Grading How would you fix this road?? (w/pics)

[Ruark]

Our central Texas property has a 1000-foot road made with "road base" which is basically a layer of crushed limestone. When we bought the place a year ago, it was a really nice, flat, smooth dirt road. After two houses were built, all the heavy truck traffic packed down the fine material in the ruts so these bigger rocks are sticking up all over, and the road has acquired a fairly high center. Some of the rocks stick up 3 or 4 inches, very unhealthy for the tires on my wife's car.

It's pretty hard - you'd need a pickaxe (mattock) to dig a hole in it; a pointed shovel won't break through it.

The road is probably 6 to 10 inches deep. There's plenty of material there. As you can see in the pictures, it's full of rocks. The bigger ones (like the ones in the closeup) are 5 to 10 inches across. The pictures are typical; it's pretty much like this its entire length.

My tractor is a Mahindra 4025. One of its main duties, besides pasture shredding, is to repair and maintain this road. Which would be better to do it with, a rear blade or a box blade? I'm afraid a rear blade wouldn't dig in enough, and might hop over the rockier parts.

A box blade, on the other hand, would dig down into the surface and pop out the rocks better, but won't roll them off the end the way an open rear blade would. Instead, it would quickly fill up with rocks.

I can't afford both. The tractor DOES have an FEL and a good landscape rake, by the way. If I could just get the main rocks up onto the surface, I think I could roll them off with the rake, then scoop them up with the FEL.

I'm personally leaning towards the box blade, one where I can adjust the teeth up and down, but it's still speculative, as I have zero experience with either a box blade or a rear blade. Sound advice would be appreciated.

 

[CowwFace]

Hey Ruark,

Fristly ... if you share the road with anyone be prepared for copious amounts of praise and adulation ... many free beers, countless "thank you's" and happyness in the neighborhood..... uuuhhhhh yea ... that's what will happen.

But that aside, there are guys on here who are WAY better at this than me, but with my vast experiance (one road about 1/4mile long done once but still holding togeather 1.5 years later)... I would not be afraid to get a bit agressive with the backblade. If you do have that much of a base. The higher center will of coarse be helpfull for drainage so don't wack it too flat.

I would tilt the rear blade to bring the edges in to the center both sides, drivinng forward with tractor....

Then with the large heap in the center I would make a pass or two with the blade paralell to ground, and no angle but not very deep, driving forward with tractor.

Then I would finish off by tilting the blade again, angle it to push the base towards edge of road and go in reverse with the tractor. This seems to give me a nice smooth finish.

Now the big rocks popinng up making giant holes... could cause some plan deviation.

Carry On

 

[/pine]

just an opinion...

I'd go with a box blade...to truly "recondition" the road without adding new surface material you will need to "stir it up"...i.e., scarifires on the box blade...

the only way to remove the larger rocks is with a landscaping rake etc...or remove them manually...

a scrape blade will tend to raise up and glide over the larger exposed rocks and will not give satisfactory results...

 

[beenthere]

Bottom line, you need to get rid of the large rocks.
Buy or rent a box blade with scarifiers, and removal using FEL bucket (much of it will be hand work).

After rocks are gone, top dress down the center with more gravel with nothing larger that about 3/4", and plenty of fines.
Buy or rent a rear blade (preferably with gauge wheels) to work/mix the top dressing in with the existing bed. Maybe use a rake to sort out the rocks larger than 3/4", but that will be an on-the-ground decision. Spread the mix with a slight crown and roll it immediately with truck tires driving over the full length and width. Best if doing that when the mix is damp at least. (and include what CowwFace suggested here)

That will pack down into a tight roadbed that should last a long time. If it gets rutted with potholes, pull the sides together with the blade and mix it well again. Spread it with a slight crown and pack it down with vehicle traffic before it dries or gets rained on.

That to me would be the best you can do. Doing less may be what you have to accept.

IF rocks are not removed, then I'd cover them with 6" of gravel mix 3/4" or less with fines. That should be a good workable layer that you can keep pulled to the center and packed over the rocks that are in the base and maintain it with a blade.

 

[rekees4300]

IF rocks are not removed, then I'd cover them with 6" of gravel mix 3/4" or less with fines. That should be a good workable layer that you can keep pulled to the center and packed over the rocks that are in the base and maintain it with a blade.

That's what I'd do. Busting one's arse to remove the big rocks just seems like a waste of time, effort and money. The problem isn't the big rocks, they are suppose to be there because that's the road's base. The problem is a lack of gravel to cover them. :2cents:

 

[BruceWard]

I have a driveway built from similar material. Mine is crushed slate rock with a limey soil. Once rained on it dries like concrete.

The D4H that applied it to the first driveway was able to do a great job finishing the driveway. It had enough weight to pack the large rocks into the ground. With my B21 I can not get a smooth finish. I end up picking up the larger rocks.

I suggest using some kind of roller or compacter or a dozer to compact the ground. I think a rolling compacter would be even better than a dozer.

 

[Gordon Gould]

That's what I'd do. Busting one's arse to remove the big rocks just seems like a waste of time, effort and money. The problem isn't the big rocks, they are suppose to be there because that's the road's base. The problem is a lack of gravel to cover them. :2cents:

This is what I think too. Up here in the north removing the road base is the kiss of death come spring mud season. I dont know about Texas, but if someone spent time and money to put that kind of base in I would tend to think there was a good reason for it.

You will probably be surprised how much material you can pull in from the sides in all that grass.

 

[MikeD74T]

Since heavy trucks beat the edges down why don't you hire someone with, or rent, a vibratory roller to beat the middle down? It's unlikely that you can make this better with a box blade unless you bring in some finer material & just use the bb to spread it. Either way it needs to be beat down. MikeD74T

 

[sms0000]

That's what I'd do. Busting one's arse to remove the big rocks just seems like a waste of time, effort and money. The problem isn't the big rocks, they are suppose to be there because that's the road's base. The problem is a lack of gravel to cover them. :2cents:

Absolutely right! I build driveways and grade them......leave the big rocks / compacted gravel its a good base. Get some loads of 5/8" minus and use the boxblade to fill in the low spots. You will need quite a few loads of gravel but you can start off with a couple and make it work until you can afford some more . Remember build it up - don't tear it down.

 

[zzvyb6]

I do this all the time. I run a 5' rototiller with the rear gate open and in reverse tractor gear in creeper range. The tines kick up the rocks and loosen the rest of the material down to a reasonable depth. Doesn't take any power. Works best after an average rain. It can be a little noisey. Several passes produce a perfectly graded roadway.

Please don't tell me it won't work. Your road is already much better than some I have done. Then I use a york rake to comb out the rocks and other crappola.