Bringing old gravel to the surface

Mike058 · May 15, 2022

Our turnaround is bare of gravel in some places. I'd like to bring old gravel to the top. I have a 35HP tractor, loaded tires and a landscape rake. One question is how deep do I eventually set the tines? And should I make a couple of passes shallower and then lower the rake, or just drop it down as far as my tractor can pull it? I don't want to move any gravel around, so I was planning on removing every other tine. Thanks.

mikester · May 16, 2022

Start with a little trial and error, you will have to experiment with your conditions to see what works for you

skipmarcy · May 16, 2022

Why disturb that base that is starting to get packed? Just add a layer of gravel on top and box it out and it shouldn't sink as quickly as the layer you want to "bring up".

old and tired · May 16, 2022

A landscape rake will not dig in enough to bring gravel up. You could do it with 1 or 2 rippers in a heavy box blade and even that is slow going. Very short top link so it's aggressively cutting.

I also, agree above that if the gravel is packed already, I would just add more. (Unless you know there is already 8" or more of gravel on top of a good road base).

AchingBack · May 16, 2022

Mike058 said:
Our turnaround is bare of gravel in some places. I'd like to bring old gravel to the top. I have a 35HP tractor, loaded tires and a landscape rake. One question is how deep do I eventually set the tines? And should I make a couple of passes shallower and then lower the rake, or just drop it down as far as my tractor can pull it? I don't want to move any gravel around, so I was planning on removing every other tine. Thanks.

I suggest you purchase some gauge wheels. Those make the job much easier.

Smokeydog · May 17, 2022

Ground, rock, water all vary with each location.

Landplane has restored several worn driveways to looking like they were freshly rocked. Amazing tool. With only moving a couple inches of material on top. Without using scarifiers. Builds and maintains a solid durable driveway.

Scarifiers don’t work in most of my driveway. Have never needed them to work the driveway. Have used them to help smooth rough sections of pasture and lawn.