crushed concrete question

[anthonyk]

I've got a driveway covered in about 4 to 5 inches of crushed concrete.
When we first did it, we compacted the crap out of the select fill dirt road base, dumped the concrete, spread it with the trusty box blade, then wet it and rolled it with a huge smooth, vibratory roller. It's held up very well, but lately a few low spots have developed which hold water. No big deal but I was going to have about 20 cubic yards dropped off, and sort of touch everything up.
The guy that's delivering the crushed concrete says there's no need to wet and roll it, just spread it and drive over it with the tractor (I've got a Century 3647 47 Hp with FEL and R4 tires).
Is he right?? Is that enough compaction?

Any tips from someone with experience would be appreciated)

Anthony

 

[AlanB]

I can't truly reply from experience, but I was facing a similar thing last month and talking over with my buddy renting a big compactor, and his response was that I could buy an extra truckload of rock, with what I would pay to rent the compator.

I went with the extra load of rock.

 

[anthonyk]

good point.

any and all further comments/ suggestions welcomed!

a.

 

[WhyNot]

At the farm where I work part time they just spread it out with a box blade and let mother nature and traffic take care of the compacting.

 

[RonMar]

The 3/4" with fines I put in my drive packs nicely with the tires of the vehicles. Since I pick up a lot of debris from the trees, I pull the drag over it from time to time. It smooths out nice and repacks quickly with the vehicle traffic.

 

[Soundguy]

Gravel sized rock will only consolodate.. not compact. The fines do help fill in the voids. The water will cut dust and help the fines find the voids.. but no real need for the vib roller.. though it will make it easier and look a tad better at first. We put in plenty of stabilized driveways with cushed concrete or reclaimed asphalt. great -cheap- road base material..

soundguy

 

[anthonyk]

well it seems pretty unanimous!

I appreciate all the tips guys. The money and time I save on the compactor will definitely be used for some extra rock.

anthony

 

[ctpres]

Have chain harrow that I use to touch-up crushed concrete drive. A. Does a very good job of keeping growing things out of drive. B. Defines edges very neatly. C.helps some with low spots. I can do 300 plus foot of drive plus parking pads in less than ten min with old riding mower.

 

[Podunkadunk]

I'll add my .02 cents worth, even though it seems you have made your decision...

I don't have crushed concrete, I have #57 granite looking rock from the pit in Auburn, Alabama.

I had a dirt road driveway that washed badly. Upon moving into this place, I made it a priority to fix it.

After some local deliberation, I decided to go with the rock. 5 truckloads @ 28 tons a load, then had about 185' of concrete poured on the extreme downhill sloping part.

We filled the extreme low spots with the red loamy dirt that D.O.T. uses as a base.

We laid it, box bladed it, and other than an occasional box blading, driving the tractor across it and the cars or a UPS/FedEx truck, nothing more has been done. You'll be amazed at how fast those rocks will pack down and become really firm.

In short (probably too late for that (on my part) now) save your money for a vibrating roller and just let mother nature and normal driving across it take it's toll. I'm sure you'll be happy.

 

[Mike120]

Anthony,

I used crushed concrete and washout for the driveway and parking area at my barn and it's held up well. It's on top of clay fill. I just add a load about once a year, spread it with a BB and then drive on it.

When I built my house, I put three loads of bull rock down for the construction driveway. After the house was done, we put in about 5" of crushed concrete, rolled it and drove on it for a year. Then we had it blacktopped. Depending on where you are in the Houston area...the gumbo can go to the center of the earth and you'll never really get it stable.

Mike