limestone flat tires please help

[bigpinwheel]

I just had a close friend add some crushed limestone to my drive a few weeks ago. He added about 40 tons to the drive over about 1000 feet including hill. its normal enough looking stone. EDIT he said he used 304s

In the past ten days I have ruined three tires driving on my drive. One old tire and two brand new Goodyear Fortera.
Any advice for me? Should I add fines or more stone? or switch tires or both?

The tires have been on my wife's Honda ridgeline and she's not happy. Help me out how would you proceed this is getting expensive.

 

[thatguy]

How were the tires 'ruined'? What is happening to them?

Brian

 

[bigpinwheel]

sorry if it wasn't clear two of the tires still had a piece of stone in them, right through the gap in the tread, one of them was cut in the same spot presumable from a sharp piece of stone.

Talked to my buddy some more said he put 304 down the first time. I think I might have him coat it with 57s

 

[farmer2009]

Step up in ply. A passenger tire is a 4- ply tire. Move to at least a 6. I run 10 ply on my truck and don't have rocks go through them and 6 on the wife's SUV no problem there either. You give up a little ride quality but pick up a lot in durability.

 

[thatguy]

wow, that must be some really sharp gravel..

Was this stone made for 'driveway' use? or something they had laying around?

I cant imagine someplace selling stone for a driveway that would cause that damage.

b

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a chart on limestone sizes (although its very hard to read. Highlight the text to read it better).
Albrecht Trucking-Limestone
It says 304 is egg sized to dust.

 

[Ken45101]

It sounds like you may have gotten some extra sharp stone in there. I don't think 57s would be an answer, that's very similar to the stone in the 304s. You might put down some crusher run as a top dressing.

Besides, 57s will move around a lot until they get compacted.


That's another possibility: was the 304 compacted well? Perhaps having it compacted would remove the problem?

 

[oosik]

I had problems with tires going flat on a trailer I rented from U-Haul. Rented a U-Haul tandem axle trailer when we drove out of Alaska in '82. Had two flats because the tread on the tires would not throw/expel the trapped gravel. Both flats were due to very smooth, blunt rocks trapped in the tread valleys and finally driven on thru the carcass. U-Haul paid dearly to have those two flats repaired on the Alcan Hwy.

 

[RDrancher]

It sounds like you may have gotten some extra sharp stone in there. I don't think 57s would be an answer, that's very similar to the stone in the 304s. You might put down some crusher run as a top dressing.

Besides, 57s will move around a lot until they get compacted.


That's another possibility: was the 304 compacted well? Perhaps having it compacted would remove the problem?

I think that Ken's got it right. I would spread a real thin layer of crusher run over the top, backdrag it gently to mix a bit of the 304's into it and then compact with a vibratory roller. Pure stone without fines (as a binder) doesn't compact very well.

 

[EMB5530]

Are you sure its limestone? I have only seen this problem w/ crushed granite.
Like a few have said already though I would compact the heck out of it, and also drive very slowly with your vehicles.

Sorry to hear of your problem hopefully you resolve it. What a PITA

 

[dave1949]

Our Ford Explorer/Sport Trac has Goodyear Fortera tires. Four ply tread, two ply sidewall. That was the original equipment from the factory and although they are expensive and not a high mileage tire, I have stuck with them for replacements. I like them for their road grip. I think they grip (and wear) because they are a fairly soft tire.

Stone through a tire should be a once in a blue moon thing I think--granite or limestone. I can't guess what is going on there, and I've had both granite and limestone drives.

 

[KYDan]

Have a course of dense grade aggregate laid over the existing gravel, it is dust and fine crushed stone. I have all my gravel roads done this way and never have suffered a flat tire from them. Until you have several layers of this some of the larger stones make work up through it, but you can remove them. If you have a good base and drainage this cover should last for a number of years.

 

[ray66v]

I have used limestone 304 in driveways for decades, and have not ever had any problems.

This seems very strange.

Putting more stone on top is not a good answer. Sooner or later, the stuff you are covering up, is gong to make it back to the top.

It would no doubt help if you could compact it first. That would flatten out the stone, and generally orients it so you have a smooth surface. Don't see how you could do that though, if it is frozen.

 

[bigpinwheel]

Thanks for all of the advice I guess I'm glad you all find this as odd as I do..

I had many people echo the trouble free use of 304 on driveways and it looks just like the picture referenced on page 1, so I'm thinking somehow this load of stone has sharper than average pieces in it. This is obviously going to be a problem because there was 40 ton of it put down and compacted. The ground is thawed today for one of the first times since this mess started so I had to decide on something fairly quickly because I've got Christmas company coming in tomorrow. I had him topcoat it all with 57. If the problem continues he suggested a whole lot of fines or some asphalt grindings. I'm dealing with a fairly steep grade so all the fines would eventually be washed to the bottom of the hill though.

I heard some local people blaming the oil and gas rush in this area for poor quality of stone in the area. Not sure how much weight that holds.