Top Dressing Driveway - Gravel or Crushed Concrete

[Paul12210]

Around here, slag is a byproduct of a smelting plant that is a glass like material. It's shiny, but it's very brittle and it does not lock together. It also sticks to your shoes, so you are always tracking it into the house.

That's not like our slag at all. Ours here comes from a steel plant. It is grey and compresses into an almost concrete-like surface with the exception of a loose layer right on the top which does not seem to migrate at all. I dug out three inches of dirt and filled it with slag. It makes a terrific surface that is porous to water.

 

[Unclewillie]

I have a 1/2 mile driveway that I need to do something with. I was thinking about just adding some gravel, but the person at the quarry said they have recycled .5-1" crushed concrete for $9/ton vs $20/ton. I haven't worked with it ever and couldn't find much online.

I have a tractor, loader, boxblade and am considering a land plane for spreading and maintaining. Will a crushed gravel surface allow me to freshen it up with a land plane just like gravel would? Any downsides to that material from anyone who's used it?

Wood chip drive would look nice just need to lime it to keep it from rotting, bet tree services would deliver it for free to get rid of it.

 

[deezler]

^ absolutely do NOT fill your driveway with wood chips!! lol, what a thing to suggest. You forgot the /S tag on the end.

 

[Unclewillie]

Rather use wood chips than crushed concrete ,gives one a nice soft landing in trip and fall conditions.

 

[Unclewillie]

That's not like our slag at all. Ours here comes from a steel plant. It is grey and compresses into an almost concrete-like surface with the exception of a loose layer right on the top which does not seem to migrate at all. I dug out three inches of dirt and filled it with slag. It makes a terrific surface that is porous to water.

yeah slag sounds like something I would like to use, I remember in the late 70s and 80s folks were using all types of stuff in driveways clam shells, rubber blocks, wood chips, brick pieces, just everything cheap for the most part. Thing is unlike the wood chips and claim shells everything else turned into a headache to deal with.

 

[yanmars]

I just had 57s added to top dress 1200 feet of lane. They did a nice job of dropping it down. Around $2800 with tax, nearly 2 inches deep over the old.

 

[TractorGuy]

Opinions seem to vary depending on how it's graded and who you buy it from. I bought some 3 years ago from a paving contractor and it has been great. It was screened to no larger than 3/4" and I haven't seen ANY metal in it. It has required very little maintenance and when it did it was easy to churn up and fill any holes or washboard. The older it gets the less maintenance I have had to put into it. The stuff I bought was dang near $21 a ton delivered and the last time I priced it they wanted more.

The company I bought from had trucks with auto tailgates and drivers that knew exactly how far to open them and how fast to drop depending on how thick you wanted it. I wanted it 4" thick. They would have a small pile at the start of the drop and the rest of the truck load would be a perfect 4" thick

I did find another source selling for $11 per ton but they don't deliver so I would have to pay a separate company to haul. I haven't gone to look at their product either.

I have looked at some from a third source and I wouldn't touch what they had with a 10 foot pole.

I just took these photos last week. All the fines have come to the top.

 

[JohnnyMX]

Just to close the loop on this thread somewhat, I went with 20 tons of #1 stone. This is 1/2" minus with no additional fines added, but not washed. The stone chips are not round and do lock together and pack down into my clay/mud soil. The prior owner had almost a pea gravel down in this area. This stuff was about $550/20 ton including delivery.

The stone is keeping cars, people and dogs out of the mud/clay and now my dogs can get out without needing everything wiped off after each trip outside. This is a parking area so people aren't moving fast and blasting the gravel all over and is similar to what was there originally. Put it down with the loader to spread it out and touched it up with the landscape rake and gauge wheels to smooth it out. I went over the entire thing with my roller just to pack some of it down into the base.

Now for the driveway, I think I am going to give crushed concrete (3/4 minus) a try simply due to price (350/20ton vs. 550/20ton) and just try to get a nice thin layer across the 1/2 mile drive. Some sections need more than others. I checked out a local spot that used it and it looked pretty nice.

 

[fried1765]

Just to close the loop on this thread somewhat, I went with 20 tons of #1 stone. This is 1/2" minus with no additional fines added, but not washed. The stone chips are not round and do lock together and pack down into my clay/mud soil. The prior owner had almost a pea gravel down in this area. This stuff was about $550/20 ton including delivery.

The stone is keeping cars, people and dogs out of the mud/clay and now my dogs can get out without needing everything wiped off after each trip outside. This is a parking area so people aren't moving fast and blasting the gravel all over and is similar to what was there originally. Put it down with the loader to spread it out and touched it up with the landscape rake and gauge wheels to smooth it out. I went over the entire thing with my roller just to pack some of it down into the base.

Now for the driveway, I think I am going to give crushed concrete (3/4 minus) a try simply due to price (350/20ton vs. 550/20ton) and just try to get a nice thin layer across the 1/2 mile drive. Some sections need more than others. I checked out a local spot that used it and it looked pretty nice.

Will they guarantee that the crushed concrete is free of all steel or wire?

 

[JohnnyMX]

In my multiple conversations with the sales rep (so I take this with a grain of sales bs), he said that the product in question (i.e. recycled concrete in 3/4" minus) is pre-screened so they only take sources that are reasonable to start with. It then goes through the crusher multiple times to get it to 3/4 and is run through multiple high-powered magnets to remove any metallic debris. He stated that they have not had issues using this product with flat tires or rebar showing up in the final product. That was my main concern with this. He offered to let me come down to the quarry to check it out for myself if I wanted to. I've used them in the past for other jobs/projects, but that being said I'd start with one truck and go from there. If I'm comfortable after seeing and spreading that I can tell him to keep them coming.