Sixteen Dollar Tractor Bridge

[DanMc77]

BrokenTrack: Thanks for sharing. I agree with your assessment on culverts. We have about 7 culverts, or perhaps pipes, going under the driveway at our place in NH. They require a pretty good amount of maintenance, making sure that they don't get plugged up by sticks and keeping a decent catch basin in front of each one. Every year I have to go to each one and dig the silt out of the catch basin with the back hoe. A bridge build like yours would be a fun project for sure.

 

[searcyfarms]

Using Brokentrack's accounting method, I have zero dollars in this bridge.

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these are awesome, yes i had a head start with the buttments and beams - it had been abandoned we are guessing in the 60s - it had a good 12 inches of dirt on top of the old wood planks that i cleaned off.

the other bridge on that road had wood buttments made of ties/posts to hold back debris like the tin does on this one - i like that design but we found a low water area around that bridge so didnt need to repair it

i think i need a BRIDGE sign for mine now although no one will see it but me or the family

you did a great job rd_mac if it gets compromised now you have some new engineering plans to try out

we used old creosote light poles im hoping they last a while

 

[bullbreaker]

Hey searcyfarms and ovrszd question ? Any of you gentlemen ever see any deer funnel under those bridges from one side to the other when the water was low and or dry ? Or seen deer actually crossing the bridge ?

 

[searcyfarms]

dont have a game came to catch any going across and havent checked on the planks for tracks recently, will be up there in a few weeks mowing and will check for hooves on bridge - definitely deer go under the bridge, always tracks where they mill around under it usually smaller tracks like lil ones or does - tons of raccoon tracks and scat on the bridge - i know when riding horses they like the straight treads better but when they can see through to the ground my horses used to get a lil more nervous

 

[ovrszd]

Hey searcyfarms and ovrszd question ? Any of you gentlemen ever see any deer funnel under those bridges from one side to the other when the water was low and or dry ? Or seen deer actually crossing the bridge ?

I've never saw deer tracks on mine. My cross boards are 12x3 spaced and inch apart. No runway planks. I don't think they'd try that, kinda like a cattle guard. I didn't do that to restrict travel, just didn't have enough planks to lay runways.

Deer tracks under it all the time. Deer are lazy and take the path of least resistance. This creek runs 1/4 mile thru my timber. We wheel in it a lot which keeps vegetation down. They follow all our trails.

 

[TractorNH]

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Ok, I have to ask an obious question here. Looking at your pic the driveway comes in from the road just to the right of the tractor and the ditch appears to end at the road....so why not just drive into the land from the road on the other side of the ditch to the left of the tractor in your pic?

 

[fried1765]

I have been redoing an old house that I have, and redid the driveway with gravel and such. It was no big deal, but I wanted a way to get across the new ditch. I thought about a culvert, but they are ugly, and cost money, so I decided to go with a bridge instead.

I admit that it took me 8 hours to build, but in the end it holds up my tractor/truck just fine, and only cost $16.50 for the long spikes I had to buy. Gathering up the logs did not take too long, but sawing the logs into lumber kind of did, taking the most time. But by noon I was starting to build the bridge.

It is 8 feet long, and 12 feet wide, the bridge resting on cedar supports, with the main beams being 5"x10". These I spaced at 5'-6" wide because my tractor has a 5 foot wide wheel base, and my truck has a 6 foot wheel base, so I split the difference. Over that I put down 3"x6" Hemlock planting, with a 2x4 hemlock spanning the outside edges to keep them from flexing. Over that I put 1 inch spruce boards so I know where to drive and have the main beams under me.

Overall, it was a rewarding project that turned out nice (I think anyway). I have used it now almost daily for a few months and have had no issues with it.

So if anyone has a stream or ditch they need to cross, his might be a cheap and easy way to do it.


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Cedar and hemlock are OK, but that spruce will rot while you are just looking at it.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Ok, I have to ask an obious question here. Looking at your pic the driveway comes in from the road just to the right of the tractor and the ditch appears to end at the road....so why not just drive into the land from the road on the other side of the ditch to the left of the tractor in your pic?

The driveway is actually circular, coming down from the upper left of the picture then swinging down and around.

The driveway had a problem in that it was lower then the ground, so it filled with water and got muddy in the spring. I fixed this by digging ditches on both sides of the driveway, and putting the material in the driveway. I then hauled up several hundred cubic yards of gravel from my gravel pit, and now had a driveway that was 3 feet higher, and drains well. That cured the mud problem, but left me a "moat" towards the house.

This gave me two problems. I could not drive up to the house directly, and with our cars in the driveway, visitors could not drive out the circular driveway.

The bridge cured this. This allows us to drive right up to the house, but also allows us to get our vehicles out of the circular driveway. This allows people to visit, and then just circle out and back out into the road when they leave.

The driveway with the bridge is T-shaped...it has a spot to turn around, so we never have to back over the bridge as we can just drive over it, then back up into the gravel turn around pad, and then drive back over the bridge.

For the walkway leading to our house, we have another foot bridge crossing the ditch/moat.

 

[Everhard]

When I bought my property 7 years ago it had a little bridge to cross a tiny creek but not big enough for the tractor I bought. (Kioti ck20s which in itself is no big thing!) So a new bridge was needed, but I also didn't want a large expense. Trees on the property are primarily maple or trembling aspen (poplar). Well I use the maples for making maple syrup if they are alive and the dead ones heat the house so that meant the main beams would be the trembling aspen! I picked a couple nice big ones, made a couple big logs, made them flat on one side, and laid boards across them. Oh I did throw a coat of wood preservative on the logs for what that is worth.

I can park my tractor, with a full 55 gallon drum, backhoe on the back for I'm guessing a total weight somewhere around 4000# and using a measuring tape the bridge doesn't flex at all - 7 years later! I was originally hoping I'd get 10 years use out of this bridge but at this point I think it'll far surpass my original expectations lol.

Happy bridge building all!

E.

 

[jmc]

.....They require a pretty good amount of maintenance, making sure that they don't get plugged up by sticks and keeping a decent catch basin in front of each one. Every year I have to go to each one and dig the silt out of the catch basin with the back hoe....

Could you explain how a catch basin works with a culvert? All mine plug up with floating debris. Thanks.