Desperately need to fix driveway

[Binx]

Hello All,

I posted a similar thread about 1.5 years ago regarding our driveway and after much thought, we decided to get a professional to fix it and get it done right. Well, after having a "professional" add gravel and smooth the driveway about 10 months ago, we are back to the same driveway with ruts....but we now have more gravel.

Info on our wonderful driveway. We currently have a .25 mile driveway (future driveway will be around .25 miles also) with surge stone and gravel. When the UPS/Fed Ex/Amazon driver comes down the driveway, they rut it up really bad. I have a small sporty'ish sedan and it's dinging up my skid plate and who knows what else.

My husband has given me the go ahead to purchase an implement to fix the driveway! Woohoo! I'm leaning towards the box blade mainly for the future house we hope to build in the next 2 years if lumber prices ever come down. The box blade would be used to maintain about 1/2 mile of existing trails, smooth out the land around the future house and finish building the rest of the .25 mile driveway.

We have an MX5800 (no hydraulics) and I think a 6-7', >700lb box blade would work best, maybe an EA Severe Extreme (78' or 84') or a Woods (76-84'). My husband thinks a land plane would be better. Any suggestions? I need to purchase it quickly before he changes his mind.

Thank you!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

A box blade will help with that, but is not the ideal attachment. Look into a 'land plane', especially one that has scarifiers.
Here is an example:

Independence Series Land Plane with Ripper Shanks - Perfect for Grading Roads and Spreading Material

Discover the Independence Series Land Plane with ripper shanks, ideal for grading roads and spreading material. Compatible with Cat-1 sub-compact and compact tractors up to 30 HP.

homesteadimplements.com

 

[zzvyb6]

I started out in the same condition and fixed it easily with a Landscape rake set at a 45 degree angle for starters. The key ingredient is a rake with 2 gauge wheels on each end and a chain for the top link. First comb the material from the outside inward for a few passes. Then comb the center to the edges and then a few passes outside inward. After this, set the rake to zero angle and drive down the center. The rake has to be as wide as possible. Mine was 8', but at 45 degrees it's only 5.6' wide. All this then should be enough to get a very nice 10' wide driveway. Use a loose chain for a top link so the rake sets the cull, not the tractor. You can still pick up the rake when the lower arms are raised a bit. Put a LOT of weight on the rake for an easy job. You can dress it up easily after this with just a down and back run.

 

[/pine]

My suggestion...fix any/all places where storm water runs down the drive and not across the drive...then get it topped with something like "crusher run" that has fines that will pack down hard...loose gravel will only get worse over time...

Working a gravel drive when it's been dry is not recommended...it tends to separate the fines and leaves nothing but more lose gravel...regardless of the implement used...
Fines are the key to maintaining a gravel lane that is like concrete...

Good Luck...

 

[dirttoys]

All the above are good guidance. I use a skid, mini x, and 70 horse tractor with a pile of implements on my half mile drive, and I still have challenging spots.

I could have saved some money and effort if I had done it this way.

1. Grade, road must be higher than surrounding area, either ditch or raise road with base and gravel.
2. If you get number one correct, you can use a few inches of base (dirty gravel or crusher runs) under road rock, and have a pretty nice driveway that only needs piddled with a couple of times a year.
3. Pack the fines as best you can before laying the road rock. If you can avoid the stupid tire ruts being lower than the edges of the drive you will have a great chance of success.
4. Land plane or harley rack is a home run, you want to 1. keep a little crown, and 2, fill the tire ruts. Don't working the drive any more than you have to, and don't scar any deeper than is absolutely needed.

God bless, and it helps to look at the driveway as a spoiled high maintenance pet/child

Best,

ed

 

[Randy Gann]

Agree with pine and dirt toys about the fines. You need a good hard packed base that is locked together. 4 to 6 inches of loose gravel will turn into ruts from heavy delivery trucks speeding in and out. My neighbor fussed at his wife and teen age driving kids for going too fast in the driveway and slinging all the rock to the outside in the curves. Hard pack with a crown with minimum amount of loose gravel is what you need.

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long "gravel" driveway. Actually, the top layer is gravel, sand, silt & volcanic ash. Soft in our wet spring - dries and turns to concrete in our dry summers. I have a Land Pride 2584 LPGS with scarifiers, Bush Hog 720 ROBB with scarifiers & Rhino 950 - 96" rear blade. Each has its own use on my driveway maintenance.

The LPGS is great to smooth, level the driveway. With its scarifiers - will quickly repair potholes, rainwater washouts and associated riffles.

The ROBB is used to loosen soil and bring the soil to the driveway for larger repairs. The scarifiers are a great assist with this implement also.

The Rhino rear blade is my snow removal implement. It also work great for cleaning and regrading the driveway ditches. At 1050# it's finally heavy enough to cut into the driveway - even when it hardens up during the summer.

There is one "problem" section on my driveway. It's about 175 feet long. A very large field drains to this section. It's been a constant problem keeping the water draining away from the driveway. I use all three implements almost every year on this particular section.

The OP needs to get fines worked into that gravel. This will hold the gravel in place and allow it to be crowned and compacted.

 

[Gordon Gould]

My suggestion...fix any/all places where storm water runs down the drive and not across the drive...then get it topped with something like "crusher run" that has fines that will pack down hard...loose gravel will only get worse over time...

^^^
This is very true. And what I would do. But on the positive side if that is not in the cards for you right now a drive with loose surface material is very easy to dress up. But you have to do it often to keep it the way you want. A box blade or landplane work well on hard packed drives with their ability to "cut" the packed surface and then spread the loosened material. They will also work fine on what you have. But because your surface is loose it gets thrown off on the turns by aggressive drivers. You need something to pull the escaped material back onto the road. A box blade or a land plane are not good choices for that task. You need something that can angle like a rake or back blade. If that were mine I would use a back blade turned backwards and angled to pull the stone back into the road and spread it evenly. A back blade is a universal tool so you can also use it to fix any places with erosion ruts or to build and maintain crown a crown on a packed driveway.

gg

 

[Gordon Gould]

Here are a couple pics of what I was talking about. In this one I am doing a spring time chore after snow plow season. Pulling the plowed off material back into the road with the back blade turned backwards.

And another spreading fresh stone

And crownig

I should add that I have a rear blade, box blade, and land plane. Also a lot of road to maintain. They all have their place.

gg

 

[Egon]

Don’t think the surface material shown will pack or hold its shape. You require a crushed well graded gravel.

A rear blade with gauge wheels would work best for bringing in the sides and shaping the road. Scarifying well first would really help. The gauge wheels will really help with a back blade.

The stages:
scarify
pull up the edges and define ditches
roll a windrow of material back and forth to fill in hollows and get
nice smooth grade. This is very important. One pass just doesn’t
do it. Rolling a windrow will also help mix the aggregate on the road. The vertical angle of the back blade is important to do this
correctly.
You may end up up with a few larger rocks on top. Blade these into the ditch.

Then a vibratory drum compactor.

Now you would be ready for additional crushed gravel. ( 3/4 in. And less )

The tilt of the blade and the angle can be varied so certain tasks can be carried out. Again one setting just don’t do it.

 

[old and tired]

Hate to say it but your "gravel" is way too big for a box blade or a landplane to do much good. It's great for a base once it's locked into place but you don't have any "fines" (smaller rocks) to actually to hold the rock in place.

If you have a FEL, I would load it up as much weight as it can handle and back drag it (in float or even put down pressure on it) to flatten what you can. Also, running it over with your tires (with your heaviest implement out back) to try and pack what you got BEFORE buying crushed gravel like Gordon's above photo...

Damn, I'm a slow typist... Egon beat me to it!!!

 

[shooterdon]

One thing to consider....a box blade is not the easiest implement to use well...and most seem to recommend a hydraulic top link to make using it easier. I have never used one so only reporting what many here have posted.

My drive is also short and this year got a landplane to maintain it. It has worked well and is very simple to use.

 

[CoyPatton]

Don’t think the surface material shown will pack or hold its shape. You require a crushed well graded gravel.

A rear blade with gauge wheels would work best for bringing in the sides and shaping the road. Scarifying well first would really help. The gauge wheels will really help with a back blade.

The stages:
scarify
pull up the edges and define ditches
roll a windrow of material back and forth to fill in hollows and get
nice smooth grade. This is very important. One pass just doesn’t
do it. Rolling a windrow will also help mix the aggregate on the road. The vertical angle of the back blade is important to do this
correctly.
You may end up up with a few larger rocks on top. Blade these into the ditch.

Then a vibratory drum compactor.

Now you would be ready for additional crushed gravel. ( 3/4 in. And less )

The tilt of the blade and the angle can be varied so certain tasks can be carried out. Again one setting just don’t do it.

If you fill ruts and other low spots as I understand the comment about wind-rowing material back and forth to fill low spots, expect as heavy trucks come down the drive (ups and others) for the gravel even hard packed to be pushed out of those ruts.
Runs and other low spots need the soil that is higher ‘busted’ up and reshaped. Point in case, if your county maintenance routine is to grade grave into the potholes, how long before the potholes are back often worse than before graded? Depending in traffic a few days!
Number 1 (it also occupies 2-10) thing in my opinion of living on gravel most of my lifetime and having gravel drives!
WATER!
You need at least one ditch (2 is 10x better) beside the entire run of your drive. Drive needs to be sloped so water quickly runs into the ditch and not length of the drive. The drive needs to be at its lowest point (edge(s)) higher than the lip of the ditch next to the drive.

Until the water is dealt with, you will always have issues with your drive way rutting.
A good condition driveway is in my opinion a great selling feature for a home, but may not be an expense that will be recouped in the selling price.

I am a firm believer that their are implements that really shine for a given purpose but may not be worth much in other activities. (A tiller being a point in case, if you need to break up soil for any variety if purposes, it is the implement to have, but to break up gravel covered potholes is pretty useless as the gravel prevents the digging, and if gravel is removed, it general breaks the soil much more finely than desired for a drive way base.
The best implement for routine drive way maintenance in my opinion is a land plane with scarifiers. While not a 1 trick pony, it pretty much is limited to leveling and redistributing material. You can not move material as you could with a box blade.

When you build the new house, make sure the new drive has Water dealt with, a solid compacted base that is higher than ditch lip.
Educate yourself, so that you know what you need in your area. This will let you know when that ‘professional’ is blowing smoke. You can understand the process through education without having done the work.

 

[Hughman]

I think you're looking at this wrong. Rather than buying a tractor implement to fix the driveway, look at this as an opportunity to replace that low slung sedan with a jeep.

 

[zzvyb6]

My Arps brand landscape would have no trouble smoothing out her driveway. I put 4 suitcase weights on it and it digs and fills as necessary. I used to help q few others on the road with driveways worse than hers. But, Now I'm all 800' of concrete so I sold the rake.

 

[dodge man]

You have a pretty good size tractor so I’d say a rear blade, land plane or box blade would work. The scarifies in a land plane with them or a box blade would work well on digging up and stirring up the gravel you have. If you have enough material you can just rework what you have. My driveway is paved but was gravel for several years and in the spring was when it got bad, it turned to mush.

 

[Egon]

If you fill ruts and other low spots as I understand the comment about wind-rowing material back and forth to fill low spots, expect as heavy trucks come down the drive (ups and others) for the gravel even hard packed to be pushed out of those ruts.
Runs and other low spots need the soil that is higher ‘busted’ up and reshaped. Point in case, if your county maintenance routine is to grade grave into the potholes, how long before the potholes are back often worse than before graded? Depending in traffic a few days!
Number 1 (it also occupies 2-10) thing in my opinion of living on gravel most of my lifetime and having gravel drives!
WATER!
You need at least one ditch (2 is 10x better) beside the entire run of your drive. Drive needs to be sloped so water quickly runs into the ditch and not length of the drive. The drive needs to be at its lowest point (edge(s)) higher than the lip of the ditch next to the drive.

Until the water is dealt with, you will always have issues with your drive way rutting.
A good condition driveway is in my opinion a great selling feature for a home, but may not be an expense that will be recouped in the selling price.

I am a firm believer that their are implements that really shine for a given purpose but may not be worth much in other activities. (A tiller being a point in case, if you need to break up soil for any variety if purposes, it is the implement to have, but to break up gravel covered potholes is pretty useless as the gravel prevents the digging, and if gravel is removed, it general breaks the soil much more finely than desired for a drive way base.
The best implement for routine drive way maintenance in my opinion is a land plane with scarifiers. While not a 1 trick pony, it pretty much is limited to leveling and redistributing material. You can not move material as you could with a box blade.

When you build the new house, make sure the new drive has Water dealt with, a solid compacted base that is higher than ditch lip.
Educate yourself, so that you know what you need in your area. This will let you know when that ‘professional’ is blowing smoke. You can understand the process through education without having done the work.

Notice:
The first word on the list is scarify. In road building this implies much more than just a toothed blade Scratching the surface.

Next comes pulling up the sides & defining ditches. ( water control )

Then the surface material is windowed back and forth actually being rolled over. This mixes and pulls and distributes the material.

Followed by compaction and the addition of more aggregate.

No Smoke Required.

The land plane works for maintaining a well finished road.

 

[repete]

The key to any driveway success is drainage. This passes through what would be a swamp. Only a landscape rake touches it.

 

[duffer]

In taking a close look at your first picture, it appears as though your driveway is actually doubling as a drainage swale for all water run-off from both sides. Tough to tell if the dark areas at the bottom of your picture are shade, or dampness from water running across it.

You can rake, comb, or groom the driveway all you want, but until you solve your water shed issue, you will continue to have this problem. The driveway must be above the water shed areas. Thus you need to install drainage swales/ditches along each side, or at least where the water empties into the driveway. An installation of a drain culvert under the driveway could work wonders on the worst areas.

From the picture it appears you have an "inverted crown" in your driveway. No doubt from the water running down it. You need to reverse that flow, and redirect it to the sides of the driveway, and into the newly installed drainage ditches. Without actually seeing it in person it's hard to tell exactly what you need and where you need it to actually fix the problem (not treat to symptoms). I would suggest getting an excavator contractor out there to eye-ball it, and give you some recommendations.

Don't waste your money (like I did) trying to groom the driveway out of the problem. You have to address the drainage issues first. Otherwise you're just dumping money into a never ending pit. Depending on the severity of the drainage issues, you might want to rent a mini-excavator back hoe, and dig the drainage trenches, rather than trying to have a tractor implement do that job. Better yet, let the excavator contractor do it. They will do more work in far less time, and you'll get a better job from the pros. (Maybe a neighbor with a large back-hoe could do the work?) Might only cost you a case of beer, or dinner maybe.

The land plane is a good implement to groom it, but it won't fix it. I use a landscape/York rake to groom my ½ mile drive. Either implement will work, just personal choice.

 

[Egon]

Notice:
The first word on the list is scarify. In road building this implies much more than just a toothed blade Scratching the surface.

Next comes pulling up the sides & defining ditches. ( water control )

Then the surface material is windowed back and forth actually being rolled over. This mixes and pulls and distributes the material.

Followed by compaction and the addition of more aggregate.

No Smoke Required.

The land plane works for maintaining a well finished road.

A Cat grader at work. The rear blade With gauge wheels tries to emulate this action.