Gravel Drive width?

[USAFpj]

The grading crew has come in and cleared a beautiful 20'x 300' driveway for our new home. The minimum width is 10' for now, but who went to 12' or wider, and were glad that they did? Who stuck with 10' and are completely satisfied?

 

[MossRoad]

Re: Gravee width?

Did you mean Driveway?

 

[USAFpj]

Yes. The driveway.

 

[Walkin Horse]

Is there a code where you are. Here I believe it's 12 or maybe even 15'. That's to allow fire trucks access. I can carry 16' logs down my drive in all but one place, and I have to twist between 2 tree.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

I'm putting in a 3500' drive. Most of the dozing is finished but the work has been sitting due to rain. It is a 10' drive but, during the estimates, everyone said it would wind up closer to 12' when the gravel went down.

 

[USAFpj]

Kioti, that's what I was thinking. But I was wondering if 12' of gravel would give me a compacted 13' width, and if it was worth the $$.

WH, the cleared area itself is about 20' total, but I better get that road bed width correct now. Bringing the trucks back for an extra 2' might be pound foolish

 

[Industrial Toys]

I demand a good wide clearance on my (1000') driveway, but who says the gravel has to be that wide?

My pet peeve is people that don't have any room to turn around once you get to the end of the driveway! And I don't mean in a SMART car!

 

[USAFpj]

YES SIR! That's why we have a full, circular drive at the end. Heck, I spent more time planning for people to leave my house comfortably, than for us to be able to park there:laughing:.

Industrial, what width did you go with on your drive?

 

[hutchman]

I'm contemplating putting down the geotextile fabric before the stone and those come 12 or 12.5' wide rolls.

 

[/pine]

The grading crew has come in and cleared a beautiful 20'x 300' driveway for our new home. The minimum width is 10' for now, but who went to 12' or wider, and were glad that they did? Who stuck with 10' and are completely satisfied?

I'm not familiar with 'Powermaster' old or new...but I am familiar with the "Pickens Flea Market"...It's awesome...!...Wish I lived a little closer than the hard hour+ drive...!

Not that maintenance should be a contributing factor but for your query...(and in part back to your tractor etc.)...what width implements do you have (or intend buying) to maintain the drive?

For a new gravel drive 14' wide...a 7' landscape rake should be all you need for at least the first 5 years (baring unknown soft spots etc.)...One pass each way (if you have T&T, or an extra pass with gauge wheels) every few months or after exceptional storms will keep it right...

 

[KiotiKowboy]

I'm contemplating putting down the geotextile fabric before the stone and those come 12 or 12.5' wide rolls.

That would be great but my 3500' is already costing a small fortune.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have become a fan of limestone screenings. They are cheap (you basicaly pay for the trucking).
They can be worked nicely, look great and if you snow blow them onto your lawn, they can be cleaned up fairly easily. Or just worked in.

My biggest pain and regret is that for the most part, my driveway does not have a proper base. It's built mostly on organic matter!

 

[hutchman]

That would be great but my 3500' is already costing a small fortune.

I know what you mean! I need over 1,000 tons myself. I think I can get by with 4 rolls which will add about $1K to my project.

 

[chim]

My biggest pain and regret is that for the most part, my driveway does not have a proper base. It's built mostly on organic matter!

When we built in 1989, the driveway was done by friends in the excavating business. They used what we call 3A Modified as a base and put down about a foot or so of that material. It's anything that passes through a 3" screen and includes everything down to dust. It became almost like concrete except for one small area on a hill that pumped a little. It was about 3' in diameter in the center of the driveway. We did have to drag some of the fines back up the hill after heavy rains from time to time.

In the mid 90's we blacktopped the main drive and left the drive to the shed alone. Not long before the photo below we buried a 1,000 gallon propane tank to the left of the house. Any size truck can use the original gravel drive to the shed / tank any time of the year without making ruts.

With occasional touch-up, the original gravel drive would still be functional after all those years. Blacktop made snow plowing easier, eliminated the dust in Summer, made it nicer for washing vehicles and helped keep the garage and house cleaner.

 

[s219]

The grading crew has come in and cleared a beautiful 20'x 300' driveway for our new home. The minimum width is 10' for now, but who went to 12' or wider, and were glad that they did? Who stuck with 10' and are completely satisfied?

I don't think 10' is nearly enough, especially for construction traffic, cement trucks, etc -- go with 12'. And plan enough space to have ditches (one or both sides) where they might be needed. I have seen too many people put a drive across an area that needs to drain or that carries runoff from higher ground, and eventually there will be problems. So just eyeball to see if there are any areas where the drive could become like a dam, or where the drive itself is a low spot, and plan accordingly. The better you plan and build it now, the easier things will be later on. Construction traffic can really make a mess, and it will be 100 times worse if the driveway turns into a mud pit.

 

[bigtiller]

An acquaintance of mine built a nice place about 1000' off the road. He laid concrete on the entire driveway but it is only 10' wide. It looks like a bicycle trail. 12' would look like a driveway.

 

[Jay4200]

10' is no good. My drive is 12' wide except where it crosses a brook, where it reduces down to 10'. 10' is TIGHT, especially at 40MPH

 

[Diamondpilot]

I did 25' after starting with 15'. Unless it's perfectly straight getting my 38' long trailer with a 22' long truck is about impossible.

Chris

 

[Jisgren]

I am putting in 1500-2500 feet of driveway. We are clearing 30' wide to allow 14' of drive with 8' of drainage on either side.

 

[TomSeller]

Well no grass will grow up in the middle.