New Asphalt Driveway - How Soon to Drive Tractor over it?

[HKUSPnut]

Contractor say's 9 days for passenger vehicle, and you tractor may weigh in at double.... Think about it....

Dale

Dale,

No need for a condescending response. I have indeed thought about it and weight is only part of the equation. It's all about ground pressure. A 15,000 lb excavator on tracks probably exerts less pressure on the earth than a 4,500 lb station wagon. I'm not equipped with the information to calculate the contact patch surface area of the R4 industrial tires, hence the reason I was asking folks here for real world experience. Maybe tomorrow i'll try to estimate the minimum contact patch to determine the highest PSI that the tractor may exert on the asphalt. I'll do the same with my wife's car to see how they compare. If anyone has manufacturers data on this for R4 tires that would be a huge help.

I have work that needs to be done and just trying to figure out when i'll actually be able to get to it. What I don't want is to jump the gun and make a thousand dollar mistake because I wasn't patient enough. That would suck.......

 

[Diggin It]

If you really, really, really, REALLY have to cross it on the tractor before 60 days, consider laying plywood or OSB to drive on. Straight across, no turns, only momentary stopping, no parking.

 

[HKUSPnut]

That's just a dream to have asphalt. How long did you go? how wide? Love to see pictures!!!

It's definitely a luxury item we have put off for years. Never could justify the cost, but we bit the bullet this year and decided to go for it. Glad we did. Driveway is only about 100' long but fans out to a pretty sizeable parking / turnaround area in front of the garage. Narrowest part after apron at driveway entrance is 13' but opens up pretty quickly.

20200707_202629_resized by HKnut, on Flickr

20200707_202856_resized by HKnut, on Flickr

20200707_202908_resized by HKnut, on Flickr

20200707_202926_resized by HKnut, on Flickr

 

[HKUSPnut]

If you really, really, really, REALLY have to cross it on the tractor before 60 days, consider laying plywood or OSB to drive on. Straight across, no turns, only momentary stopping, no parking.

This is good advice. I like the plywood idea

 

[4570Man]

If you really, really, really, REALLY have to cross it on the tractor before 60 days, consider laying plywood or OSB to drive on. Straight across, no turns, only momentary stopping, no parking.

I’ve driven my 17,000 pound backhoe on fresh asphalt without damage. A tractor will be alright.

 

[HKUSPnut]

Obligatory photo of tractor sitting on gravel driveway before paving. On second thought, maybe having a gravel driveway was much simpler......no silly concerns about load bearing capacity.

20200502_152505_resized by HKnut, on Flickr

 

[TMGT]

Depends on what quality asphalt they used and how well it was laid and compacted, also the outside temp.

When I had the driveway paved at my old house they did a less then stellar job and the driveway was pretty soft for months (summertime), I managed to make some impressions from the R4 on my B2620, avoid the edges, don't turn sharp or while not moving and you should be fine.

If you need to go on the driveway then try to do it first thing in the morning before the sun/heat gets in it.

I just had over 2000ft of road paved a couple weeks ago in my neighborhood(private roads).
We were able drive on it as soon as it was done, but that doesn't have anything parked or maneuvering on it, other then people coming in and out of driveways.

 

[powersrp]

Age of the asphalt doesnt matter, when the sun heats it up 3 years from now your tractor or anything else with a heavy footprint will scar it. I learned to just not park the tractor on it.

 

[chim]

I'd consider the recommendation of the contractor to cover the tractor as well. Your tractor is probably around 5K. We've had our driveway paved and later on we had it repaired and re-topped. Both times we followed the contractor's directions and had no trouble.

There's a gravel driveway that tees off the paved driveway. That is one area that I expected traffic would damage the edge of the blacktop. To counter that, I had the contractor put a short stub a couple feet long to tie into the gravel driveway. The thought was that would provide a sacrificial edge for the paving. So far it didn't break off.

It's a good idea to train drivers to have the vehicle moving while turning the steering wheel. Turning the tires while the vehicle is at a standstill will make ugly scuffs long after you think the blacktop has cured.

We were involved in a project at a hospital and they paved up to the loading docks. Very limited access, so they couldn't wait more than a few hours to receive deliveries. They had a crew shovel dry sand all over the new blacktop. I was told the lighter color helped cut down on the solar heating, but the big reason was that the sand acted almost like ball bearings to avoid scuffs when they turned corners.

 

[dragoneggs]

We and three neighbors went in on an asphalt driveway a couple years ago after dealing with a gravel driveway more than 800ft long that has a pretty steep section. Best thing we ever did. Total job was about $30K. We were driving on it the next day. No damage . Wasn't hot and they were a first class outfit with good equipment and rolled the heck out of it.