Figuring gravel for driveway

[forgeblast]

when it comes to gravel i try to over estimate. there is always a project that can use some gravel...lol. Since i sold my truck, it was a money pit, i have to rely on quarry trucks to get gravel which means i get 20 ton at a time which is a full truck load.

I have modified crusher run etc as the base on my driveway. I put a top coat of 1b on it this fall to "dress" it up and to fill in some small ruts. What i have noticed is that it has given us more traction since the water/ice/snow will freeze it in place. we will see how it handles come spring, if it sinks in or stays.

 

[EddieWalker]

Eddie, 100' x 10' x 4'' is only a little over 12 yards and less than 18 tons.

I've never done the math on it, but I'm sure it's something like concrete. The pad is supposed to be 3 1/2 inches thick, but if you bought exactly how much concrete you needed by WxLxD, you'll end up short every time.

When I figure how much gravel to buy, I keep it simple and estimate 100 feet per load. If I end up with areas that are 5 to 6 inches deep, that's fine. It's not one of those things that will hurt anything, and thicker is better.

The biggest mistake anybody can make when buying rock is to put it on too thin. Four inches really is an important number for thickness. Depending on soil compaction and drainage, it also might not even be close to enough.

Eddie

 

[harpoonalt]

I've helped spread material for 3 driveways in my neighborhood. The longest was 300'. Trucking is the biggest cost. It pays to get the biggest truck you can to deliver to you. Eddie is right, Thicker is better. I estimated the long drive the best I could and spread out each load as delivered. The driver delivered the original order and then went back for one more load that we needed. Most places will do that for you if you ask. The turnaround time was an hour so we had plenty of time to get the freshly dropped material roughly spread.
It's hard to calculate loads needed exactly because weights vary due to moisture and some places ideas of 14 yards is way different from others. If you're paying by weight, try to get stuff after a dry spell so you aren't paying for water. From all the material I had delivered, I found the slightly higher priced guy ultimately gave me more for my money since his loads at 14 yards were noticeably larger than the cheaper guy. I always planned on one more load than the numbers suggested. After a few times you can get pretty close just by looking.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

length x width x desired depth. Add 10 or 15 % for when it compacts.

My experience is you need 6" thickness to support smaller vehicles and 12" for large trucks. Though we have clay soils here that are a terrible base wet or dry. Plan on extra material, you will find a place for it.
I rented a belly dump and hauled in 3300 yards to do my drive and shop yard. Then went back for another 1200 a couple years later.
It was a wet fall and I'm sure I lifted the main road a foot 4 times, during the 125 + loads I hauled over it. So if you can,another reson to do it when it is dry out
Ken

 

[Duffster]

I've never done the math on it, but I'm sure it's something like concrete. The pad is supposed to be 3 1/2 inches thick, but if you bought exactly how much concrete you needed by WxLxD, you'll end up short every time.

When I figure how much gravel to buy, I keep it simple and estimate 100 feet per load. If I end up with areas that are 5 to 6 inches deep, that's fine. It's not one of those things that will hurt anything, and thicker is better.

The biggest mistake anybody can make when buying rock is to put it on too thin. Four inches really is an important number for thickness. Depending on soil compaction and drainage, it also might not even be close to enough.

Eddie

Do you order 50%+ more concrete than you need?

Your rule of thumb works perfect for a 6" depth.

 

[gerard]

Do you order 50%+ more concrete than you need?

Your rule of thumb works perfect for a 6" depth.

Little apples and oranges isn't it? Extra gravel can be stockpiled and used in the future. Little hard to do that with concrete and at $22 a ton for actual material and no more for trucking, why WOULDN'T you figure on the high side??

 

[Duffster]

Little apples and oranges isn't it? Extra gravel can be stockpiled and used in the future. Little hard to do that with concrete and at $22 a ton for actual material and no more for trucking, why WOULDN'T you figure on the high side??

Apples to Oranges?......Yes

The OP asked for a formula to figured how much he needed, because he doesn't want to much.

If I was ordering I would figure exactly how much I needed and then round up to a full load.

There is nothing wrong with a little stock pile, I always have a tridem load on hand, but to over figure by 50% could leave the OP with several semi loads to much, and that IMO would just be stupid.

 

[EddieWalker]

Apples to Oranges?......Yes

The OP asked for a formula to figured how much he needed, because he doesn't want to much.

If I was ordering I would figure exactly how much I needed and then round up to a full load.

There is nothing wrong with a little stock pile, I always have a tridem load on hand, but to over figure by 50% could leave the OP with several semi loads to much, and that IMO would just be stupid.

And calling me "stupid" makes your point.

Appreciate it.

Eddie

 

[Scotty370]

Boys, Boys, Boys,.........don't make me come down (or up) there!! While were on this topic, what your take on Geo-Tex fabric under stone drives or garage floor, base slabs??
~Scotty

 

[smfcpacfp]

xLearJockey has it down.

I used a slightly different approach, not very scientific, since things were pretty slow at the gravel pit in late November, here in snow and cold country. I new I would take at least one load, so when they dropped it, I could see I needed quite a bit more so I told them to bring another which they spread out as much as possible ( I was probably their only job for the day) and then after my wife graded it out we called them again to bring the third and final load - 110 tons in all.

That night it got quite cold and was frozen as solid as a rock next morning, so the grading season ended. The following two days we had 30" of snow. We will see it again next April, if we are lucky.