wood pallets under gravel driveway?

[LouNY]

We have this clay here and a 15 deg slope.

- box bladed subsurface clean
- laid weed mat fabric on clay with pins
- a layer of crushed rock with fines
- compacted
- geohex panels with pins
- finished with ‘toppings’ crushed rock

Expensive but I’ll only cry once

That is a good looking system. I have looked at them but I'm not sure how they would work were you have to plow or blow snow.
Do you get snow and plow?
How is it holding up on the steep slopes with traffic?

 

[DGF]

I was curious, has anyone tried bury wood pallets in the mud to then give gravel support on a parking area? I know the right way to dig it out and spent a lot of money with big rock But I already put clay down and then some gravel. The area stays wet to some degree all year, may be due to high water table or something, but select fill and gravel is not working, still sinking. I know the pallets will eventually rot away but hopefully it will stabilize before that happens. about a 20x 30 area... Thoughts?

I was curious, has anyone tried bury wood pallets in the mud to then give gravel support on a parking area? I know the right way to dig it out and spent a lot of money with big rock But I already put clay down and then some gravel. The area stays wet to some degree all year, may be due to high water table or something, but select fill and gravel is not working, still sinking. I know the pallets will eventually rot away but hopefully it will stabilize before that happens. about a 20x 30 area... Thoughts? The

I was curious, has anyone tried bury wood pallets in the mud to then give gravel support on a parking area? I know the right way to dig it out and spent a lot of money with big rock But I already put clay down and then some gravel. The area stays wet to some degree all year, may be due to high water table or something, but select fill and gravel is not working, still sinking. I know the pallets will eventually rot away but hopefully it will stabilize before that happens. about a 20x 30 area... Thoughts?

Hi, The problem may be related to the clay base which absorbs water. The water molecules become trapped within the clay and take forever to evaporate leaving it wet especially whenever any weight is applied.

The best thing to do now may be to dig multiple shallow trenches and configure them to run off toward the low side of the lot. Fill in the trenches with a very course sand so the water can be drawn off the surface and out of the clay. To finish, cover everything with a light gravel or more course sand. Don't use stone dust, although you can use a few grades higher. What ever material is chosen it must be course. Every now and then drag a landscape rake lightly across the surface so it doesn't develop low spots from any repetitive traffic. I prefer course sand in the trenches because I find it supports weight better than gravel which tends to move around more.

 

[repete]

#1 item is drainage, get the water away from the road. If I have really soggy areas, and I do, I use road fabric under 1 1/4- followed by 5/8-. I would give anything to live in a green area but alas, I live in a light pink area of the below map. We know water...

 

[dkmc]

I had an area aprox 17 x 45 between the buildings that over the years was sod, some grass, and pretty dry in summer but could get soggy in winter or during rainy days. We need to run the outdoor forklift across it occasionally. Not fun when it was soggy or winter. I asked on a couple forums and was told 'you must not be a dirt guy', well, no I'm primarily a Machinist, thanks for the help....not. So I went about it on my own, clueless. Cleared the area of clutter. Used the 2011 MF 1529 front loader to push off the sod and topsoil. Kept taking off more 'dirt' till I had things sloping toward the natural low spot away from the buildings. Put down fabric. Installed a layer of crushed #2-3 with a layer of #1-2 over top of that. Rained like hell and no puddles! Tried to drive the forklift over it and if you stop, the tires spin a bit on the stones, and you sink.
Disappointing. I was confused what to do next. Then I was driving by a new auto shop being built in town, and they had a few piles of crushed blue stone with the dust in it. Some of it was spread and tamped, and it was almost like pavement! I ordered up several yards, and put down a minimal layer, like I mean 3/4" to experiment. That fixed the problem. Forklift tires do not hardly make an impression in it now. I still have to put down a thicker layer at some point, but the difference is amazing. In these parts they call the crushed/powder stone "Item 2". I think there might be many different names for it depending on location.

 

[MT Kioti]

Does the Mushroom Man live next to the Muffin Man, down on Drury Lane?

 

[MRTOES]

I was curious, has anyone tried bury wood pallets in the mud to then give gravel support on a parking area? I know the right way to dig it out and spent a lot of money with big rock But I already put clay down and then some gravel. The area stays wet to some degree all year, may be due to high water table or something, but select fill and gravel is not working, still sinking. I know the pallets will eventually rot away but hopefully it will stabilize before that happens. about a 20x 30 area... Thoughts?

I live in an area of prairie mud and have faced the problem many times. The best way to solve your problem is with anhydrous lime. A good farm store should have it but the price might be high right now. Work the stuff into your soil and it will never be a mud hole again.

 

[allthebacon]

Do you get snow and plow?
How is it holding up on the steep slopes with traffic?

Good point, no snow.
It's holding up really well considered we had 300mm (12 inches) of rain last month, three times normal (Australia) which washed out lots of gravel driveways. That 'cellular' concept (with metal pins) really made the difference.

If OP is going to use plastic pallets, I would definitely recommend finding a way to interlock, or at least attach, those pallets to each other. This plastic geohex stuff I'm using is rated to 1.2 Tonnes/Square Metre (2400lb/~square yard) and I think the interlocking of each panel is the key.

 

[aircommuter]

As a former General Engineering Contractor any form of wood seems wrong but maybe railroad ties they are treated, thick, and sometimes come in concrete varieties.

 

[beenthere]

I was curious, has anyone tried bury wood pallets in the mud to then give gravel support on a parking area? I know the right way to dig it out and spent a lot of money with big rock But I already put clay down and then some gravel. The area stays wet to some degree all year, may be due to high water table or something, but select fill and gravel is not working, still sinking. I know the pallets will eventually rot away but hopefully it will stabilize before that happens. about a 20x 30 area... Thoughts?

Provide water drainage away from your parking area and then you will not have the mud problem. If you put in pallets, eventually they will rot away and you will then have to contend with the nails along with the mud.

 

[Renze]

The wood will either crack, or bend under load. Cracks mean splinters. Bending means the road surface will pump water and get messy.

I'd go with geotextile, or dig down to solid subsoil and dump coarse rock fill till grade, then add gravel till above grade to ensure drainage. It depends on the soil type.