. to harden the areas it's spread upon.

 

[radioman]

Hmm- If I spread lime on a claylike soil that tractor drives on, would it help prevent sinking and making ruts every spring and fall ?

 

[gwjd]

yes lime is basic so it will react with acid in the soil.

 

[Cami]

There's a story from the village where I grew up...where a fellow was left to look after the lime kiln at the local pulp mill but wasn't vigilant...such a mess was made that they had to shut the kiln down and clean it out...that man was forever known as "Lumpy"