Dirt Moving Building a road

[Daronspicher]

I am in the midwest, have a 10 acre alfalfa field with a barn about 400 feet from the highway.

It's about 4 or 5 inches of black dirt on top of clay. Seemingly few or no rocks, tree stumps or bad things will be in the way.

I am planning on digging down 11 inches, putting fabric, then coming back with 9 inches of 3" limestone, topping that with 4 inches of 3/4" limestone.

12 feet wide, 400 feet long, scrape off the black dirt first into a pile, scrape off the clay second into a different pile, I think if I go at it with just the loader, I'll stress out and wear out the bucket / arms / loader in general more than if I am just scooping loose dirt.

At some point in the future, I'm going to have a limestone driveway that I probably want a box blade to maintain.

I also have a small disk (8 feet wide I think, maybe 7) used to plow up the alfalfa field when it becomes time for that again. It is a pull type, has it's own wheels and hydraulic to raise and lower it (not 3pt).

One thought is to pull the disk back and forth, disk up the roadway until it's loose, then start using the bucket to load out the dirt. It should work. One down side is the turning radius of the tractor with the disk hooked on. When I dump in the dirt pile, be careful to not jackknife and run over the thing backing up. But, it would probably do a pretty good job for what I'm doing here.

The other school of thought is to buy a box blade (probably 6' or 7' king kutter?) Put the teeth down so they peel up 2 or 3 inches of dirt before the blade actually starts to blade anything. Drag it across the path chewing up the black dirt. Then, when I start scooping up the black dirt, it will all be loose and the box blade will be out of the way (raised 3pt position). No issues backing up with that, I can turn sharper or even use reverse as part of the turn. It adds weight on the back of the tractor for when the loader is full of dirt.

In my mind the box blade is the better way to fly and I'll need one anyhow. I've also never used one before. Is it going to be as good at what I'm talking about here as I think it would be, or am I over estimating it's usefulness? I'm going to spend the time and go gentle either way, but even then would I destroy a king kutter with that much dirt work out of the gate?

Tractor is a kubota m5400, I don't think that matters too much in the equation.

Any other road building advice is also appreciated. It seems pretty straight forward, but I'm sure once I get going it will be anything but.

-Daron

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I think that the topsoil will pull off exceptionally well. I'm not sure how tight the clay is but that could give you some fits if its not good and dry. Do you have teeth on your loader bucket? Laying the fabric down and putting in a foot of stone should carry your loads just fine.

 

[gghb]

digging into the clay will create a pond in the base layer and cause problems when it freezes. try to get the road above the orignal grade and slope the shoulders to drainage ditches. search for typical road cross section for a better description

ghb

 

[vtsnowedin]

digging into the clay will create a pond in the base layer and cause problems when it freezes. try to get the road above the orignal grade and slope the shoulders to drainage ditches. search for typical road cross section for a better description

ghb

Plus 1 on that/ If you need to go deeper dig outlet trenches at the low points to drain the top of the clay. But having your finished road at nine inches or so above the ground on either side will let you shape it to drain properly and encourage snow to blow off it in light storms. You can use the topsoil you dig out to build the side slopes and not have to carry it any distance. A motor grader would just windrow it to each side and then come back and shape your shoulders after you filled the trench with your stone. But you can certainly do 400 feet with your tractor if your not on a dead line.
All in all you have a good plan.

 

[jenkinsph]

I would remove the top soil then run the limestone in 3 inch layers and roll/pack it in.

 

[DJ54]

I'd go with 304 limestone on top of the fabric. That's a mixture of #4's down to dust. Put it in, in 2-3 lifts, depending on your desired depth/height, if you want it slightly higher than the field. Wheel roll each lift with your tractor, hang an attachment on the 3 pt. for extra ballast. It works better if the material is pretty damp, almost wet.

Using the larger stone for base will leave spaces for water to lay. The 304, once packed and dry will shed most of the surface water. Plus, no stone eventually kicking around on top. If potholes develop late, you can easily grade it after a decent rain, or add more 304 to those holes, and roll in.

 

[Egon]

What's the nature of the terrain? How deep does the clay go? Is the area wet or dry? Why the need for fabric?

Should you you consider removing a wider swath of topsoil and excavating the side clay for road build up?

 

[EddieWalker]

I am in the midwest, have a 10 acre alfalfa field with a barn about 400 feet from the highway.

It's about 4 or 5 inches of black dirt on top of clay. Seemingly few or no rocks, tree stumps or bad things will be in the way.

I am planning on digging down 11 inches, putting fabric, then coming back with 9 inches of 3" limestone, topping that with 4 inches of 3/4" limestone.

12 feet wide, 400 feet long, ...

Why are you going down below the top soil? Instead of digging a deep trench that will hold water, you should be thinking about going a lot wider and digging proper drainage away from the road. At least one good trench on the high side of the road to get rid of water. Roads are all about getting rid of water. That is the first goal. Ten feet wide is plenty for a driveway. Then you need to go another 8 to 12 feet for the trench on one or both sides.

Once you get the trenches dug and the top soil removed, price what it will cost to bring in good clean fill dirt and build up the crown of your road with that. The cost is usually a quarter of what rock is and it's a lot easier to build up and compact soil then it is rock. Fabric never hurt anything, but it is designed for roads that are not done properly, or roads that are going in faster then most want to spend on waiting for the soil to dry out.

Once the dirt is done, top it with 6 inches or more of road base type rock and compact it.

Eddie

 

[vtsnowedin]

In my experience the geotextile fabrics do about the same job as an eight inch layer of clean sand and often cost as much per s.y. yard installed. If your in a wetland and the permit gods won't let you build wide enough or excavate out all the muck they can be a godsend but just separating a clay subgrade from a coarse crushed rock road base the fabric is probably not cost effective. Won't do any harm though.

 

[tractorshopper]

A tooth bar on your loader will really help you peel off the top soil and however deep clay you decide to go. Nothing wrong with putting the shanks down first on your BB to break up some, then come back and peel with your loader. I did about 50'of trail this way back into my woods to a little landing where I park my trailer and put my camper top on a rack when I take it off the truck. That was with a L3800 with tooth bar and 6' box blade. I'd figure your M should have a 7' or bigger BB.