Driveway work.... Gravel, Questions

meledward23 · Oct 3, 2005

Okay I have a gravel driveway. 1800 feet more or less.

I have regraded twice this year. The box, with Scarifier will break it down deep (30+ year, driveway plenty of gravel down there). I then use a blade to level the drive and crown.

BUT, ! then the driveway becomes one huge rut. I must have at least 10-30 vehicles on that driveway daily. So I need to pack the drive after grading it out. What is the best way to pack a driveway after grading it? Without renting a roller, or paying a roller, hmmm (okay I may check with my neighbor about rolling it (asphalt contractor)),. But is there a good way to pack with my tractor?

Toiyabe · Oct 3, 2005

Do you know what's causing the rutting? Rutting is often a drainage problem, and rolling may not help you much.

It could also be that you have too much stone and not enough fine material. In that case rolling will not do much for you as the material won't compact well.

Have you tried not grading down below the bottom of the ruts? If you really do have a compaction problem, what is happening is that the vehicle traffic is compacting the wheel paths. In that case, you could "go with the flow" by just knocking the center down into the wheelpaths.

I'd like to find or make a little roller to tow behind the tractor myself. In my case, it's mostly for traction.

willfick · Oct 3, 2005

My parents bought a place in the S.C. Lowcountry that came with an 8n and a few implements. One of them was a roller to pack the driveways. It was made from a section of concrete culvert. thirty years ago and I'm a little vague on the dimensions, but it was probably a six foot piece, 16 to 20 inch diameter. It had been poured full of concrete with a trailer axle through the center. There was a frame attached to the hubs that went up to the drawbar. Worked pretty well, I think I remember. Disc the drive to cut up the ruts and washboards, then roll it.
Wm

meledward23 · Oct 3, 2005

Hmmm, the culvert is what I was thinking of. Interesting Idea....

What cuases the rutting, I am sorry I guess I didnt state this.

After I grade the driveway, the cars constantly going up and down it in the sam place. Causes low spots. Well it never really occured to me to run over it again and know the higher loose spots into the ruts as they form....

I will give that a try.

JimMorrissey · Oct 7, 2005

You may have to dig up sections and lay down some fabric. Not what you want to do, but it sounds like your road gets a lot of traffic. Maybe you should try a section and see how it works. If it stops the rutting (likely it will) then you can make a long term plan to repair the drive premanently by doing the entire road. Geotextile fabric will prevent movement. Lots of info on the Web about it.

FL_Cracker · Oct 9, 2005

You may want to add some more material. But try to get "Base" or "Crusher Run" Ask for the real fine and powder stuff. This fills in all the cracks and makes the road like cement.

Charles

Westonium · Oct 10, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( You may want to add some more material. But try to get "Base" or "Crusher Run" Ask for the real fine and powder stuff. This fills in all the cracks and makes the road like cement.

Charles
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I completely agree with this. You can spread sand in lieu of that, but that stuff is the best overall. I coudln't reliably get the powdery rock fines, so I just sanded. They thought I was crazy - until they backed their trucks with 3/4 minus over the 1.5" clean rock that was put in over the sand they thought was a waste and noted that "hey man that is one hard driveway". I crowned the thing once and it hasn't moved at all. It is on house flat level and gets a lot of run-off. Doesn't budge and I drive our cars and the tractor over it all the time.