Question: How to dry a softball field?

[Indiana]

We have had unprecidented rain this week. So far it has swamped out all area high school games. DD had a home game scheduled for Tuesday. We thought that the sun would come out by gametime so I went down to the field Tuesday morning and started raking the infield..... I was making great progress and feeling very smug and accomplished....then the skies opened up and it just started raining cats and dogs. Mother Nature was clearly laughing at me with my little gardening gloves and infield rake.

I have new respect for everyone out in DFP-land who hails from areas that get more than 12 inches of rain per year. My question to all you field heros is: HOW do you dry out an infield? I know you all play softball quite often.... how? I'm starting to think that your infields must be magic. Any field maintainence tips to someone completely unfamiliar with water falling from the sky would be greatly appreciated! I did buy a lottery ticket. I figure if I hit it big I'll donate an infield tarp. Until then.... help!

 

[redhotcoach]

If you have lots of puddles or standing water, rent a pump and dig down a foot or so in different spots then pump the water out. After that, or if there isn't standing water, spread and rake a drying agent into the infield. I like Turface. Sometimes it takes quite a bit and can be pricey. Good luck.

We played a weekend early this spring with tons of rain. The faciluty used a ground up corn product to dry, it worked good, but several of us had the worst sore throats for the next few days. Might be a coincidence, but I'll never use it now.

 

[James Smith]

You need a motor vehicle to rack the field, a lawn mower is fine if you can attach a “ground digger” to it. You need to dig up the dirt.

DD’s game was canceled tonight so IDK. I have seen gas pored and light, lot of fun but not effective.

 

[Greenmonsters]

We have had unprecidented rain this week. So far it has swamped out all area high school games. DD had a home game scheduled for Tuesday. We thought that the sun would come out by gametime so I went down to the field Tuesday morning and started raking the infield..... I was making great progress and feeling very smug and accomplished....then the skies opened up and it just started raining cats and dogs. Mother Nature was clearly laughing at me with my little gardening gloves and infield rake.

I have new respect for everyone out in DFP-land who hails from areas that get more than 12 inches of rain per year. My question to all you field heros is: HOW do you dry out an infield? I know you all play softball quite often.... how? I'm starting to think that your infields must be magic. Any field maintainence tips to someone completely unfamiliar with water falling from the sky would be greatly appreciated! I did buy a lottery ticket. I figure if I hit it big I'll donate an infield tarp. Until then.... help!

Look at the positive Indy, at least your fields are now clear of snow!

 

[krrcoach]

We just installed drain tile on 2 diamonds. It is working great for us.

 

[slingnit]

Dig trench and hole to channel water to one area. Pump the water out. If possible loosen/turn the soil in order to get more area exposed to sun and wind. There were a couple of fields around her that the owners had helicopters. They would fly them in and use'm to dry out the fields.

 

[MTR]

You need a motor vehicle to rack the field, a lawn mower is fine if you can attach a “ground digger” to it. You need to dig up the dirt.

Be careful with any vehicle. Usually, if the field can support a vehicle, it can support play. But you don't want to take one onto a very soft field and create that much more of an issue as that could double the work.

Use squeegees, rakes and pumps to disperse standing water. Drop a drying agent on the wet, soft areas and allow it time to absorb residual water. Once the upper layer has hardened, and will support a man's weight without sinking into the field, a vehicle can be used to loosen the upper crust and allow the sun, air and breeze get to the area still damp.

In doing this many times, I have found that a common mistake people make is not giving the drying agent time to work. People want to throw it on the field, rake and play right away. The second common mistake is throwing a drying agent on standing water and expecting it to act like a sponge. There are some products that will accommodate a certain amount of standing water, but not all work in that manner.

Of course, having a field with good drainage makes this process much easier and quicker, but that isn't always an available option for everyone.

 

[maksoftball]

It may have just been a "leg puller" but I heard about a park landing a helicopter in the fields and running the propellers to dry out the fields. LOL!

 

[MTR]

It may have just been a "leg puller" but I heard about a park landing a helicopter in the fields and running the propellers to dry out the fields. LOL!

No, it has been done. All it really does is create a forced wind that blows the water below the surface. This is more effective only after already working the field and removing whatever water you can. However, once that is done, the helicopter will definitely speed up the drying process and make the field playable that much quicker.

BTW, using fuels to "burn" off the moisture can make the field toxic.

 

[T.J.]

Using just hand tools....

1. Go to the middle of the large puddles and dig a deep (12-18") hole....the puddle will flow to the hole, and perc down into the soil below the clay.

2. Look at the grade of the surrounding area to see where the low lying area is...then carve a trench or channel using the corner of a hoe from the infield puddles to this low lying area. This channel will become lower than the infield surface, the water will "flow" to it by gravity, then run down the channel and off the field. The channel must (obviouslyy run down hill away from the field. It will take a few trial runs to figure out the best location for this and how much you need to "carve" to get the water to "flow" away from the field. When done correctly you can remove a lot of water quickly without brushing clay all over the field.

3. For small or shallow puddles, using a broom, brush the puddles towards the middle of the infield...keep brushing and spread the puddle out as much as you can to a point where the puddle is spread out to a large area. The result will be a very large wet spot...but VERY thin, so thin the water will not be able to gather "head" to flow back into it's pudddle form; and it wil only take a few minutes of sun and absorbtion time for this large thin area to dry out.

If you have a hand pump....

Go to the center of large puddles (deepest point) with a hand pump and wheel barrow, dig a small hole in the center of puddle and pump the water from this spot into the wheel barrow. As you pump the puddle will flow down to your spot. Then haul the water off the field and dump it.

Tip:

1. Please remember to sweep IN towards the pitching circle. Here is the reason...when you sweep you inevitably sweep clay/soil too. So if you sweep out towards the outfield, you are pushing clay/soil to the grass interface with the water. The net result is you will create a lip of clay/soil right at the grass interface...over time this lip of soil/dirt will become a noticeable, and it will cause ground balls to deflect off of it....It will also creat a "Dam" for rain water.

2. Many folks use a machine (tractor) to drag a screen around the infield to smooth it out and make it look like Fenway Park (me included). Most will start with small circles at the pitching plate and work their way around and out, gradually making larger circles until they reach the outfield. When you do it in this manner you are once again "grading" or pushing clay/soil out towards the outfield grass interface...a huge contibutor to the "lip" that creates bad bounces and the accumulation of rain water. In the future run the sreened circles from the outside IN towards the pitching circle.

3. If you use "field dry" I recommend you scarify the surface with a regular metal rake first....then sprinkle the field dry over it. Scarifying creates more surface area or "drying" area.

4. I don't recommend squeegees...they act as scrapers and you end up pushing mud...you want to try and just move the water so a broom is best.

Hope this helps.

T