I am working with the APA to make sure I do things right. Thanks for all the advice. Much to think about...I will admit that much of my motivation was to fulfill my childhood dream of operating heavy machinery. I simply cannot afford more than one machine and it seemed as though the backhoe fit the bill. Would it make a difference if the "road" was more of a driveway?
Whatever you call it doesn't really make any difference as many of us would find it hard to make a clear cut distinction.
Some more experienced road builders can give you information on roadbed preparation, what to use as a final topping, ditches, slope, drainage etc., but they will need to know your soil conditions, terrain etc.
We "built" several miles of roads on our farms, but with our terrain and soil conditions, on most we didn't need any ditches or much in the way of a roadbed, we just graded the roadway and put crushed rock on then drove on it, grading and moving the rock around as needed.
On the wooded roads, we had a dozer go through and knock the trees down then used 70 and 80 HP tractors with a back blade.
In some parts of our county, people don't use rock or ditches because the sand soaks the rain up and even when this takes a while, the bottom is always solid even when covered in standing water.
When we need equipment like excavators or back hoes, we rent them, but it looks like no matter which way you go, it is going to get expensive. Multiple pieces of equipment is the ideal way to go, but I can sure understand the financial strain.
One last thing, I also like to "do it myself", but after a project my sons and I finished using two tractors, when we finished, the fuel bill was more than we would have paid to have someone with the right equipment to do it.
