So I manage a team with a terrible all dirt infield. Hard as a rock. Was looking for any quick easy advice as to how we can break it up and/or add dirt or clay to soften it up. Long term we’re hoping to go astroturf but I’m looking for something in the interim to just make it a little more playable, and quite frankly, safe.
Thanks in advance!
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Find out how deep the clay is and rent a tiller to turn up the clay. Should be done every couple of years. The field won’t be playable for a few days to a week. Depends how much water it gets and how frequently you can drag it. The result will be worth it though. This will also help the field drain better.
Ok awesome. Watering and dragging will make it more playable faster?
Once you till it the field will be a lumpy mess. I would drag when it’s dry then water. Then repeat daily.
Back when my kids were LL/CR age - we had a field like that which the middle school softball team used too. The roto-tiller is great to get started, but what really helped was periodic scraping with a heavy metal drag (using google try "DR Drag Harrow" - pic below). With teeth down it scrapes 1-2" off and keeps things soft. With teeth up it smooths things out. The other thing to keep close eye on is the build up at bases and not run the drag in the same direction every time. If/when budget allows getting some sort of dirt field conditioner (we used a product from Turface) added will help with being able to get games in when [heavy] rains come. The stuff wasn't cheap for our league, it sucked putting it down, but we got games in for years that prior to adding the product we'd have to cancel before.
Ok this is great info. One problem we’ve been having is that we dump some dirt on top or drag it to break it up but within one or two days wind has just blown it all off and/ or lack of water turns the stuff into near concrete.
Yep, seen it before. You need to have it tilled to break up the layers underneath. Then follow johnf’s advice with that drag mat. This time of year in FL a lot of fields are garbage because there is little rain and it’s hot. The IF turns to concrete. A little maintenance in January can make it easy to maintain in April/May
You da man! Thank you all so much. I can’t wait to show my team and the league. I’m sure they will all be relieved. 3rd basemen especially.
We just got back from a lesson on a concrete IF. You could see where the teeth on the drag mat couldn’t even get into the clay it due to it being so hard.
If you can afford it have sand brought in and spread out over the infield before tilling. Nothing will loosen up the soil like sand and its cheap. At least an inch or two.
