Driveway gravel

[gstrom99]

With the snow piles melting, I'm now seeing the gravel that got picked up and left on the grass. Here and there, with a few "piles".

Anyone have any tricks/tips to share on how they put it all back on the driveway, where it belongs? Picking up individual stones (put into a bucket or tossed back) gets tedious FAST.

 

[JJT]

Simply rake it back into the driveway. I switched from a plow to a blower 25 years ago and rarely pick up any gravel now. With the plow, the snow banks always had lots of gravel.

If you have young kids - put them to work. Mine are in there 30's and they still complain about picking rocks when they were younger. Back then I paid $.25 a bucket, I'm hoping the statute of limitations on child labor has expired.

 

[JohnnyMX]

I use a landscape rake angled for my 1/2 mile driveway and just try to get them the best I can. That is mostly 1-2" crusher stone so they are larger pieces. My parking area near the house is smaller gravel and I just started using the broom/sweeper attachment for my Stihl Kombi system. It puts it al back in the driveway in about an hour or less and keeps my grass where it was.

If the snow was still mixed in you could move the pile back to the driveway and let it melt so the stone ends up back on the drive.

 

[Joe Hickerson]

With the snow piles melting, I'm now seeing the gravel that got picked up and left on the grass. Here and there, with a few "piles".

Anyone have any tricks/tips to share on how they put it all back on the driveway, where it belongs? Picking up individual stones (put into a bucket or tossed back) gets tedious FAST.

I would vote for children and grandchildren!!

 

[Amvcane]

Can you back drag some of the snow with high concentrations of gravel back onto the edge of the driveway to melt?

 

[LD1]

Depending on driveway gravel size....#8's as we call them around here (3/8"-1/2") or about the size of pea gravel....are easily picked up with a shopvac but not so easy to rake.

#57's (bout 3/4" stuff) is the wild card. They dont rake well or shopvac well.

Next common size we have is #4's. Those are about golfball sized stuff. No shopvac but rake easily with a leaf rake.

One trick as you will find out in the future......make your last mowing of the season really low. At least along the drive or where you plow snow to. I typically mow at 4", but in the spring that makes it a little more challenging to get the gravel out of the yard. Shave the grass down as low as you can without scalping makes this spring task alot more bearable

 

[ruffdog]

Two people, a scoop shovel and rake can get lots of gravel from the grass. Even a small one handed spring rake for flower gardens and a dust pan will work. It depends on how much gravel and how much time you have.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I use a landscape rake with gauge wheels to keep the tines from pulling up the grass.

 

[gstrom99]

It's mostly the 3/4" size. Thanks for all the good ideas. It's going to be awhile til I get out there after it, as it's forecast to be cold again for awhile.

 

[bigtiller]

With the snow piles melting, I'm now seeing the gravel that got picked up and left on the grass. Here and there, with a few "piles".

Anyone have any tricks/tips to share on how they put it all back on the driveway, where it belongs? Picking up individual stones (put into a bucket or tossed back) gets tedious FAST.

I just did this job yesterday while the temperature was unusually an high 67 degrees.
I just barely covered the bottom of the can.
In years past it was a LOT more.

 

[deezler]

I just did this job yesterday while the temperature was unusually an high 67 degrees.
I just barely covered the bottom of the can.
In years past it was a LOT more.

Dang, why bother, in that case? Heck I lose more gravel than that each time a UPS or FedEx comes down my drive at 25mph in the summer, lol.

 

[deezler]

Usually I spend one brutal afternoon each spring, just raking by hand back into the driveway. Doing both sides of 800+ feet of drive is pretty awful on the core muscles, but I haven't found any better way that doesn't put a bunch of sod and mud back into the gravel also. The generator and shop vac idea sounds worth trying.

But the main thing is, to avoid putting the gravel into your grass in the first place:
- Plow gently when ground is mushy - I flip my rear blade around backwards when needed. Or just dont even plow the 1 or 2" snows.
- Don't go nuts and plow way off your drive sides, just put it right to the edges of the drive itself (helps to have a 12+ wide driveway for this)
- when the snow pack ridges start to thaw out, you can plow it back onto the driveway to melt there instead, dropping gravel onto the driveway again. this one is tricky, because I hate keeping my driveway more wet and mushy than it needs to be.

Or, you can just not care, and let the side grass eventually consume the lost gravel.

 

[BigPapi]

I bought a Stihl Yard Boss power sweeper a few years ago to clean up the grass around my gravel road. I know they are a little pricey, but I have tried most everything and they work the best!

 

[Doughknob]

If you have young kids - put them to work. Mine are in there 30's and they still complain about picking rocks when they were younger. Back then I paid $.25 a bucket, I'm hoping the statute of limitations on child labor has expired.

That’s funny. But some folks actually believe child labor laws apply to one’s own kids at home.

Dad used to pay us 1 penny per fly swatted.

 

[Doughknob]

. Or just dont even plow the 1 or 2" snows.
.

i go further and dont plow the 4“ snows. just no need with snow tires on the van and awd cars….

 

[oosik]

I have a big heavy Rhino rear blade. Offset, angle, tilt - brings the "lost" gravel right back up out of the ditches. The only grass I have is right down the center of my driveway.

 

[gstrom99]

I like the shop vac idea too. Not sure if I want to drag my generator out there too though. Don't laugh, but I used the vac to pick up walnuts last fall - I got 13 tractor loader buckets! Dumped 'em on the burn pile. 300 feet of extension cord. They were never picked up before and the squirrels couldn't keep up.

 

[deezler]

i go further and dont plow the 4“ snows. just no need with snow tires on the van and awd cars….

This would be my preference also. I put snow tires on both mine and the wife's car every winter, so it's absolutely no issue for either of us to break trail and march up the hill to the road in 4-6" of new snow. But then an amazon van comes down the drive, or grandma picks up my kiddos from school, or a stranger is lost... and they get stuck fast.

But even more than that - if I leave too much snow on the driveway, it eventually compacts into an ice sheet up here in colder Michigan. Like, a literal 2-3" thick sheet of glare ice. Again our snow tires can pretty easily drive uphill on it still, but it's deadly for anyone venturing down on all-season tires.

I'm probably going to start keeping a sand/gravel mix pile under a tarp or crude roof, so that it can stay dry and still be scoop-able in late winter.

 

[Deano]

I bought a Stihl Yard Boss power sweeper a few years ago to clean up the grass around my gravel road. I know they are a little pricey, but I have tried most everything and they work the best!View attachment 735794

This works great! i have one...but I also paved my driveway!

 

[DML1214]

With the snow piles melting, I'm now seeing the gravel that got picked up and left on the grass. Here and there, with a few "piles".

Anyone have any tricks/tips to share on how they put it all back on the driveway, where it belongs? Picking up individual stones (put into a bucket or tossed back) gets tedious FAST.

If the kids aren't available, and depending on how much gravel I need to move, I use a combination of rakes, flat shovels, and a commercial backpack blower. The blower does a great job of moving the gravel off the lawn and back onto the driveway. On warmer days, when the ground is still frozen under the snow banks, I've also pulled some of the gravel-laden snow banks back onto the driveway, and let the sun do it's magic to melt the snow, leaving most of the gravel back where it belongs. There will still be some gravel to clear off the grass, but it cut way down on the cleanup. The other option is to empty your wallet and pave the driveway. Have fun!