Stabilizing a treacherous SxS trail- advice?

[jmc]

I'm building a side by side trail that runs from a ridgetop down into my bottom ground. Most of the slope is impassible but one grade is only about 20 degrees down a hill-curve- and it's narrow. Problem is, that grade is tree canopied wet leaves and exposed slippery bedrock and it runs parallel to a significant drop off. Any sliding could send you over the edge. The slippery segment of the trail is only about 50 feet long.

I'm going to haul in crushed stone, one tractor FEL bucket at a time, since it's remote. #53 limestone, which has enough limestone dust to pack. I'll put some landscaping timbers perpendicular to the trail about every 4 linear feet to help support the crushed stone from drifting down hill.

Question: In addition to the crushed stone, would spreading a top layer of bagged cement (not Premix/Sakecrete) eventually absorb moisture and act as an additional binder for the gravel surface? It wouldn't take much of a crust to form, since the vehicle is light.

 

[Diggin It]

I'll put some landscaping timbers perpendicular to the trail about every 4 linear feet to help support the crushed stone from drifting down hill.

Most landscape timbers I've had have rotted out in 5 or 6 years at the most. Regular 4 x 4s haven't. I'd also drill them and drive rebar as deep as you can into the ground, at least a foot.

 

[nyone]

The fines In the gravel will lock things in after a few rains and you drive on it. Have you dug at the high side of the trail and dumped at the lower. Making the trail slope back into the hill will prob help as much as stone will.

 

[jmc]

This only route down from the ridge is thankfully level from side to side- no cut-and-fill required (or possible). It's kind of a gauntlet of loose topsoil, exposed bedrock, and rocky rubble, all on a ~20 degree slope in the direction of travel. Diggin It is right about anchoring the cross timbers but I won't be able to reliably penetrate the ground with rebar. I'm going to tie all the ends of the cross timbers together so that they act as a long trellis supporting the gravel.

 

[GLyford]

Generator and a hammer drill, drill holes for the rebar pins?

 

[nyone]

By putting cross ties in you may be making a set of stairs. So bouncing the quad up and down them may actually make things worse. Gravel worked into the topsoil will compact with the mud and stone to make a smooth, hard and possibly rain shedding surface.

Wood will for and be a total mess to clean up in a few years. The only place I would possibly use that would be parallel to the trail on the down hill side.

You know a set of decent tire chains can really add to stability on loose trails.

 

[Diggin It]

The only place I would possibly use that would be parallel to the trail on the down hill side.

You know a set of decent tire chains can really add to stability on loose trails.

I'll put some landscaping timbers perpendicular to the trail about every 4 linear feet to help support the crushed stone from drifting down hill.

Question: In addition to the crushed stone, would spreading a top layer of bagged cement (not Premix/Sakecrete) eventually absorb moisture and act as an additional binder for the gravel surface? It wouldn't take much of a crust to form, since the vehicle is light.

Yeah, I misread that. My thought was along the edge of the trail also.

Loose concrete dust might help on a smaller scale project, but I'm not sure it would here and it would be a LOT of hauling.

Chains help on ice or soft ground, but I'm not so sure on a loose gravel surface and they might tear it up more.

The slippery segment of the trail is only about 50 feet long.

How long is the whole trail? On other threads, people have mentioned various types of landscaping underlayment for paths and trails, but I've never used them and don't know if they'd help with stability here.

 

[nyone]

Underlayment is not good to use on slopes. They do make a grid style for slopes.

The flat tarp style underlayment on a slope will slide bad. I have seen a whole 8yrd load on underlayment slide when the next truck load was on it.

Crushed stone packed into the mud for a few weeks then a top coat of fines is what I would use and have used. We have a camp road that has a swamp then a steep hill. The 2in stone mushed into the native soil really allows for grip and no movement.

 

[EddieWalker]

Too many options that could make it worse instead of better. Pictures would be very helpful. The biggest concern would be the moisture getting under what you put down and acting as a lubricant that will allow for catastrophic failure when something is on top of it, and both the vehicle and what it's resting on, slides off the rock at the same time.

 

[pmsmechanic]

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