Best temporary ditch crossing for a tractor?

[s219]

So I need to get my Kubota B2920 across a roadside ditch to access our new piece of land. Eventually I will install a driveway entrance culvert and put down gravel, but I have a lot of work to get done before we can tackle that (among other things, we haven't pinned down the exact driveway location yet, plus I will need to get the tractor on the other side to start the culvert construction anyhow).

The ditch is 8 feet wide and 2 feet deep, with 2:1 sloping sides (so they drop 2 feet in height over 4 feet on each side). It's got grass, but is slightly muddy after rains. I need to extend about 1-2 feet on either side of the ditch to be on the safe side, so there would be a total run of 10-12 feet with the middle 8 feet off the ground.

I am wondering what temporary crossing I can put in place to get into the lot on weekends when I go up there. I'd want something I can pull up out of the way once I leave (to keep casual trespassers out) so it can't be too heavy. But if that doesn't make sense, then it may have to be more of a semi-temporary type of crossing that stays in place.

I was hoping I could back up a trailer to the edge of the road and have the trailer overhang and ramps get me across the ditch, but that looks to be marginal and there isn't a whole lot of room to maneuver anyhow.

The tractor/FEL/ballast/blade totals about 2800-2900 pounds. It's about 50" wide overall.

I bet folks here have done or thought about this before, so let me know what suggestions you may have. Thanks!

 

[mwb]

I think the quickest, cheapest and safest would be to drop a culvert in and dump a load of gravel. If you really need to limit access when you are not around then put up a gate or chain.

You could place a bunch of logs in the ditch and span them with boards but that does not make it easily (daily) removeable and your township might be pissed if the ditch is blocked (even partially).

Only other option is a draw bridge

 

[GolfAddict]

I'm probably not understanding you right or seeing something quite right. The way I'm reading your description of the ditch it sounds quite shallow with fairly gentle side down in and back up and out. It seems like you could just drive your B2920 back and forth through it. Are you looking to be able to get more in than just the tractor? Like the truck/trailer...

 

[MMagis]

I'm probably not understanding you right or seeing something quite right. The way I'm reading your description of the ditch it sounds quite shallow with fairly gentle side down in and back up and out. It seems like you could just drive your B2920 back and forth through it. Are you looking to be able to get more in than just the tractor? Like the truck/trailer...

That's my first thought as well.

 

[Rancher Ed]

I'm thinking you meant a 1:2 slope, saying as that is what you described. Slope is written as rise (or drop) over run, so a 2:1 slope would drop 2 feet for every one foot you move horizontally.

Now for crossing, I also would just drive it through the ditch. If you had a backhoe on the back I might be worried about dragging it, but you have a rear blade which will lift up plenty high so you should be able to drive through that ditch no problem. If it has rained and is a little muddy, you can always vary where you cross, so as to not make ruts.

Ed

 

[s219]

Sorry about that, it is a 1:2 slope, dropping 2 feet over 4 feet on each side.

It does look somewhat shallow, but I don't think I want to even attempt driving through given that it can get muddy. Having been stuck in the mud once or twice, I see it as a disaster waiting to happen -- it'd be just my luck the tires would hit the middle and sink like a stone. We've had a lot of rain since Hurricane Irene came through in late August, and there is mud everywhere waiting to bite you. The water table is high.

An intermediate solution may be to bridge the middle 4-5 feet of the ditch so that the tires never hit bottom. It would smooth out the crossing just enough so there wouldn't be tires pressing to hard in any one spot, and I can see that being feasible.

I checked with the town about putting in a temporary culvert a few weeks ago, but they cautioned that whatever I do has to be to VDOT specs -- this is a new road, and once development is finished within the next month or so, VDOT will inspect it to accept the road into state maintenance. Any improperly installed entrance culverts will cause them to reject the road and then I would be in hot water with the town and the developers.

I do have specs for the VDOT-approved culvert, and it's straightforward. But I don't want to embark on that until we're ready to put the permanent driveway entrance in, since it's going to involve an expensive 20' piece of 15" pipe, some erosion cloth, and about 14 tons of gravel. Not to mention a fairly precise installation -- I have to strip out the top 4-6" of soil, build a bed of compacted gravel for the pipe, then fill in around the pipe in layers with compaction.

 

[Rancher Ed]

Ok, I wasn't sure if mud was going to be a problem. How long are your trailer ramps? Would it be feasible to take 4 short pieces of 2x10, say 8" long, one to set each end of the ramps on, and use the ramps to bridge the middle area? That way the ends of your ramps wouldn't sink into the soft ground, and you wouldn't have to take anything extra except for the 2x10s.

Ed

 

[GolfAddict]

Ok, I wasn't sure if mud was going to be a problem. How long are your trailer ramps? Would it be feasible to take 4 short pieces of 2x10, say 8" long, one to set each end of the ramps on, and use the ramps to bridge the middle area? That way the ends of your ramps wouldn't sink into the soft ground, and you wouldn't have to take anything extra except for the 2x10s.

Ed

I was wondering something kind of similar - use a couple of planks in the ditch bottom to drive across. Keep the tires from sinking in too much. But I guess if you didn't want to leave them there it could be kind of messy pulling them out each time...

 

[dodge man]

Um, I think he was correct when he said a 2:1 slope, at least thats the way we state slopes in the engineering buisness. A 4:1 slope is considered mowable. A 3:1 is considered mowable with the right equipment. A 2:1 is a very steep slope and would be hard to drive across, if not impossible.

The easiest thing to do is throw in a culvert, even if you have to move it latter.

 

[slowzuki]

Just bridge the middle mud with some 4-6 ft 2x12 offcuts, or get a bigger tractor so you can just drive through it!

 

[GolfAddict]

Um, I think he was correct when he said a 2:1 slope, at least thats the way we state slopes in the engineering buisness. A 4:1 slope is considered mowable. A 3:1 is considered mowable with the right equipment. A 2:1 is a very steep slope and would be hard to drive across, if not impossible.

The easiest thing to do is throw in a culvert, even if you have to move it latter.

He cleared it up in an earlier post. Slope is ok, but can get too muddy in the bottom of the ditch. He's trying to avoid the problem you just had!

 

[coldstream]

Do you have any limestone rocks in your area? Here in MO I could come up with several limestone slabs 2" - 3" thick, maybe roughly 1' x1' in size. Small enough to place by hand. Line the lowest part of the ditch with two "rows" of these to match your tractor wheel tracks. The rocks would settle into the mud and keep your tractor out of the mud. You could probably leave these in place as the ditch is too extreme for other vehicles to use. Might work.

 

[Combustix]

I would take 4x6 or 4x8 cut them to about 6 feet maybe or the length you need and lay them across over the mud. You can then tie them together with a 2x4 perpendicular to the beams with a nail in each beam. drop gravel around were the end of the boards touch so they rest on solid ground. I would imagine your tire foot print should not be to bad for a 2900# tractor. Once you have the gravel down it should not be an issue getting the boards up each night. When all is done scooping up the gravel should not be to big an issue

 

[Combustix]

Do you have any limestone rocks in your area? Here in MO I could come up with several limestone slabs 2" - 3" thick, maybe roughly 1' x1' in size. Small enough to place by hand. Line the lowest part of the ditch with two "rows" of these to match your tractor wheel tracks. The rocks would settle into the mud and keep your tractor out of the mud. You could probably leave these in place as the ditch is too extreme for other vehicles to use. Might work.

A teenager on a quad I think would see this more as sport than a challenge.

 

[SandburRanch]

Lay two rows of 12 inch concrete blocks dry in the bottom to build up about a foot. If laid right water will pass through in case of rain. Just leave them there until some ******* about it or it's time for the permanent culvert.

 

[Rancher Ed]

Um, I think he was correct when he said a 2:1 slope, at least thats the way we state slopes in the engineering buisness. A 4:1 slope is considered mowable. A 3:1 is considered mowable with the right equipment. A 2:1 is a very steep slope and would be hard to drive across, if not impossible.

The easiest thing to do is throw in a culvert, even if you have to move it latter.

Interesting. In all of my math slope is rise over run. And, all the references to roofs and their pitch I've seen is either the rise, say 4 foot, over a 12 foot run, or reduced to a 1:3 slope for the roof. So a 1:4 roof is pretty flat, 1:3 or 1:2 is most common, and a 1:1 slope is really steep, 45 degrees.

Ed

 

[xtn]

Interesting. In all of my math slope is rise over run. And, all the references to roofs and their pitch I've seen is either the rise, say 4 foot, over a 12 foot run, or reduced to a 1:3 slope for the roof. So a 1:4 roof is pretty flat, 1:3 or 1:2 is most common, and a 1:1 slope is really steep, 45 degrees.

Ed

Same here. Been looking at construction documents for 25 years and it's always rise per run.

 

[LD1]

Interesting. In all of my math slope is rise over run. And, all the references to roofs and their pitch I've seen is either the rise, say 4 foot, over a 12 foot run, or reduced to a 1:3 slope for the roof. So a 1:4 roof is pretty flat, 1:3 or 1:2 is most common, and a 1:1 slope is really steep, 45 degrees.

Ed

Same here. Been looking at construction documents for 25 years and it's always rise per run.

Ditto.

Always been rise over run for everything I have done/figured.

To the OP:

Quickest and easiest is going to be the culvert with gravel IMO. A culvert shouldnt cost more than $100-$200, and a 10ton load of stone should also not cost more than ~$200. And can always be moved if you decide to put the permanent drive elsewhere.

But personally, I would just drive through it. Yea, it might tear it up some, but if the water doesnt "fix" your ruts when it rains, it would be a good excuse for some seat time on that B.

As far as getting stuck, if you know what you are doing, that would be almost impossible. FEL's are great for getting unstuck with proper technique:thumbsup:

 

[Gary Fowler]

I would build a cordorory road like loggers use to cross swampy areas but use 4"x4"x 8 foot fence post. Since the OP wants to remove it each trip, first lay down 2 ropes or chain about the width of your tractor tires, then lay your post on top of the rope. When finished, hook the tractor to the ropes/chains and pull out the timbers that will undoubtedly be smashed into the mud. Easy, reusable and best of all, no back strain or hogging in the mud to remove your timbers.

 

[biggerten]

From Part Three Many more ideas there, here's a couple.


Wire Mesh
14-16. Most wire-mesh surfaces are expedient in the strictest sense of the word. Applied directly to the subgrade, they provide passage for a limited number of vehicles for a short time. Longer life can be obtained by proper subgrade preparation, multilayer or sandwich construction, and frequent staking.

14-17. Chicken wire, chain-link wire mesh, cyclone fence, and expanded metal lath may be used as road expedients in sand; but they are unsatisfactory on muddy roads. Increase the effectiveness of these expedients by adding a layer of burlap or similar material underneath to help confine the sand (mandatory with lighter mesh forms, such as chicken wire or cyclone fence). Diagonal wire that is placed across the centerline and attached securely to buried pickets also fortifies lighter meshes. Sandwich-type construction (a layer of wire mesh, a layer of burlap, another layer of wire mesh, and so forth) is often used. Like other road surfaces, the more layers used, the more durable the wire-mesh surface. Wire-mesh expedients must be kept taut to maintain their effectiveness, so picket the edges of a wire-mesh road at 3- to 4-foot intervals.

Chain-Link Wire Mesh
14-18. Chain-link wire mesh ( Figure 14-6 ) is 6- to 10-gauge wire that has 1- to 1 1/2-inch mesh. One of the most common types is cyclone fence, and it is usually laid over a layer of burlap. Thread a 3- to 10-gauge strand of wire through the edges of the mesh, and secure the mesh with pickets at 3- to 4-foot intervals. Round, hairpin-type pickets (2 to 3 inches in diameter, about 30 inches long, and bent to shape) are desirable. Since the width of chain-link wire mesh is normally 6 to 8 feet, lay at least two sections to obtain a width that is suitable for traffic. Ensure that sections overlap at least 1 foot. A disadvantage of chain-link fence is that a single break causes raveling.