Cleaning driveway ditches

bob11x · 2025-08-24T09:56:02-0400

Carl_NH said:
Pics would help, but if you get a friend or significant other to drive tractor on low range, you on the BH it would go pretty quickly. Also, you can try setting the bh bucket in the swale and let the tractor pull it - this is hard on the BH and frame though and could work for loose material..

I did try that a little bit and it did seem to move material, but I was worried about the loading on the backhoe cylinders and boom.
Pics later today.

Happy in NC · 2025-08-24T10:13:51-0400

greenie said:
Municipalities always seem to operate 90 degrees to the ditch and take the material out bucket by (wide) bucket. The fines, leaf material and vegetation that winds up in ditches is usually hauled away for appearance and practicality. The silt, when dried will either create a lot of dust from traffic or it will find its way back into the ditch.

This is what I would like to do except when I am at 90 degrees to the ditch I am about 30 degrees on a hill and really can't back up at that point. So FEL isn't very level and I don't have the ba**s to try and dig at that angle. I will be watching for solutions too.

bob11x · 2025-08-24T11:03:18-0400

Happy in NC said:
This is what I would like to do except when I am at 90 degrees to the ditch I am about 30 degrees on a hill and really can't back up at that point. So FEL isn't very level and I don't have the ba**s to try and dig at that angle. I will be watching for solutions too.

The first 100 yards of my driveway is like that. The rest is not so bad.
How do you keep the gravel in place? We had 3/4 crusher run and people tend to spin it up. I was told fines would be better…?!

LouNY · 2025-08-24T11:32:40-0400

With my back blade offset and angled and rotated forward it will cut a V shaped ditch behind the tire that works very well. Occasionally it will give me a bit of trouble if/when I hook a very large rock. I try to do most of it while traveling up the driveway as then I can usually back down out of trouble. I have done it going downhill a couple of times and it has bitten me when the blade hangs up and pulls the front end into the bank and hangs me up, requiring a bit of a pull from behind to get back into position.

I have tried crusher run on my driveway and found it to be about useless, very difficult to get packed tight enough even with extra stone dust applied. The stone dust just runs away with any rain and you are left with marbles that people with spin up and loosen up so it will not stay in shape. I have had better luck with screened gravel 2/3 inch and under with lots of fines to bind together.

alexinPA · 2025-08-24T11:42:07-0400

I removed triangular blade from my potato digger ( not sure what it's called) and mounted it at the end of rear blade. This is the only way I can do it because of the trees along the sides of driveway

dicktill · 2025-08-24T12:05:45-0400

alexinPA said:
I removed triangular blade from my potato digger ( not sure what it's called) and mounted it at the end of rear blade. This is the only way I can do it because of the trees along the sides of driveway

Photos?

alexinPA · 2025-08-24T14:52:38-0400

dicktill said:
Photos?

Sorry, not set up for doing it now...

bcp · 2025-08-24T15:16:18-0400

The forum is giving hints for cleaning the ditches.

Bruce

Happy in NC · 2025-08-24T15:36:28-0400

I have found that crush n run over quarter is fairly affective over an even bigger rock base,. I have recently discovered ballast. Looks like it will help in the muddy spots. Spinning is always a problem on our inclines

bob11x · 2025-08-24T19:05:36-0400

Pic below is up hill - slight grade. Water comes from left and from around the curve on the left side. no ditch around curve, just edge of driveway where it meets the bank. From where the deer are going back behind camera is a slight ditch that has grown in. (Next 2 pics )

Below is going down hill. Elevation to the right. Ditch on right leads to culvert under drive to a ravine. It needs cleaned out. Gravel guys all say to crown the drive and let water wash to sides. I think pitching it to the left ( sharp downhill past the grass) to let all water flow off and down the hill might be better?

This is at the upper end past the curve (looking back to where the deer were). Not much of a ditch on left but crown lets water flow around the curve to the ditch. Again this is where I think it would be better to pitch the driveway to the left to just pull water over the road to minimize washout??
The drive is very threadbare - large stuff is just under the crusher run, so not sure how to pitch it ? Would I disturb the base or just add more bigger stuff to the left side and then cover with crusher run?