Road thru woods

[Fuddy1952]

On my place I would like to put a road through the woods. Nothing fancy, just access , I'll gravel when finished. A few pictures show it where I started. The pasture is fairly hilly leading to it, and I have a couple tractors, one is a new JD 3038E with FEL, lots of attachments, a 7.5ft backhoe, etc. The problem is it's fairly steep, so as I go with bucket (I put tooth bar on it), it wants to dig the low side which is backwards.
Any ideas appreciated. My good friend & neighbor has a Bobcat, he's an experienced excavator. I'm thinking maybe him doing it (I 'd insist paying him). When finished road will just be maybe 1500ft. long, then a creek crossing (rip rap stone probably).
It's steep enough on my JD it feels tippy (actually did tip one point!).
Thanks!

 

[oosik]

You know - JMHO - but on a piece of equipment that you acknowledge as feeling tippy - maybe that road is not the best project for you to learn on. Building a road requires knowledge, skills and experience. Try building the road where its level. Work up to the difficult areas. Be safe.

 

[/pine]

Just something to consider...
One of the issues of "cutting" into undisturbed "woods"...is dealing with the runoff...once you clear a space/lane/whatever...storm water will accumulate and or flow to a lower area...

If there are grades involved (as the pics indicate)....this can cause some major rutting and washout problems given the right circumstances...

 

[Woody65]

Nice project to tackle. Just take your time. I just did the same thing but with a mini ex. Since you have a backhoe, use that. Dig out the high side, deposit it on the lower side and after 10 ft you will be working on level ground the rest of the way. Try to crown the road a little so the rain runs off and doesn't rut the road. Fine tune as needed.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Thanks. There's a nice spring before you get to entrance I'm making, and runoff water naturally goes that way then into creek. I don't think I'll have washout problems but good things to consider.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Nice project to tackle. Just take your time. I just did the same thing but with a mini ex. Since you have a backhoe, use that. Dig out the high side, deposit it on the lower side and after 10 ft you will be working on level ground the rest of the way. Try to crown the road a little so the rain runs off and doesn't rut the road. Fine tune as needed.

Very good advice, you got the equipment, have fun using it, especially a road that will be appreciated for years to come.

I have built several heavy Haul Roads using just my tractor with great results. I am convinced you can do the same. I just keep joking with people that by the time I extend my Heavy Haul Roads to every place that I want them, hovercrafts will be in vogue and make them obsolete!

 

[Oldoak]

From what you say, I think tree roots will give you a bigger problem than water runoff. Of course that all depends on how level and how wide you want to make the road.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Gotta handle the water. Cut side ditches and cross pipes are mandatory. You could also use broad based dips or french mattresses to shed the water to the outslope. If you are planning on using this in wet weather some stone will be needed. You could potentially out slope the road to shed the water, but if it gets slick you may slide off too.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Thanks for all suggestions. Yes tree roots are a major problem. The road won't be used much. Already there's a natural spot where it levels out about 8-10ft. wide, fairly level.

 

[zing]

If you are wanting to try to do at least parts of it yourself, I would think that you would have better luck with a backblade or boxblade than your FEL. The three point hitch adjustments will let you lower one side so that it will dig in and then as you travel along it will deposit off the downhill side. Your FEL can't be lowered on one side like the 3PT hitch can. It may take a lot of trips, but you might be able to level it out gradually that way.

Maybe for the steeper parts back up to it and use the backhoe to shave down the high side and deposit it on the low side until it is level enough to drive along with the boxblade. This would be a "pick away" at it process, but if you are not on a timeline it might be something to do gradually.