Grading How do you dig a driveway drainage ditch next to an earthen bank?

[Egon]

Use your bucket at right. Angles to the road.

 

[fried1765]

Yeah, I saw those online, but mine doesn稚 offset like that.....might need to sell it and get one of the types that does.

If you are even thinking about buying a new back blade there is really only one that you should consider.
The EA DELUXE 6 WAY SCRAPE BLADE.

I have a 7' King Kutter extendable blade, and it is a major PITA compared to the EA blade.
The KK blade requires Superman strength to slide the blade, and the use of a wrench to loosen bolts.
The KK blade has been used once,.... and is for sale.

The EA blade is as simple as pie to offset & tilt, and requires no tools.
It is a bit more expensive than a KK rear blade, but worth every penny of the difference!

 

[nyone]

I had a smaller similar situation. I dug it out with my mini ex. Dig it out with your hoe from the high side and remove from the area. To steep of a hill will just erode. You don't really need to fill the ditch with anything once it graded right.

 

[Diggin It]

Our county road department has a machine they use for clearing ditches. Some sort of telescoping boom excavator with about a 48" bucket. Makes for quick work. Maybe check and see if you can rent a wider bucket for your BH?

 

[TerryR]

But your point about grade and slope makes me wonder if I maybe should not try to crown the driveway but rather pitch it slightly across the entire width to the side that does not have the bank, so water would just drain off that low side. That might be a lot easier to maintain too. Sorry, I知 a complete novice with this. Is there any problem with sloping a driveway across the entire width?

Yes, there can be. It largely depends on how steep the road is, and that's difficult to judge from the photos. The issue is that if you try to slope it all to one side the side slope has to be noticeably steeper than the slope down the hill, or the water will just run down the road and cut it rather than off to the side.

Since gravel roads tend to develop ruts where the tires run they tend to channel the water down the road rather than off the side. This is true whether you crown the road or slope only to one side, but seems to be worse when you try to run the water all the way across the road to one side.

Our drive was originally sloped to one side (towards the ditch on the uphill side) but I found it impossible to maintain, and ended up crowning it wherever I could. See the results at https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/299055-grading-interesting-driveway.html

 

[fried1765]

Yes, there can be. It largely depends on how steep the road is, and that's difficult to judge from the photos. The issue is that if you try to slope it all to one side the side slope has to be noticeably steeper than the slope down the hill, or the water will just run down the road and cut it rather than off to the side.

Since gravel roads tend to develop ruts where the tires run they tend to channel the water down the road rather than off the side. This is true whether you crown the road or slope only to one side, but seems to be worse when you try to run the water all the way across the road to one side.

Our drive was originally sloped to one side (towards the ditch on the uphill side) but I found it impossible to maintain, and ended up crowning it wherever I could. See the results at https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/299055-grading-interesting-driveway.html

Good advice!

 

[ruffdog]

My drive is on level ground so I chose to crown it. I never have water issues. My dad's drive runs along a hillside while it goes down grade, like the OP's drive. When we graded it (1980), we put the top side at ground level and slightly sloped the other side down so the water will always trickle off. We never had a problem in the 40 years they used it. It never has a chance to get in a valley so it never gains strength. If you focus it in a ditch, on a noticeable grade, you will always struggle with erosion.

 

[jgoodma1]

Thanks everyone.

 

[jgoodma1]

Terry, thanks for the link to your series of posts about your driveway...very helpful. My driveway is pretty flat and the grades it does have are quite gentle, so I'm not dealing with the challenges you have with your driveway. I thrashed around over the past week for just a few hours on a driveway that hadn't been touched in 6-7 years, and it's really come out pretty well. After reading your posts about your driveway and the those of the people who responded, I'm now thinking that maybe I shouldn't be agonizing over adding drainage ditches and should just grade the driveway pretty flat. Once I get a rock rake and land plane, I should be able touch it up in a couple of hours, a few times per year. And if we get some bad thunderstorms or the remnants of hurricane come through, it still will clean up in a few hours.

 

[TnAndy]

Stuff like this is why I got rid of the fairly useless tractor backhoe I had, and bought a small, well used, rubber track mini-excavator.

It will climb right down in that ditch, or set up in the road, swing sideways and use the offset swing of the boom to keep it fairly parallel to the road. 2 handles right in front of you allow it to move down the road as you work without jumping out of one seat, into another, move the tractor a little, then back into the backhoe seat.

I don't miss that backhoe unit at all.