Cidertom
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2005
- Messages
- 478
- Location
- Benton Co Oregon
- Tractor
- JD 4520, 2305 Aktive snow-trac ST4
Re what to use: The way I do it: Assuming either bare earth or a drive that is so deteriorated that it might as well be.
Grade it out with a blade, slight crown and if need be work up the ditches. With the grade you have, running water will rut any gravel you put down. The crown puts the water in the ditches and the ditches carry it away.
I then put down 6 inches (loose) of 3 inch minus. smooth it out if need be then roll with roller, or vehicles. (I tend to build from the main road back and have the loads staggered to give me enough time to have the lift ready to roll by the time the next load arrives, that way the gravel truck is my heavy roller)
After the base is packed, smooth it out only if it really needs it, you don't want to disturb the pack.
Cover with 1.5 inches of 3/4 inch minus. light rake to make pretty and roll.
I use a 6 ft landscape rake with a set of "gage" wheels mounted 3 ft behind the rake to groom the road and pull the gravel back on every few months as needed. The gage wheels offset the effect of the front of the tractor moving up and down to make it smoother.
Gravel comes in various qualities. Out here we have two types: River stone, this is where the pit is crushing rounded river rocks and Quarry where the rock is coming out of a rock face. The river stuff has a lot of rounded edges so it tends to roll out easier. The Quarry tends to key in better but is harder on tires if you just use base rock as it cuts them up. My rule of thumb is each lift needs to be at a minimum twice the largest dimension of the rock. Less won't let it key in and lock.
my 2 cents
Grade it out with a blade, slight crown and if need be work up the ditches. With the grade you have, running water will rut any gravel you put down. The crown puts the water in the ditches and the ditches carry it away.
I then put down 6 inches (loose) of 3 inch minus. smooth it out if need be then roll with roller, or vehicles. (I tend to build from the main road back and have the loads staggered to give me enough time to have the lift ready to roll by the time the next load arrives, that way the gravel truck is my heavy roller)
After the base is packed, smooth it out only if it really needs it, you don't want to disturb the pack.
Cover with 1.5 inches of 3/4 inch minus. light rake to make pretty and roll.
I use a 6 ft landscape rake with a set of "gage" wheels mounted 3 ft behind the rake to groom the road and pull the gravel back on every few months as needed. The gage wheels offset the effect of the front of the tractor moving up and down to make it smoother.
Gravel comes in various qualities. Out here we have two types: River stone, this is where the pit is crushing rounded river rocks and Quarry where the rock is coming out of a rock face. The river stuff has a lot of rounded edges so it tends to roll out easier. The Quarry tends to key in better but is harder on tires if you just use base rock as it cuts them up. My rule of thumb is each lift needs to be at a minimum twice the largest dimension of the rock. Less won't let it key in and lock.
my 2 cents