Gravel Driveway Maintenence Thread

[RobS]

There's no one way, nor best way to maintain your gravel driveway so maybe we can all share our methods here.

I just finished my spring driveway work. Over the years, I've developed a method that works pretty well for me. I have about 750 feet of crushed concrete drive. It's not built perfectly so I get some potholes over the winter. I like to wait for a day where the ground has plenty of moisture still, but not much standing water. I use a landscape rake and set my 3PH for lateral float (where mine normally is set). I angle the rake but make sure it's still level side-to-side (top link). Dragging forward, I start at one edge and pull towards the center. Out on one side and back on the other. I may repeat this a couple of times until I have some material built up in the center.

Once I have a nice windrow of gravel built up, I drag it all the way to one edge. Then I make repeated passes, working the windrow from one edge to the other. Today, I think I pulled it all the way across and back twice. The rake does a nice job of stirring up base material as it moves along so the loose material can incorporate. About 8 passes.

Once I think I have enough material distributed to fill the holes, I make one more pass each way with the rake angled towards the center. This gives me some material for a crown. Then I turn the rake around and pull it "backwards" (tractor moving forward) to smooth things out. A couple of passes angled towards the center then one final pass with the rake straight across and running right down the middle to smooth the crowned material. The rake is forgiving enough, if things aren't quite right, make a couple more passes.

Once the tractor work is done, I drive my truck over it all to pack it down. Today, I had two spots that were still a bit too wet and I suspect they will become holes again as the truck tires tended to push the material to the sides rather than pack it down. A bit more work as things dry out and it should be good.

So, that's my method. What does everyone else do? BTW, I have a rear blade and a box blade but I find the rake the easiest to get a nice surface.

 

[taget]

I use a landplane, it makes short work of the road bed we have. I take a couple of passes a month on it in the summer. The cars pack it down just fine and i try and check the weather before going out. If we are going to see a lot of rain i will hold off. Our driveway is just over .5 mile and wide enough to get 2 cars down (barely). I never felt that my rake penetrated enough to fill the holes in, and the land plane leaves a very nice looking road when all done.

 

[Tompet]

I use a landplane or grading scraper also (5' Woods w/ rippers)...great implement...simple, effective and fast. It even shoves dirt around pretty good.

 

[otlski]

I have a box blade and a York rake. I don't have any specific way of treating the driveway. It depends on whether I am redressing it or bringing in and spreading new material. Also depends if there was a washout on the steep section or just generalized area treatment. However, the one thing i do is when I am finished, I get out the water hose and heavily mist the area for an extended period of time. The point is to simulate a gentle rain and lock the fines together and bed them down into the larger pieces. This locks it up nicely. After the misting, I drive over it repeatedly with my truck to do my best to compact it further. Drive a tire's width different each pass. All this is ideally done when no rain is expected for at least 24 hrs to give it time to dry.

 

[airbiscuit]

Here's what I use. The road drag has a rear guide wheel to help maintain the crown.



Road Driveway Drag 2 - YouTube

 

[Creamer]

To fill in holes I prefer a blade to a landscape rake because it moves fines as well. Without fines you will always have a pothole because water will flow in and be trapped. The larger particles will work their way out. I do like a landscape rake for a final surface though.

I also find that I need to cut back the growth along the side once a year so in the spring when it is still a little soft I use the blade to cut back the grass to keep my driveway full width. I just have to be careful and not cut too deep so that the driveway drains.

I only grade my driveway int eh spring and probably once more each summer. It is very well developed and doesn't need much maintenance.

I used a plane once and liked it but didn't think it gave me the value needed to justify buying one.

 

[airbiscuit]

I used a plane once and liked it but didn't think it gave me the value needed to justify buying one.

That's just crazy talk. This is a forum where we like excuses to buy toys ,,,,, er.....tools!

 

[oosik]

My driveway is straight as an arrow, gravel and one mile long. I use a rear blade for snow removal in the winter(Land Pride RB3596). A land plane grading scraper(Land Pride GS2584) and a roll over box blade(Bush Hog RO720) do the job in the summer.

My biggest task in driveway maintenance is getting the gravel back off the shoulders and spread evenly across the entire surface. The next couple of weeks will be the only time I can effectively work on the driveway. In a month it will be "set up" just like concrete - at least until early winter.

 

[EddieWalker]

I think doing anything to a gravel driveway just shortens its life. If it's already too thin, then you can do what you want to try and keep it smooth for as long as possible, but the long term solution is to add more gravel until it's at least four inches thick. When thinner, it loses it's ability to lock together, which leads to potholes and soft spots. If it's thicker, it's even stronger. Once spread and compacted, never touch it again.

 

[GLyford]

I thought we already went over this...the "don't touch it" plan does not account for areas that get frost (like all the other posts above), or are subject to disruption from snow plowing?