New Driveway Construction

hutchman · Sep 15, 2015

Have you thought of how you are going to roll out the geotextile fabric? I've looked into using it on my road too but don't have any ideas beyond putting some kind of rod through the roll and attaching it to the tractor to unroll as you drive and having visions of the fabric getting all bunched up under the tractor when the wind blows or up under the dump truck when it tries to drive over it to spread the gravel.

RDrancher · Sep 15, 2015

Hutchman - If the soil is compacted well, the trucks won't move it around driving over it. You can also use pins supplied by the geo supplier. I've rolled it out myself and have used one or two helpers too...just depends on the job. Unless the wind is blowing pretty hard, it only takes a little material flung over the geo to hold it down. Just don't let the trucks drive over the geo roll. It smashes the cardboard inside and makes it a real pain to roll out. On some jobs it helps to place the geo and material from the entrance going backwards if the trucks don't have a way to get off of the driveway once they've dumped. In the photos I was averaging 15 semi loads a day and incoming/outgoing trucks could drive around in most places. It was a real hustle for the guys to get the geo rolled out and you can see how far they're dumping in front of me. In the first photo we have geo draped over the culverts since we placed rip rap on the banks to fend off erosion.

hutchman · Sep 15, 2015

RDrancher said:
Hutchman - If the soil is compacted well, the trucks won't move it around driving over it. You can also use pins supplied by the geo supplier. I've rolled it out myself and have used one or two helpers too...just depends on the job. Unless the wind is blowing pretty hard, it only takes a little material flung over the geo to hold it down. Just don't let the trucks drive over the geo roll. It smashes the cardboard inside and makes it a real pain to roll out. On some jobs it helps to place the geo and material from the entrance going backwards if the trucks don't have a way to get off of the driveway once they've dumped. In the photos I was averaging 15 semi loads a day and incoming/outgoing trucks could drive around in most places. It was a real hustle for the guys to get the geo rolled out and you can see how far they're dumping in front of me. In the first photo we have geo draped over the culverts since we placed rip rap on the banks to fend off erosion.
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Maybe I'm missing something but I was hoping to spread the gravel (I'm going to be doing my own hauling/spreading) so I wouldn't have to use the tractor to move around what was dumped! That looks like way more of a job than I had envisioned.

So can a person unroll one of those big rolls by themselves? I was trying to figure out a way to do it with tractor as I have hills and I can see the roll getting away from me.

RDrancher · Sep 15, 2015

hutchman said:
Maybe I'm missing something but I was hoping to spread the gravel (I'm going to be doing my own hauling/spreading) so I wouldn't have to use the tractor to move around what was dumped! That looks like way more of a job than I had envisioned.

So can a person unroll one of those big rolls by themselves? I was trying to figure out a why to do it with tractor as I have hills and I can see the roll getting away from me.

It depends on what you're hauling with. I haven't had a job less than 24 tons in forever, so I don't use ten wheelers or single axle dumps. Even with triaxles, the roadbase material we have around here separates pretty bad during transit (rock and fines.) It doesn't come out even so I mix all of my loads. You can't tailgate loads from a end dump, truck and pup or bottom dump, and that's what I use most of the time.

You can unroll the geo by yourself...if you have a strong back. It's a lot of bending over. Mine isn't, so I usually kick it out with my feet and straighten as required. I carry along a single jack (16 lb sledge with a cutoff handle) so I can throw it in front of the roll if it starts heading for town.

FF117 · Sep 16, 2015

RDrancher said:
Too bad your machine let you down in the middle of the project, but you're doing a nice job. You'll learn to appreciate the geo under the drive, especially over time. Once the gravel is all packed down you won't have to deal with settling and potholes much, if at all. Get yourself a landplane and spruce it up once a year and you're set. I installed a gravel over geo parking lot a few years ago for one of our local high schools. It gets used every day and it still looks as good as the day I compacted it. One thing...use a smooth drum compactor for the gravel. Sheepsfoot rollers are great for locking in lifts of dirt, but will cause separation of the rock and fines in gravel.

Yep, planning on using the sheep's foot to compact the dirt prior to installing the fabric, then using a smooth drum roller to compact the rock. Hope it works out as well as your parking lot. I'm a little nervous about using the fabric on a grade but to late to turn back now....

hutchman · Sep 16, 2015

FF117 said:
Got the pipe installed today, then extended the driveway another 100' or so. Thanks for the suggestion on the check dams. I was thinking about putting some large rock in the ditch. Maybe 3" clean or possibly rip rap. Don't think it would cost much because it would only need to be about a foot wide x 300 feet long. Would this work to prevent erosion, or should I just go with the check dams?

As for the tractor, my warranty expired last year. I was thinking it expired last month, but I was wrong. I was still hoping they would help me out since it was a known issue. I find myself being much easier on the tractor now; gentle stops/starts, taking it out of 4wd, ect. Guess that's what a $1200 repair bill does to you.

Still have about 100' of dirt work left, but I'm thinking about stopping here just in case we decide to change the house location again. I doubt we will, but you never know. The first couple pics are of the pipe install. Didn't take long to get it in, but had to drag a bunch more fill to get enough cover. Still some work to do on the shallow end. You can see where I almost ran over the end of the pipe with the trailer. The other pics are of the 100' added today. You can see the driveway will curve in order to approach the house at the correct angle.

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Is that a transit in the first picture? Did you use that to get the slope of the culvert right? Just curious what you were doing with it.

FF117 · Sep 16, 2015

Yeah just purchased it last week and wanted to try it out. Used it for the slope of culvert and checked slope of county ditch to the north.

hutchman · Sep 16, 2015

FF117 said:
Yeah just purchased it last week and wanted to try it out. Used it for the slope of culvert and checked slope of county ditch to the north.

Is it a laser or optical? What's the model so I can check it out? I have one of those spinning laser things but that's all I have at the moment. I also need to level my pole barn site and trying to learn how to do that.

FF117 · Sep 16, 2015

Ran into an issue today. Stopped into rental store to change reservation date on the sheep's for compactor and found out that they had a smooth drum reserved for me instead. I specifically asked for the pad foot when I made the reservation. Actually we had a lengthy discussion about it and they had to bring it in from another store. Not sure where the breakdown happened but now I'm stuck. I called around and the only sheep's foot available is a small trench compactor that is pretty light and not very wide. Should I go ahead and try the vibrating smooth drum or try to compact using my tractor? Just worried that the smooth drum would be a waste of time and money, but maybe it's better than nothing. Soil is clay and I need to make a decision soon. Any input is appreciated.