GRADING QUESTIONS

[CTW]

My grader blade works great for me. Not sure what works good when you have to deal with rocks and such. Typically heaver is better when grading, so you need to keep that in mind. If you search TBN you will find more threads and pictures on this topic.

That sure is some pretty county. Nice tractor too!

 

[CrazyQ]

Not much sand there, actually most of the road is decomposed granite.(DG) It is a very hard surface when dry and is even firm when wet.

As others have said, either remove the rocks and fill the holes or raise the road bed to get above the rocks. What else can a guy do? Just how big are these rocks? Sounds like they are fairly big if you are considering getting a breaker to break off the tops. Just how high are they sticking up above the main road surface?

I have tried to hand excavate a few of them and gave up after digging down about 10". The majority of the trouble is likely a 6" minus gravel but with periodic 8-10" rocks. They are sticking up enough that when I'm not floating my snow plow the rocks will stop a 3/4 ton pickup in its tracks.

 

[CrazyQ]

I'm thinking about putting rocks back in where the pothole keep returning and covering them up with fine gravel. Don't know what the specific types of gravel are that are good for this but someone on this site will. I've seen it but don't know what it's called. Once it packs down It's like driving on pavement.

I have heard of "reclaim" packing well. It is recycled (crushed) asphalt and gravel. Too expensive for me. I need to find some soil material on my property I guess and build the road up where needed. Once I have it built up I'll just maintain it.

 

[Egon]

The "proper equipment" for grading your road will not be cheap.

For a substitute it would sound as though an implement with ripper teeth that can loosen up the entire road surface should be first used. Then the large rocks removed. And then you would be able to do a final grading and get a smooth even surface. The addition of some well graded crushed rock would also be of real benefit.

It will take time and lots of patience.

 

[EddieWalker]

A few things to consider before you start working on your gravel road. For the gravel to work, it needs to be 4 inches thick and composed of jagged edged rock that is several inches across, mixed with smaller rock in size all the way down to fines.

Smoothing out an existing, compacted gravel road or driveway will ususally bring the areas that are thick enough and functioning properly, down to a uniform level that is too thin and not able to compact properly. You go for a few bad areas to a road that is all bad and no longer has any integrity.

If you have more then four inches of gravel, then re-grading the rock is always the cheapest, easiest way to go. If you do not have that much thickness, you need to add rock to the low areas.

To add rock, you need to break up the existing rock and mix the new rock with each other. Adding a layer on top of an existing gravel road will just ensure that it will wash and wear away.

Do not buy fines or small rock and think that it will lock together with what you have. You need to buy road base rock with the various sizes in it to get a proper mixture again. Too many fines and you just have sand. The various sizes are critical to create a solid mass when compacted. The thickness is critical for that solid mass to have enough integrity to hold together.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[pitt_md]

I wonder if maybe renting a dozer to dig out/regrade the base would be a good way to get rid of those exposed rocks before adding a top layer. With this kind of project you can do it once the right way or fight it forever. Best of luck with it.

 

[Egon]

A Cat 16 grader would be an ideal machine to use for grading and finishing a road like this.

But the cost?

 

[3RRL]

Well, I am of the school where I think you could fix up your road with a boxblade and scarifiers.
Sure, the other methods will work too, but as you said, if you're gonna get an implement you might as well get one you can use for many other purposes. If it was me, I'd lat least want to give it a try and do it myself. If it doesn't work out you still have it for everything else you will be doing with it. Just be sure it is a heavy duty model with weight and beefy construction as THE major requirements. You can always add weight to it.
I have done my 1/2 mile dirt road and almost have all the rocks removed with my boxblade. It is now almost 100% decomposed granite. A couple of the guys who posted on your thread, (Eddie and Brian) have visited my property and can tell you what they thought of the road. Of course, I like to do things myself and use what I got, I am hard headed that way. Now that my road is smooth and in good shape, I would consider one of those road graders like Brain has to maintain it. But to get it there, I used the boxblade. I don't know how a road boss grader blade would do on a gravel road?

I would drag the road with the scarifiers down about 4" so as to minimize shank damage. If it doesn't bite in, consider removing a couple of them and drag with only 2 or 3 down ... whatever gets into the road and loosens the gravel. Once you get a few cuts in it and it's loose enough, put the rest back in and continue. If the road is soft enough, it should work great. The bigger rocks will sometimes "pop out" and sometimes the boxblade will jump over them if they are really big. You'd be surprised at the size of some rocks you'll pop out. It might take a little longer, but if it works you have the least expensive fix and a new implement for other chores. You can evaluate road to determine ... pinpoint where to add gravel or base and where it is OK, further minimizing your repair cost.
Anyway ... my two cents

 

[Ford850]

I agree with 3RRL, a box blade would work best. After working it up as suggested, raise the scarifiers and hold the blade 3-4" above the road. You will pull the 6-10" across the top and can pull them off to the side, while leaving the smaller stuff in the drive.

 

[dangerdoc]

I have a very rocky driveway about 3/10 of a mile long that I need to grade. I am tired of my plow truck taking a beating since it is my daily driver. I thought that I needed a box blade because the ripper teeth seemed like a good way of loosening the hard pack. Today at my local tractor dealership I came across a dual edge grader similar to a dura-grader. The salesman said they work better than the box blade but I am reluctant since there are no teeth. Does anyone have experience with a grader similar to the dura-grader or have any other recommendations? I forgot to mention that my driveway has some steep hills so I will probably need to grade down hill, hence needed something adjustable to keep the gravel out of the ditches. Thanks.

I had a similar problem. I dug the big rocks and ledges out with a backhoe and covered the rest with about 6 inches of AB3. I use a blade to keep the rock on the road about 4 times a year and order an inch or two of new rock every year.

I live on a hill and a blade works great but you have to keep up on it to keep the water off the road.