What would you choose for a lawn/ driveway roller?

NS Gearhead · Sep 15, 2015

Yet another project I've got planned;

I've got access to plastic drums; aprox. 2' diam X 3' long. 1400lbs full of cement. Also; 8" pipe with 1/2" wall. Filled with cement at 5' long should be near 500lbs. What would you go for? Bigger weight and diam, with shorter length... or longer with less weight and diam? My first thought is that longer will help push high spots down rather then riding between them... but I dunno. The much heavier barrel would probably work best on the driveway and the pipe work better on the lawn. I could make the pipe longer, but it would loose too much maneuverability IMO. I could build a rack on top of the pipe and carry cinder blocks that would add about 170lbs, so 670lbs total.

I'm set on using cement, so let's not debate water, vrs sand, vrs cement, vrs whatever. I want it to be ready to use when I need it.

Also, these are my two options; no need to mention water heaters, propane tanks, or any other vast list of things that may do a better job then what I can get for free. Let's stay on topic please.

Deere Dude · Sep 15, 2015

With plastic drums, the plastic won't last at all unless maybe on soft tilled dirt. Then any rocks will chip out the cement. I have a approx. 900-1000# 4' long water heater and I think that is to light. The pipe would be better because it would last.

NS Gearhead · Sep 15, 2015

Yeah that makes sense about the plastic... I am leaning towards the pipe.

Hey! What if I built the pipe, but then made an upper mount for the plastic drum. I could fill that with water... that would be up to 587lbs more! So the original 500lbs plus 587lbs= 1,087lbs over 5'. I could build it with dual drum mounts and get up to 1,674lbs... although that may be pushing what my ATV can pull.

bcp · Sep 15, 2015

Don't worry about "pull." Can your ATV stop it from running away and taking the ATV with it, especially if your land isn't perfectly flat.

Bruce

NS Gearhead · Sep 15, 2015

My trailer full of gravel's aprox 1,400lbs. I've got to be mindful of it, but it's not too bad and I go down much worse then I would on the lawn and driveway. My fear would be spinning up the lawn trying to get going. I could half fill the barrels.

****, for the driveway I could pull it with the truck instead.

EddieWalker · Sep 19, 2015

How often do you plan on using this? What do you expect it to do for your driveway? To compact soil or gravel, weight is only a small part of it. Vibration is a lot more important, along with proper moisture content. If you are just putting in a new lawn and you want to roll the dirt, then this would be fine, but because of it's size, I would still expect some settling in the future because it will float over low or soft spots. For jobs like this, nothing is better then renting the proper tool for the job.

NS Gearhead · Sep 21, 2015

I intend to use it in the spring on the lawn to push the frost heaves back down. Also when I patch the driveway I'd like to use it to help compact the new gravel. So, probably two or three uses/ year.