Muddy Path

[RobS]

As a road racing bicyclist I can tell you all you might want to know about chip-seal. Basically, it's a coating of liquid tar covered in small stones. It's then up to the traffic to push the stones into the tar and scatter the excess onto the shoulder. Also fondly known as tar and feathers, slurry seal, s**t seal and others. It's a step up from a dirt road, but not much. Gives us cyclists a fit. Hey, maybe I could use a variation to keep out the snowmobilers?!?

Serioulsy, my familiarity with chip/seal is limited to previously paved roads. It's such a thin coating, I'm not sure how well it would hold up over a dirt base. I always see it used as a cheap way for the county to repave (even though it only seems to last a year or two).

Rob<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by RobS on 11/27/00 03:48 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[gerard]

Harv,
Here the chip seal is called oil penetration. (My neighbor owns a company that does it) It's a topping only and can only be put down on an already compacted surface. Kind of a cheaper way of putting down blacktop or hot mix. If you're going to go through the expense of bringing in gravel do yourself a favor and put in the geo textile fabric Von referred to. It costs about $250 for a 12ft x 300 foot roll. It goes down under all commercial roads nowadays and is a must in muddy areas. (Helps distribute the weight over a larger surface and will prevent the stones/gravel from pushing through the mud. I think its made of a kevlar blend and is really strong and tear proof). If you go this route dig a small trench where you're going to start the fabric and bury it in the trench, then backfill. That will help keep it in place as you spread the stone.

 

[RobertN]

The Chip seal is basically used to "bind" the surface of the gravel.

I would not recomend that Harv chipseal a access road like that. I was merely mentioning that that is what we did, and it supports traffic from six households.

In our case, after three years our road is perfect. Sealing the road also helps keep down the dust. The drainage is the key though; drainage drainage drainage!

As a bi-cyclist and motor-cyclist, I tend to dislike it too. When the stuff is fresh, I'd just as well turn around and go another direction if I'm on either of my "bikes". Those chips are very sharp; I've been down on a bike more than once on that stuff /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[s1120]

Yup, thats mud all right."LOL"

Paul

 

[gordon]

Have I posted this link once before here it is again. http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/spfo/pubs/stewardship/accessroads/accessroads.htm It's a publication on building forest roads.

The others have already said---
Cut the topsoil off the top
Make sure you have good drainage
Crown the road so the water will run off.

I make alot of roads in the woods with alot of organic or what I call no bottom. When skidding to keep costs down alot of times I use slab wood as a base to keep me from dropping out of sight. Then cover over with some fill dirt. This works good and will hold up well over time. Also doesn't cost a bunch of money out of pocket. If you have a mill close to your property it might be work looking into a load of slab wood. Alot of mills will deliver it to your property. I go by the mill alot with the trailer anyway so its the perfect thing to use for base. Depending on which sawmill I'm at and what kind of mood the owner is in a load can be had for next to nothing. Alot of times it cost just that nothing!!!
Gordon

 

[Anonymous Poster]

You also may live in a county that grinds the roadside brush up into strands or chips. Your county may be glad to get rid of the stuff for free rather than having to haul it farther and/or pay to dump it. The strands are a pain to level out versus the chips, but they hold up a tractor crossing the mud very well!

 

[Harv]

Wow!

I may never go to the libray again! All I have to do is toss a problem out to the TractorByNet brain trust and voila!!! -- information up the wazoo! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Your replies have brought me from despair to hopeful anticipation. Sounds like I need to do a little soil analysis 'cuz I have no idea how deep the mud goes or what's underneath it. If there's no more than, say, a foot of topsoil (organic muck) on top of clay or similar hardpack, I might be able to scrape that off so I have something fairly solid to build my road on.

The word "drainage" has shown up 13 times in your replies so far. I think I get the hint. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif I'm starting to think there might be a reason for getting a backhoe after all. Anybody want to get me one for Christmas? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

The geo textile fabric sounds great, but if I do manage to get down to something fairly solid, should I still use it?

If I can't get down to something solid, Del's "punk" road starts to sound like a good idea. With 40 wooded acres I think I can collect enough of the right kind of debris to do the job. Might be a little tedious, but I really like the price.

Gordon - your "slab wood" has a certain appeal, also. I'm guessing these are the slabs taken off of the initial milling pass which is not suitable for saleable lumber? Bet I could find all sorts of uses for that stuff. There used to be a lumber mill just a few miles from my property, but I think it's gone now. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Also, Gordon, I remember your previous post and link to the country access roads page (now that you reminded me) -- I will read it with renewed interest.

Not sure if I can get this project done before late spring 'cuz the ground might remain too wet to work with, but you never know, here in California.

My sincerest gratitude to all who have contributed to this thread. Y'all might just make a country boy out of this computer geek yet. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[scruffy]

Harv,
If the access road is only for your use, you may consider just hauling in and dumping 4",6" or slightly larger rock into your 'road bed'. Over time, this will provide a solid base for your road. If you have a shale pit or out cropping on your land, it makes a dandy fill over the larger rock. I have used this method many times combined with ditching the road for drainage to accomplish a very good road bed that has held up for years. Nice thing about it, is the overall cost...fuel, time, and fun.

 

[JonE]

Harv, now that you are fully edumacated on muddy trails what do you suggest for mine?

 

[Harv]

Jon -

I think I would start by moving the whole thing a lot further south. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Actually, your trail looks fairly solid once you get past that white stuff. Does it get pretty sloppy in the spring?