Private Gravel Road Woes

[schmism]

while a grader plane is easy to use, in the sense that you just pull it behind you, it doesnt allow you to actually do several of the things that are going to be key to maintaining the road.

The gravel just doesnt dissapear. it mostly gets worked out to the edge. You need a tool that will allow you to reclaim the material from the edge and work that back into the road surface. you also need to be able to maintain the ditchs and make shure the road keeps crown. The land plane will do none of these tasks.

A motor grader is the first choice.
second choice is a pull behind grader

the plus with one of those is they can be pulled by a modern 4wd truck.

third choice is a rear blade behind a tractor. 7-8' min will need a 40+hp tractor.

last choice would be a land plane or box blade if you were really in a pinch

Read up on maintaining gravel roads
http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/upload/2003_07_24_NPS_gravelroads_sec1.pdf

there are several good youtube vids also that basicly show video of the above PDF.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK68zUMOUnc

I would inquire about getting material from your local county road commission. they may come and spread via tailgate at cost.

 

[paulharvey]

With dirt and or gravel roads of any form, one of the first things you need to know is what you want. Do you want to be able to drive a corvette or a low rider Honda Accord down it, or are you fine with to firm packed tire tracks to drive a 2wd Suv/pickup down. Is 8-10 feed wide ok, or do you really need 16-18 feet so you can pass with out pulling to the side? Do you really care about the grass strip down the middle? If you just have packed dirt wheel ruts, that you add some gravel/RAP/base to as they get too deep, $2400 per year can go a long way. If you "need" a 16 ft wide smooth "road" getting it there will be about $10-20/sy and about 10% of that per year in maintance. If I was a neighbor, no way in heck I would pitch more money in so that the new guy can have a nice, smooth road; if the old one meets my needs.

Another issue is learn what road base is available and cheap locally. Some areas use gravel, crushed limerock, ball field clay, soil cement, straight river gravel, fly ash, ect. In new England they might use granite, doesn't help if it's $20-30/ton where you are.

 

[teg]

...is learn what road base is available and cheap locally...

In NC, It's coal ash (by the way, just kidding)

...I agree with SPYDERLK, I never drive in the wheel ruts (since everyone else does) I put my wheels anywhere else but the ruts.

Can you post some photos of the problem area, more information you can give us, the better help we can give you.

 

[joeyd]

Schmism - Thanks for the info, it was very educational and will assist me in understanding what the operators are doing.


Read up on maintaining gravel roads
Water Error 404 Page | Water | US EPA

there are several good youtube vids also that basicly show video of the above PDF.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK68zUMOUnc

 

[Jim Nelson]

One of the easiest ways to keep a dirt road up is a section of screen from a screening plant.If there is a crushing operation any where near you see if you can beg or buy a section of used up screen cloth, they are as I remember,10' to 12' long and about 3' wide, something like 1 1/2" or 2" screen size and with a chain hooked toward the ends then to your 4X4 and just drag the heck out of it.The ends of the steel used to make it are turned up on one side and down on the other so you can scratch up the material with the front edge and spread it with the rest of the screen.After some practice you will be surprised how much good you can do.Minimum expense and no learning curve.

 

[TractorGuy]

What this country needs is a tax revolt against all these counties that collect property tax and will not provide services.

 

[Redbug]

I think with non paved roads, most of the time you need some sort of a crown put on it to allow the water to drain off. The land leveler does not allow that. It does not help you recover gravel at the road edges and move it back into the middle of the road. I think I would go with an adjustable blade on the back.

 

[jrclark]

If you're looking for cheaper material than traditional stone, try to locate concrete. Our base consists of big, paver-like concrete slabs. This material was about $200 per load, far cheaper than 4" stone.

 

[TractorGuy]

I put concrete washout on a parking lot one time. Never again. It's okay when it's damp but when it dries out you get your vehicles covered in abrasive concrete dust every time you drive on it. I also hate gravel but that is a personal thing.

I live on dirt roads and myself and a couple of neighbors take turns grading it. One of them has a grader box and basically just churns up the dirt but it's better than nothing. Another has a box bade and he is still learning how to use it. If he would learn to pick the box up in the low spot and dump the collected dirt he could do a better job. I have a little JD855 with a 5' grader blade and I have to catch it at the right degree of damp and soft to work it but I know how to reshape and crown the road. I can also pull the ditches and I seem to be the only one that does that.

Our road has gotten beyond our abilities at times of persistent rain and we have to pay the county to grade it. See if your county has that option before you invest in equipment. Ours charges less than a $100 per hour and can do it in less than the 1 hour minimum.

 

[Capricious]

What this country needs is a tax revolt against all these counties that collect property tax and will not provide services.

In my particular case I don't know if I can use that argument; for a 7.5 acre vacant parcel (no improvements) the taxes are a bit under seven bucks a year.

However, in the state of Missouri, the rural counties that generally would not collect a lot of road taxes on fuel sales within their own borders, receive an apportioned share of road taxes collected in urban areas, through what is called the county aid road trust. Basically, roads in rural areas are subsidized by tax money diverted from urban/suburban areas.