Beacon BallieldDimensionsGuide-2024-WEB - Flipbook - Page 29
Function of Soil Entities |
BREAKING DOWN SOILS
INFIELD SOILS
A soil is made up of three types of soil particles: sand, silt and clay. Each of these particles plays a vital role in the success of the infield skin.
In order for the soil to provide ample support for athletic play, it needs to have the proper density of particles to fully stabilize the soil surface.
■
SAND — Its function in the infield soil
is to provide structural stability. When sand is
present in proper amounts and sizes, it creates
“pore space” or “air space” and leaves room for
the smaller particles of silt and clay. Because of
its large particle size, sand should take up the
majority of the volume in your infield soil.
Sand is usually divided into five sizes ranging
from very fine to very coarse. For infield soils the
majority of the sand should be in the medium to
very coarse range. An infield soil with the proper
volume and sizes of sand will remain stable —
even in wet conditions. Infield soil with a large
volume of fine and very fine sand will
lack stability.
■
■
SILT — This is the soil particle that is
sized between sand particles (larger) and clay
particles (smaller). Because of this, silt helps
to fill the larger voids created by the sand
component to help achieve proper density.
However, excess silt can cause problems
ranging from a greasy surface when wet to
a very dusty infield when dry.
CLAY — It represents the smallest
particle size in an infield soil and provides
color and moisture retention. Not all clays are
the same. It takes specific mineralogy of the
clay in your infield for it to perform properly.
In general, higher clay content in a mix requires
more maintenance.
How much clay is needed? The ideal clay content
is a ratio that is equal to or
1 ½ times the silt content.
How much silt is needed? The ideal silt
content is a ratio which is equal to or half
the clay content.
100
Think of this jar as representing an infield soil profile.
Blue and purple particles indicate variations of sand, yellow indicates silt,
and the red haze indicates all kinds of tiny little clay particles. The proper amount
of each sized particle creates structural stability in an infield soil.
50
10
T H E
S I L T - T O - C L A Y
R A T I O :
W H Y
S C R
M A T T E R S
TO FIND THE SILT-TO-CLAY RATIO divide the % silt by the % clay, as reported in
Excessive SCR fields (above 3.0) are very high in silt and usually high in fine or
your soil test. Check the SCR Scale to judge how your infield soil measures up.
very fine sand content as well. That combination of Excessive SCR and high fine
The ideal SCR range for any infield soil is between 0.5 and 1.0. Fields with an
to very fine sand content results in extremely unstable infield soils when wet.
Elevated SCR (between 1.0 and 2.0) can often improve performance by adding
Low SCR fields (below 0.5 SCR) are common in the southeast U.S., but are rare
a topdressing.
elsewhere. These fields typically suffer from either being too loose and sandy or
Soils with a High SCR (between 2.0 and 3.0) will definitely need to be amended
they have too high a clay content which will cause chunking out on the infield skin.
to get to the idea range. Overall sand content and sand size distribution will also
SCR SCALE
need to be adjusted in these fields. High SCR infield soils will typically be very
LOW
slippery or greasy when wet, and very dusty when dry. Both of these conditions
are due to excessive silt content in the infield soil.
0.0
IDEAL
0.5
1.0
E LEVATED
HI GH
2.0
EXCESSIVE
3.0
BeaconAthletics.com
4.0
|
DuraEdge.com
29
