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dried sand

8 posts
  1. Jeremy Hreben
    Jeremy Hreben avatar
    0 posts
    3/14/2016 1:03 PM
    I have been using damp(just your average) topdressing sand after aerification for years. I like it because its cheap. However waiting for it to dry is the longest part of aerification. On the flip side if I wait and let it dry too much I need more sand, i.e. I need to topdress again in a couple of days.

    So if I go to dried topdressing, how much more would I need? Is the price worth it? I know I wont be able to keep it under cover but would a load sitting in my parking lot still stay dry enough or more dry than my normal topdressing?



  2. Joshua Sawyer
    Joshua Sawyer avatar
    0 posts
    3/14/2016 3:03 PM
    I worked through the same thing in my last aerification. I normally will use about 2 bulk loads of non-dried sand, approximately 45 tons. With the kiln dried sand, I used about 55 tons. I was concerned about the dried sand getting wet, so I ordered one load in bulk and covered in a bin with a heavy (not water proof) tarp. The tarp did fine, but we did not have any rain. I ordered the remainder of the sand in 1 ton bulk bags, wrapped them in plastic, and placed them on the course at each of the far green sites before aerification. It ate up 2 laborers for a day to move the sand, but drastically cut back on topdressing time during aerification. I do have a forklift that I was able to use to pickup the bags and load the top dresser...I don't think I would trust a backhoe or skid steer from a safety standpoint. I suppose you could rent a forklift if you were interested. I will use the dried sand again...the holes are much better filled, very little bridging at the surface of the hole. The entire process went smoother...but I dread the day that it rains all over my dried sand.



  3. Jack Tripp
    Jack Tripp avatar
    3 posts
    3/15/2016 4:03 PM
    Jeremy,

    It is not going to take a lot of extra dry sand because you are not going to leave as much sand on surface. Most of the dry sand is going to go in the holes.



  4. Jeff Lloyd
    Jeff Lloyd avatar
    0 posts
    3/19/2016 2:03 PM
    Have you ever tried profile? I was turned on to this a few years ago from my sand guy and it works great. We started when we dryjected the greens with a 70% sand 30% profile on wet sand and the profile dried the sand out with no problems going thru the machines. Now I will get a 90-10 or 80-20 depending on the weather situation and has done wonders for me. I highly recommend this when punching holes, and even where I am now we have to topdress in the a.m. and really helps me get the sand into the canopy of an ultradwarf.



  5. James Smith
    James Smith avatar
    112 posts
    6/10/2016 8:06 AM
    what is the cost of the dried sand?



  6. Zachary Wike
    Zachary Wike avatar
    0 posts
    6/10/2016 11:06 AM
    I will second what Jeff said about the profile. After the cores are cleaned up, we will put out 2 bags of greens grade profile on the green and then topdress with our standard "wet" mason sand. The profile dries the sand out very quickly and is also a benefit being incorporated into the greens profile. Our total cost is around $500...much cheaper than kiln-dried sand.



  7. Andy Jorgensen
    Andy Jorgensen avatar
    1 posts
    6/10/2016 2:06 PM
    Order it a few weeks ahead of time and cover it with a tarp. Even with our summer rains, this has worked just fine for us.



  8. Jeremy Hreben
    Jeremy Hreben avatar
    0 posts
    6/11/2016 4:06 PM
    Thanks guys. I ended up doing half my greens with damp and the other with dried. Had the dried delivered 2 days before, covered with a tarp. I ended up putting way more sand then i needed with the dried sand. I did loose some through my topdresser with sand leaking out of various crevices. But all in all I love the stuff!



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