digging up rutted, pothole filled gravel road bed

[barbaraj]

The gravel road is 40+ years old, has minimal traffic but with no maintenance to speak of over many years has some pothole that are quite deep. How can I dig up the road so we can grade it smooth and remove the potholes?

 

[Scooter78]

Why not fill and compact potholes instead of trying to dig it up? I understand what you are asking but just a thought. In my experience you would almost need a dozer to do it. One with a six way blade turned at sharp angle and cut trenches in road. Then you can smooth it out and re compact it.

 

[Egon]

If you have enough tractor and a box blade rip it up. Then use a back blade to windrow and move the windrow back an forth. When all is well mixed lay the windrow down.

Grader with rippers works best.

 

[jeff9366]

If you intend to do a proper job of repairing the road you need to rip down to the BOTTOM of the pot holes before re-grading.

Is your JD5020 Four Wheel Drive?

What implements do you own?

 

[redman135]

Hello barbaraj, Before you do any thing , LOOK carefully at WHY the ruts are at that point. Almost always it is because the water can't get off the road. Clear the water-table (drain) first then shape the road to shed water, especially in hollows. NB if possible compact the surface to prevent the wheels forming a channel that holds water on the road. If you don't have a roller then use the tractor to wheel roll the road,slow but effective, even with ag tyres.

 

[Western]

What they have said,.

Whatever you do, make sure your drive has a "crown" and good ditch/ pathways for water to exit. Standing water, or water allowed to get underneath, basically work like hydraulic action every time a wheel goes over it. Once the foundation weakens, it just gets worse, same with asphalt, or near any substrate.

 

[BHD]

build up an army, attack a near by nation, turn the people in to slaves, then have them build your a road, like the romans did, (see picture)

other wise, I would most likely have some road gravel/clay hauled in and spread it out, if you think it is worth it before doing that dig some ditches and pull the dirt up on the road bed, before the road base is put down,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the problem I see is if you dig it up you end up with a plowed field effect and yes one may level out the pot holes, but for the most part you will end up with two packed ruts and soft base, and most likely make it worst than better, currently you have packed earth and you said some gravel on top, some grading of it to fill the holes or bringing in fill for the holes,
I think would be the way to go, unless you have some good packing equipment and grading equipotent,

 

[rmully]

You need one of these I did 600ft of gravel road and it works like a charm.

 

[Threepoint]

Barbaraj, how long and wide is the stretch of road needing work? Seems to me that's a big factor in what's practical for your situation, and what equipment is needed. Also, before you "dig up" the road, you'll want to determine how it's constructed. E.g., if there is a sub-base of #3 stone just 2 or 3 inches down, you'd quickly regret scarifying/ripping too deeply, as you'd churn that material to the top and have a real mess.

Jeff's advice to rip down to the bottom of the potholes before regrading is good, but I think he means just in and immediately around the potholes, not ripping that deep on other parts of the road.

 

[EddieWalker]

The gravel road is 40+ years old, has minimal traffic but with no maintenance to speak of over many years has some pothole that are quite deep. How can I dig up the road so we can grade it smooth and remove the potholes?

If the road is that old, I wouldn't do anything to ruin it like tearing it up. Any road that has lasted that long was done right. What is probably happening is normal wear and tear over the years without any additional material added just got to the point of getting too thin and failing is a few spots. Potholes are just areas where the rock has eroded away. The most common reason is water got in under the rock and traffic over that spot weakened the rock to the point when it rains, it gets washed away.

Loosen the rock in and around the pothole and fill with rock that has been crushed. It needs to have jagged edges and range in size from a couple of inches down to very fine silt. After spreading it, add lots of water and drive over it over and over again until it gets all compacted. The rock needs to be at least 4 inches thick to lock together. Once this happens, it will be a solid surface that will shed water and support vehicle traffic. Thicker is better because it will last longer and require less maintenance.

You never want to re grade or break up an existing gravel road if you can avoid it. This is the worse thing you can do because you loose material every time you do this and once it's compacted again, it will be thinner then before you started. The only time you would do this is if you are going to add enough additional rock to the entire road to build it up thicker. This should only be done when the entire road is failing and the rock is less then four inches thick. Then you need to add enough rock to the entire road to make sure you are 4 inches or thicker.

Eddie