When manure is frozen to the concrete, that surface is significantly more slippery than the rubber. For that reason alone I would seriously consider installing rubber in the stall alleys as well as feed alleys and the holding pen in a new construction. As with all things, the rubber flooring here comes with some challenges. We continue to struggle with some mat sections coming unfastened from the floor due to nails pulling out and nail heads coming off. I would prefer the material be made a little stronger to resist the nail heads pulling through.
Liquid also continues to collect underneath the mats.
Liquid freezing and heaving the mats hasn't been a problem, but the material does squirt out from the seams under the pressure of the rubber tire scraper on a skidsteer loader. That's not a big issue when scraping forward, but to clean uneven sections of our 30 year-old barn we need to back scrape certain areas. When moving backward, the liquid sometimes squirts out with such force that it can hit the skidsteer operator directly between the legs. The prospect of spending 3 hours milking cows after drenching yourself in a sensitive area is not inviting. On the whole, I think the project has had a positive impact on the cows.