Gravel options for driveway

[TD Tractor]

I'm looking for some advice on different gravel options for my 900 foot gravel driveway? 5 years ago I had 56 tons of #57 blue stone tailgated. The driveway has taken some abuse since August with 22.60 inches of rain and one 3 inch snow and is now in need of some maintenance.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Look to me like it needs a Land plane to pull and roll the gravel around and level it.

A good land plane will have ripper teeth on it to help break up hard packed areas too.

http://www.everythingattachments.co...Scarifier-Rippers-p/eta-land-leveler-ws-2.htm

 

[Buffalo]

I've had surprisingly good luck with a landscape rake set "backwards".

 

[RCW]

TD - first I rotated and zoomed your picture.

Was making me sick tilting my head....

Before I added anymore stone, I would re-do what you have. Looks like quite a bit of stone along the edges.

Do you have a box blade? Set the scarifiers down a little, with JUST a little bite on the front blade of the BB, then follow with a longer top link, pushing more on the back balde. Couple passes, you'd be surprised what the result might be.

Same could be done with a land plane or back blade.

Just my suggestion.....

Good luck!

 

[TripleR]

We have had to add rock to ours over the years and you may as well, but first as others mentioned, I've had pretty good luck running my scarifiers through it a few times then leveling. I use a box scraper, but a land plane is easier for most to operate. If I didn't already have an HR3584 box scraper with Top and Tilt and drag scraper, I'd buy one.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Great suggestions already. I agree, get the current surface flat and packed before adding more material.

In reading your post initially, I thought you might be asking for what other materials might be better. Problem is, mixing materials often creates problems as materials migrate no matter what you do. From the picture, your gravel reminds me of the railroad ballast we used to set our ties in. Over time, it locks together but rain can undermine the rock bed.

You are probably going to be limited to the same material when you get done planing the current surface. That, or asphalt paving the new layer of rock.

Not sure what soil conditions you have in VA but, a second layer of rock might solve your issues for some time. Rock that gets pressed down into the soil serves as a base for the new material and eventually, the soil gets pretty solid, assuming your drainage carries the water away. Pooling anywhere on or along the roadway is not a good thing.

I have the same problems at my place. I had 100 tons hauled in a couple years ago and that vastly improved things but I think I will need 60-80 more to get a solid base. Out here we use decomposing granite (quarter inch minus), almost like large sand grains and it holds water after a heavy rain. If you get it thick enough, it will hold together until the water is absorbed into the ground.

Good luck.

 

[OldeEnglish]

Like others said it looks like it needs to be reworked. I'll add that pitching the driveway so water will run off to the side into a ditch helps a ton. The best product I've found that holds well on our 250' steep grade driveway is airport mix, basically a mix of crushed blacktop, concrete, brick, and stone. It drains really well and holds together so much better than processed gravel.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

added a generous amount of waste vegetable oil.

That sort of thing will get you fined and/or thrown in jail around here, It's been illegal to oil roads for as long as I can remember, yes even with WVO, and yes even on your own property.

 

[skeets]

I guess highway millings sprayed with diesel is out of the question huh

 

[skeets]

You forget your in the GWN we be in the lower 48. While a manufactured product is acceptable using non tested products( even though basicly they might be the same thing, it doesnt have the EPA stamp of approval) such as used motor oil diesel fuel sprayed on highway millings and rolled and even used cooking oil is a Federal violation as well as local and state draconian laws that might and do prevail. I was addressed by the state one time for dumping used motor oil on my driveway, which by the way I did not do. I changed oil in my truck tractor and car, and the oil catch basin was sitting on the gravel drive way and someone called, saying I was polluting with motor oil. So yeah the laws are different all over, and if the guy next door dont have a problem with it, then most likely you wont cause he wont call the cops

 

[Lil Foot]

Where my cabin is, a guy sprayed about 1000 gallons of used motor oil on the county gravel road in front of his place to control dust, and wound up paying $100,000 in fines & EPA-mandated hazardous waste clean up. They took the entire 300ft long roadbed out to a depth of 5 ft and brought in fresh road bed material.
Since then, three other people have spread vegetable oil on the county roads with no problem, and even had the county grader operator volunteer to grade the area smooth before application, because the veg oil makes the gravel pack like pavement. Not sure if it's legal, or if the county is choosing to look the other way because it saves them work & dollars in the oiled areas.

 

[Grouse Feathers]

I maintain about 1/2 mile of crushed limestone and about 1 mile of sand, rock, and clay driveway with a grading scraper and a rear blade. I use the rear blade to crown the drive and the grading scraper to level the drive. The grading scraper works great for leveling, but the crown is necessary to keep the water running off the drive surface. Standing water on the driveway (especially in the tire tracks) causes most of the deterioration problems. Driving through the soft spots caused by the water results in pot holes that collect more water and further deterioration.

 

[Creature Meadow]

I have a 1/2 mile of drive I maintain and use a woods road scraper, 6 foot width.
http://www.woodsequipment.com/productDetails.aspx?id=280

During summer months when I drag the road I allow the sun to dry it well then I walk it with a push blower to remove the dirt that rises up. Mostly a dust cloud but where once the grass had taken over and no rock were visible now I have a nice road.

I will post a video of some before and afters this spring. It is amazing how the scraper and a blower transformed my roads.

 

[Benhameen]

My driveway is 200' and I've struggled over the years during the winter months. If it stays frozen then it's not a problem but are winters just aren't that cold anymore. So it just stays wet for months.

I redid mine in May. Initially the goal was to peel it all off, or what was left, then put down a tarp like material with small holes in it that a local business sells to keep the rock from disappearing into the ground. Once I started the process I pulled up a LOT of gravel that I thought was long gone. I had always used what was called CA-6, gravel with lime mixed in it for packing. I'm not sure if this is what it's called anymore. Anyhow, after pulling up so much good gravel I decided to leave it and to just top it off with remilled asphalt. Which in theory should seal up nicely. It turned out pretty good until the last few weeks with the moisture in the ground and my daughter can't seem to miss the one area that had went south.

It was a nice day so I pulled out the kubota and tried to pull up some of the gravel to no avail. Kinda just made a mess. I decided to borrow a bucket of gravel from the town I live in. They own a road beside my property where large trucks come and go. They won't actually fix the road they just keeping adding gravel to it, it's a bit of a mess and I don't think they will miss it.

I guess what I'm getting at as others have said you probably have more gravel there than you realize, you just need to pull it back up using the tools others have suggested. I use a 6' box blade and a 6' adjustable blade. One of the grading scrapers would be nice but I'll make due with what I have.

Good luck with.

 

[Tooljunkie]

One of the municipalities up here tried used veggie oil. Aparrently a few black bears found it and were licking the road.

Under new construction, landscape cloth or the industrial version geo-textile is an amazing product. Holds no water and keeps soil from filtering up into road base. Pulling gravel up first to at least even the base woul be a goid start.

 

[TripleR]

My son used the fabric on his new drive, dug down several inches then put the rock on top and so far it's working good. It's way too much work on our existing roads and drives.

 

[OldeEnglish]

Yeah I can't see the EPA allowing veggie oil on dirt roads. I've heard from old timers long ago saying they used to use used motor oil but I've never seen anything except water used around me. I know a few people that have blacktop millings on their driveways and have had good results.

 

[Daren Todd]

They spray beet juice down on the roads occasionally around here. Makes a mess on your vehicle though till it gets packed in

 

[bearskinner]

If your building from scratch, put down " typar" or similar road basing cloth material. Water filters down but soil won't come up thru it. I did that on my roads and driveway in Alaska and it's remained in great condition for years.

 

[cerlawson]

I'd keep in mind what works best for highway base course. That is well graded material from fine to coarse particles that, when compacted, carries the load to soft subgrade below.
Through the years, the coarser stone fraction gets lost and so blending in a coarser mix would help to achieve that dense layer.