Buying Advice stone crushing

[Lebneh]

So a little background to this request. I've got a long road (probably about 1/8 mile that has gotten worse every year (from rain). This road basically goes up the side of a mountain. The rain water has been running down the wheel tracks in the road creating deep trenches. To fix the problem we've been using large flat slate rocks (that are very abundant in these mountains) to create a drivable surface but it痴 back breaking work. We've also started digging a ditch on the side of the road to try and divert the rain out of the wheel tacks.

So here comes the idea. A local contractor took a look at the problem and recommended doing ditches on both sides of the road and then laying down gravel to create a road bed.

The gravel will cost so much that we were thinking of just getting a machine to crush the local rocks to make our own "gravel.

Is this a completely crazy idea? Do machines that crush stones come in the 35-40k price range? Are they something a novice could operate?

I have a feeling this might be a crazy question.. So please be gentle with your responses

 

[TRR]

It sounds like you want a rock crusher on a trailer kind of machine. I don't know if one is made. The only ones I've seen are the ones at a cement plant that took 40 to 50 pound rocks and turned them into gravel, but they were huge machines that did the crushing in various stages. I don't remember how many stages to break it down to gravel, but there were at least 2. The other thing is that these were fed by railroad cars of rock. I think the problem you're going to run into is the weight (because of strength needed for crushing) and the power to run it.

How are you getting the slabs out of the ground now? You may be better off if you can crush the stones while still in the ground then run them thru a screen to get the size you want. There is a non-explosive material used to breakup concrete, I'm sure it will work for slate as well. And then, another thing you could check on is a licensed explosives expert to break up the slate like they do in a quarry. (Check demolition companies) If it is allowed in your area and you meet all the rules, etc. We lived about a mile from an active quarry for awhile and other than the occasional "boom" there wasn't any particular problem with the explosives.

 

[dmrp6510]

Look at this look for something simular to rent

http://www.accessconstructionequipment.com/portable-rock-crusher.php

 

[Garybake]

I would leave that up to the concrete companies and just invest in truckloads of crushed concrete from one of them. Not from landscapers that may mix concrete with clay but powdered and crushed concrete (like coarse sand and concrete pieces). Cheapest structural stone that will not get pushed in the wet roadway very easily. Once it gets packed down (sharp edges and cindered pieces lock together) water has a tougher time undermining the larger pieces and the driveway will become pretty hard even during rain and yet drains or runs off to ditches well. The expense will be in trucking to your site.

 

[Locoweed]

See if a contractor in your area has one of these.

Crusher | IronWolf | Construction Equipment and Attachments

 

[Little_Grizzly]

My property is in the middle of some pretty steep mountains. I have a fair amount of experience with steep dirt roads. My advice is to forget about laying down rock. It will fix it in the short term but slowly the rock will disappear and you'll be right back where you started.

My advice is to fix the problem. There are a myriad of ways to fix a road. The most basic is cross ditching. Putting cross-wise shallow ditches every so often to catch the runoff and divert it to the sides. Rutting is mostly caused by water that gets up speed. If you catch it before it does and run it off the road, you'll avoid big ruts.

Gutters are another way of doing it. These are deep ruts that run alongside the road. These work well when you're trying to catch the water coming off the upside of the hill. Usually these are best matched with culverts if you have a lot of run-off.

Diversions are another method. If you have a road with switch-backs, a gutter can be dug on the uphill side and then run straight off where the road makes a turn.

A variant of the cross-ditch that I have been meaning to try is a bit hard to describe. Basically instead of digging a ditch (that has to be re-dug every year usually) you dig one deep ditch and bury a sandwich of 2x6 - Thick rubber mat - 2x6. The thick rubber mat sticks up vertically out of the ground after you bury the 2x6's. It forms a flap that bends when you drive over it but otherwise catches the water and diverts it. Sounds like less maintenance to me but I would like to see it in action first.

Anyway, whatever method you choose, I find that fixing the problem ends up being less work in the long run.

 

[Flying MXZ]

Around here the crushers at the local quarries are transportable and are moved from quarry to quarry. Maybe you could stockpile rock and have one of them come in and crush on your property? The machines I have seen are not small and probably don't come cheap, but it's a thought.

And you need ditchs no matter what else you do.

 

[SHORT KID]

Lebneth
It may be profitable to buy a dump trailer if you have a means of pulling it, or get a small dump truck and haul material yourself. Hauling is the biggest cost if you do a little at a time it's not too bad. You could have a local quarry deliver a tri axel load and stock pile it until you need it, thats what we do.

 

[Egon]

You said Slate rock.

It may be possible to break thiner slabs up with a larger vibratory sheepfoot roller. This may be labour intensive or also rental expensive as buying the roller is not feasable???

 

[rambler]

This is an interesting thread.

Rock crushers aren't cheap, aren't small, and create a lot of dust and noise. Be interesting to see what the operating costs are, and the permits needed for the noise/dust.

You're worried about the labor of picking up rock for now, but you want to gather enough rock to crush into gravel. How much labor is that going to take?

You're worried about the cost of 1/8 mile of gravel, but you're willing to buy & operate a very spendy, high-maitanence machine.

Did you mean to post this thread on April 1st?

Just a light-hearted, fun look at your thread, nothing more.

Your problem is the hill with the wheel tracks being the low spot. You don't need a rock crusher, you need a properly built roadbed. The road needs to be higher than the surrounding ground made of hard clay or other solid material, and the road top needs to be crowned to shed water quickly to the road ditches on each side of it - not run down the road itself to the bottom of the hill. This keeps the roadbed dry(er) and hard and holds up to the weather. What you have now is a creek bottom that turns and remains soft, not a road. You need the inverse of what you have.

Three loads of gravel - 'here' costs $150 a load - will then cover your proper roadbed of 660 feet nicely, and will hold up for several years. Maintain the crown each sprring with some grading with a beckblade to push the gravel back to the center, and perhaps add a load of new gravel for a light topping every 5 years or so, and you will have no problems.

--->Paul

Oh - yea, meant to add; Slate does not make a good gravel, it tends to be porious and holds water, not trhe best rock for 'gravel' roadbed. You can use larger rock for a base of the road, something to keep it solid, but topped off with good gravel. You can often buy 3 inch crushed concrete fairly cheaply as this middle base of your roadbed.

Build up the road higher than surrounding ground not with topsoil, but with clay or other good hard material. Crown it. Top it with your hand-picked rock, or crushed 3 inch concrete. Get this all packed properly or let it settle 6 months. Then top off with good road gravel - it has different names in different regions, but it has smaller rock, various sizes to lock together & make a good surface. This is the only way to have a good road on a hill.