Gravel for Driveway...

[Doc G]

Charles has good advice. (Most notably: expect maintenance and plan for it. A box blade and/or land plane are a must.)

I don't know if it's available to you, but recycled crushed concrete is amazing stuff. It is very "jagged" and locks together extremely well, with 20-30% fines -- the dust creating during the crushing process. The problem is that it'll almost always have some leftover metal in it that the crusher's magnet didn't remove, so you have to deal with that the first year. My current driveway is 5 years old and has needed very little maintenance; something to consider maybe.

 

[PILOON]

The favorite in my area is recycled crushed asphalt or shavings.
Bonus is it costs less than crushed stone (gravel) and hot sun fuses it back to an economical asphalt.
Also great on steep hills as it won't wash out under heavy rains.

 

[Username Taken]

Old post but looking to repair a 850 ft driveway and all these terms seem confusing.
I guess gravel (using this as a loose term) has more than doubled since 2009.
I am being quoted $38/ton plus delivery fee.

There's gravel, and then there's gravel.

What are you getting priced on, pea-gravel or what?

Keep shopping, keep learning from your shopping

 

[tradosaurus]

I found a local guy that delivers by the yd. Will get 12 yds of 1-1/2" pan base for $35/yd + $50 delivery fee.

I also found out that 1 yd = 1-1/2 tons so I will be getting 18 tons for $470 delivered.

This ends up being $23.50/ton versus $38 I was finding on facebook.

 

[Diggin It]

Gravel prices are very regional, Live near a gravel pit in a semi-economically depressed area? Almost dirt cheap.

Couple months back, I got 9 -1/2 ton delivered for $132 and change. Too lazy to work out the numbers. What's called dense grade. Maybe some call it road base.

Got like 5 quarries nearby. Less than two miles straight line, but closer to 20 by road. Yeah, our roads curve around a bit.

 

[rekees4300]

Should I use 1" or 2" or 3" gravel to get my driveway up to grade.??

Thanks.

Thanks for starting this thread. My 900" driveway needs new gravel. Would like to get a type that packs down and gravel doesn't roll around like marbles. Will be watching this thread closely to try and figure out what to order from local quarry.

 

[i7win7]

Different areas/quarries have different terms. You can buy 1", 2", 3" rock - it's washed no dust. They sell the dust as Ag Lime. The CA# products are crushed aggregate - dusty. CA6/CA10 refers to the screen sizes. to big for .6" screen falls through 1" screen often called road pack by a home owner who's never visited the quarry.

Outdoors with the morgans has some videos on building new drives.

 

[Smokeydog]

I just had 84.4 tons delivered and spread to top dress my 1/2 mile driveway. $2,600, four truck loads. Special driveway mix of high population of 3/4, 1/2 with some base fines. Higher compaction strength than base or #57. Have 300’ elevation change winding thru the woods. With continuing improvements to grade and drainage hope this to last 20 years. Land plane easily pays for itself in gravel saved, surface durability and maintenance time.

 

[Molalla1]

Thanks for starting this thread. My 900" driveway needs new gravel. Would like to get a type that packs down and gravel doesn't roll around like marbles. Will be watching this thread closely to try and figure out what to order from local quarry.

Around here most use what is called 3/4 minus rock for driveway use on the top coat.

 

[greenlizard112]

Interesting takes from around the country. Here we use #57 granite gravel as a base, then follow up with crush & run. The combination turns into a very hard surface which resists potholes and erosion. Proper crowning required, of course.

 

[tradosaurus]

I can see why gravel buying for the consumer is confusing; everyone seems to have different terminology.

 

[Cycledude]

Planning to recover my yard and driveway this summer. Around here they mostly sell gravel by the yard, will probably buy crushed 1/2 or 5/8 plus gravel this year then maybe recover it again next year with red granite . Where I live frost is a major problem and using 1 inch or larger always gets worked to the top by frost so I won’t use it.

 

[3Lfarms]

I get gravel road base here for $9 a ton, or I can get steel slag road base from the Nucor steel plant for $3.50 a ton. The slag packs nicely for parking areas and weeds don’t like to grow in it. It’s kind of unique how they sell it. It’s basically on the honor system. I get as many loads as I want, and a few days later a lady calls and I make a payment over the phone.

 

[FTG-05]

Charles has good advice. (Most notably: expect maintenance and plan for it. A box blade and/or land plane are a must.)

I don't know if it's available to you, but recycled crushed concrete is amazing stuff. It is very "jagged" and locks together extremely well, with 20-30% fines -- the dust creating during the crushing process. The problem is that it'll almost always have some leftover metal in it that the crusher's magnet didn't remove, so you have to deal with that the first year. My current driveway is 5 years old and has needed very little maintenance; something to consider maybe.

The leftover metal issue is why my gravel hauler won't deliver crushed concrete any more. He delivered a load somewhere, then got complaint after complaint about busted tires. I don't know if he ended up paying for it or not.

#4 or #67 tandem truck load is around $375 around here.

 

[tradosaurus]

I just shelled out $480 for 12 yds of 1-1/2" pan base. The amount looks a lot more in the truck than on the ground.

 

[MoMower]

Old post but looking to repair a 850 ft driveway and all these terms seem confusing.
I guess gravel (using this as a loose term) has more than doubled since 2009.
I am being quoted $38/ton plus delivery fee.

Wow, here (eastern Pa) direct from the quarry is about $11 a ton, delivered is about $20 a ton, retail is about $30 a ton.

That’s for what we call modified, 3/4 down to dust.

 

[Citydude]

I just shelled out $480 for 12 yds of 1-1/2" pan base. The amount looks a lot more in the truck than on the ground.

It always does.