Gravel spreading on a fresh cut steep road cut in with BX25D?

[Tractor Seabee]

I would get 1 1/4 minus. It has the fines in it and bonds together when you drive over it. Back blading will not compact, the BX isn't heavy enough. You will find the clean crushed will tend to move under your wheels until all the edges mesh together. The fines speed that process up, eventually they wind up further down as you drive on it. Do you have that Puget layer of clay over there that gets snotty in rain? How much do you plan to use the trail? Over here we are a deep layer of glacial till that is all sand and rock. It compacts well and gravelling it is a waste of time and money unless it is heavily used. I can drive anywhere all winter long except for that slick grass. If the clay; you have a continuous maintenance problem as it will continuously wash out with the gravel just sliding down the snot. Uphill vs. downhill? I think either is a problem on its own. Do you want to slide backward or forward if you lose traction, which you will until it compacts sown. I like to see where I am going in a slide. With the BX it will take time either way as those buckets are small. Pushing down I think you will get more spilling over the edge than working up hill. Either way plan on losing 10-20% over the side. Once you decide you are committed to that 10 Yds. 3" thick; 10 yds. will miss the whole 600' by about 200' considering loss and swell factor difference in truck (loose) vs. compacted on the ground. Have fun

Ron

 

[OneMan]

Hope this photo goes through because our road is steeper and we had the truck spread the load from bottom up as the bed raised. Driver was great and it took another 6 hours of box and blade grading to get the desired road.
First load was what we call crush and run abd the next load was 1 1/4" gravel (18 tons of each)

 

[dragoneggs]

View attachment 325033View attachment 325034

I would get 1 1/4 minus. It has the fines in it and bonds together when you drive over it. Back blading will not compact, the BX isn't heavy enough. You will find the clean crushed will tend to move under your wheels until all the edges mesh together. The fines speed that process up, eventually they wind up further down as you drive on it. Do you have that Puget layer of clay over there that gets snotty in rain? How much do you plan to use the trail? Over here we are a deep layer of glacial till that is all sand and rock. It compacts well and gravelling it is a waste of time and money unless it is heavily used. I can drive anywhere all winter long except for that slick grass. If the clay; you have a continuous maintenance problem as it will continuously wash out with the gravel just sliding down the snot. Uphill vs. downhill? I think either is a problem on its own. Do you want to slide backward or forward if you lose traction, which you will until it compacts sown. I like to see where I am going in a slide. With the BX it will take time either way as those buckets are small. Pushing down I think you will get more spilling over the edge than working up hill. Either way plan on losing 10-20% over the side. Once you decide you are committed to that 10 Yds. 3" thick; 10 yds. will miss the whole 600' by about 200' considering loss and swell factor difference in truck (loose) vs. compacted on the ground. Have fun

Ron

Hi Ron, you know this soil and you are right on. Here are the specifics. Almost the entire path is of the glacial till variety. Sandy, rocky and a few up to 6in boulders. Really haven't run into anything bigger but a lot of baseball to softball sized rock smoothed over the million year process of landscaping before I got here! I do have a short stretch of 'snotty' clay and it happens to be where an underground spring decided to surface for air. The good thing is that it is only about an 10 ft stretch and is on the only flat section of my path. I plan to cut down in and add some 4in drainage pipe and extra gravel to get that water going downhill where it will dissipate. Here are a few pics for those of you not familiar with our typical PNW hilly soil.

 

[Stokes]

Hey M,
If it's any help, I've a Rankin 3-pt grader blade that is adjustable for pitch and offset. I'll not be using it for a few weeks, so if you wanted to borrow it, you're welcome to try it out. I'll be heading into Bremerton tomorrow and can bring it with if you're interested.

 

[dragoneggs]

Hey M,
If it's any help, I've a Rankin 3-pt grader blade that is adjustable for pitch and offset. I'll not be using it for a few weeks, so if you wanted to borrow it, you're welcome to try it out. I'll be heading into Bremerton tomorrow and can bring it with if you're interested.

Wow! What a great gesture! I guess it is time to do a first time removal of my BH and give it a try! Thanks!!! :drink:

 

[dragoneggs]

Okay made a decision on dump site. Half on top and half on bottom of hill. I have other projects needing gravel up top (around garage). Also decided on 3/4 vs 1 1/4 despite some sage advice. Two reasons... I need the 3/4 for other projects and aesthetic reasons.

I talked to my neighbor and asked if he had any problem with me accessing across his property about a hundred feet to get to my lower property and told him I was worried about his culvert. He said no problem... his wife rolled her eyes. I explained I would unload half the load first up top to lighten the truck and he said good idea. So... I am on for the AM. I am blessed with great neighbors on all sides who help each other out... not like my old place in suburbia where every little thing was an issue and no one would tell you directly, just whine to the other neighbor or call the police (deserving of another thread).

My neighbor knows that a good deed will be returned in kind. And I know he has a few projects around his property that aren't getting done that could be knocked out quickly with a tractor!

Here is a better pic of why I want access from both ends. Picture doesn't really explain everything but better than just words. The foreground is about half way up but the background sort of gives you an idea of how steep it is at the top.

 

[Egon]

Consider placing some planks over the culvert for the truck to drive on.:thumbsup:

 

[Recoveryhill]

The only advice I can offer is to not place all the stone one time. Place enough to just cover and allow it to work in before placing the next batch. You'll probably discover that some spots require more stone than others and by layering, you can find out where they are. Seepage of ground water will create these spots.

Dirt roads are not about dirt, they are all about water. If you create a chute from top to bottom and get a couple of inches of rain in a hurry, you'll discover the truth in this. The cure amounts to creating water breaks and road angles that help take water to the downhill shoulder instead of allowing the entire load to careen down your road and drainage ditches. Erosion is not your friend, or anyone else's below your property.

 

[MacTractor]

+1 on the 3/4 minus.

With my property I have become the expert on sloped. 3/4 Clear will cover just fine but you will not be able to go up that hill in 2WD and will spend most of your time grading the moguls that you will keep ketting on it. As well with you machine with a Box Blade, Blade, or pretty much any spreading, you will not be able to do it from the bottom up. (Traction).

Good luck!

I would get 1 1/4 minus. It has the fines in it and bonds together when you drive over it. Back blading will not compact, the BX isn't heavy enough. You will find the clean crushed will tend to move under your wheels until all the edges mesh together. The fines speed that process up, eventually they wind up further down as you drive on it. Do you have that Puget layer of clay over there that gets snotty in rain? How much do you plan to use the trail? Over here we are a deep layer of glacial till that is all sand and rock. It compacts well and gravelling it is a waste of time and money unless it is heavily used. I can drive anywhere all winter long except for that slick grass. If the clay; you have a continuous maintenance problem as it will continuously wash out with the gravel just sliding down the snot. Uphill vs. downhill? I think either is a problem on its own. Do you want to slide backward or forward if you lose traction, which you will until it compacts sown. I like to see where I am going in a slide. With the BX it will take time either way as those buckets are small. Pushing down I think you will get more spilling over the edge than working up hill. Either way plan on losing 10-20% over the side. Once you decide you are committed to that 10 Yds. 3" thick; 10 yds. will miss the whole 600' by about 200' considering loss and swell factor difference in truck (loose) vs. compacted on the ground. Have fun

Ron

 

[TripleR]

The only advice I can offer is to not place all the stone one time. Place enough to just cover and allow it to work in before placing the next batch. You'll probably discover that some spots require more stone than others and by layering, you can find out where they are. Seepage of ground water will create these spots.

Dirt roads are not about dirt, they are all about water. If you create a chute from top to bottom and get a couple of inches of rain in a hurry, you'll discover the truth in this. The cure amounts to creating water breaks and road angles that help take water to the downhill shoulder instead of allowing the entire load to careen down your road and drainage ditches. Erosion is not your friend, or anyone else's below your property.

Very good advice, our renters saved us a lot of problems doing this on one of our roads, much better than my experience in building flat land roads.