roman
Silver Member
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2010
- Messages
- 163
- Location
- W Central New Hampshire
- Tractor
- MF 30(sold) Ford 1520(sold) Ford 1720(sold) Kioti CK4010SE HST Cab
We live in an area with high peat levels in the soil. Our driveway consisted of dirt, a little gravel, large tree roots and a few large rocks (iceburgs). After a good rain the drive was like mashed potatoes and in spring, forget it. We stayed off it and used pallets to make a path to the house. This spring, after three years of putting up with it I vowed this was the year to make a change.
I made a sketch of how the new drive would look and made measurments. I called a few local gravel - hardpack places and after a lot of reading and talking decided to dig 12-16 inches, line it with fabric and layer 1 1/2" hardpack for the bottom and 3/4" hardpack on the top third. The drive is only 95 feet long and 20 feet wide with an dogleg. It pitches up from the road and at the front steps slopes gradually to a drainage area in front of the house. I wanted to ensure the runoff would go away from the house and to the drainage and lawn area respectively. The slope up from the road had to have a crown so the rain and massive amounts of snow we get would cooperate.
In the process I dug up numerous rocks that would fit in my bucket for removal to the rock pile. I had one rock that I knew I couldn't transport, had to dig a 6' hole and bury it. I moved old tree stumps and many large and small roots. It rained for a lot of the month long excavation period. Glad I have a cab! I used the backhoe to break up an area at a time and make a pile for transport. I have a place where I could store a large amount of the dirt with organic qualities and kept that seperate from the small amount that was mixed with gravel ( about ten yards). I used a large amount of the organic stuff to cover up and extend my stump dump. In the process we decided to remove some large pine stumps we had ground a few years ago. They created a mound on the inside corner of the dogleg and removing them would make for a more level and cleaner looking section. One of those stumps was huge!! After digging around it for hours I was finally able lift it up a little and drop it to shake off the dirt. I did that for an hour untill I was satisfied I could move it. I dug a ramp up out of the hole because my 6.5 foot hoe wouldn't lift it. I had to pull the stump backwards up the road and onto my upper property to the stumpdump. It was tricky as the wieght of the stump would lift my back tires off the ground and make it difficult to steer. I kept saying to myself, come on spindles- dont fail me now!
After excavation I gave the drive it's aproxamate slopes and tried to level it as best as I could. The local guy I hired to haul my aggrigate sold us the fabric for what we used. We held the fabric in place with some of the softball and larger rock we had until he could start hauling. I did a grease job, removed the backhoe and mounted the grader blade and waited. The next week he started hauling with turnaround time about 1 1/2 hours so I had time to move the 1 1/2 inch stuff around and create the beginnings of the grades. That took five loads. I drove on that for several days and the next weekend the top coat began. That process took me longer because I wanted to get the grades right and stay out of the bigger material on the bottom. I finised the top with a rake and loaded my counter weight in the truck to start rolling it down. I am very happy with the finished project. The water runoff goes where I wanted and I can wash my vehicles now without making a mudpit. The material was expensive but I saved a ton of cash doing it myself. It cost me about 30 gallons of deisel fuel and best part is I didn't break anything on the tractor.:thumbsup:
I made a sketch of how the new drive would look and made measurments. I called a few local gravel - hardpack places and after a lot of reading and talking decided to dig 12-16 inches, line it with fabric and layer 1 1/2" hardpack for the bottom and 3/4" hardpack on the top third. The drive is only 95 feet long and 20 feet wide with an dogleg. It pitches up from the road and at the front steps slopes gradually to a drainage area in front of the house. I wanted to ensure the runoff would go away from the house and to the drainage and lawn area respectively. The slope up from the road had to have a crown so the rain and massive amounts of snow we get would cooperate.
In the process I dug up numerous rocks that would fit in my bucket for removal to the rock pile. I had one rock that I knew I couldn't transport, had to dig a 6' hole and bury it. I moved old tree stumps and many large and small roots. It rained for a lot of the month long excavation period. Glad I have a cab! I used the backhoe to break up an area at a time and make a pile for transport. I have a place where I could store a large amount of the dirt with organic qualities and kept that seperate from the small amount that was mixed with gravel ( about ten yards). I used a large amount of the organic stuff to cover up and extend my stump dump. In the process we decided to remove some large pine stumps we had ground a few years ago. They created a mound on the inside corner of the dogleg and removing them would make for a more level and cleaner looking section. One of those stumps was huge!! After digging around it for hours I was finally able lift it up a little and drop it to shake off the dirt. I did that for an hour untill I was satisfied I could move it. I dug a ramp up out of the hole because my 6.5 foot hoe wouldn't lift it. I had to pull the stump backwards up the road and onto my upper property to the stumpdump. It was tricky as the wieght of the stump would lift my back tires off the ground and make it difficult to steer. I kept saying to myself, come on spindles- dont fail me now!
After excavation I gave the drive it's aproxamate slopes and tried to level it as best as I could. The local guy I hired to haul my aggrigate sold us the fabric for what we used. We held the fabric in place with some of the softball and larger rock we had until he could start hauling. I did a grease job, removed the backhoe and mounted the grader blade and waited. The next week he started hauling with turnaround time about 1 1/2 hours so I had time to move the 1 1/2 inch stuff around and create the beginnings of the grades. That took five loads. I drove on that for several days and the next weekend the top coat began. That process took me longer because I wanted to get the grades right and stay out of the bigger material on the bottom. I finised the top with a rake and loaded my counter weight in the truck to start rolling it down. I am very happy with the finished project. The water runoff goes where I wanted and I can wash my vehicles now without making a mudpit. The material was expensive but I saved a ton of cash doing it myself. It cost me about 30 gallons of deisel fuel and best part is I didn't break anything on the tractor.:thumbsup:
