Packing/sealing a gravel road after 'resurfacing' / land plane

[Peter 315]

It's got a 20 hp gas motor.. it's called a Carroll Stream . Looks like a Honda knock ofc of some sort. V twin horizontal shaft.

22HP Gas Engine Electric Start 670cc Side Shaft 1-1/8" (Includes Muffler)

Rhino CS2V77 22hp V-Twin small gas engine. This is a 1-1/8 inch horizontal shaft motor on sale with quick, free shipping. Designed for power with 670cc, electric start and 6AMP charging system from Carroll Stream Motor Company.

carrollstream.com

 

[dkmc]

It's got a 20 hp gas motor.. it's called a Carroll Stream . Looks like a Honda knock ofc of some sort. V twin horizontal shaft.

I'm gonna guess if the +/- were connected backwards, it took out at least the regulator.

I had an area between buildings 25 x 65ft that over the years became sod when dry and mud when wet/winter. Needed to occasionally drive pneumatic tire forklifts thru there, and that was OK....when
dry. Not so good when wet. Finally decided it needed to be fixed, with near-zero clue of how to fix it.
I asked around on some of the 'dirt' forums. Most popular answer was 'concrete', which was not an option. One dude said 'you don't sound like an excavation contractor, get off this forum'. So nice.
Anyway, I scraped off the sod and decayed grass and dirt, got a slope away from the buildings, and
laid down fabric and about 4" of #2 crushed limestone. It looked so much better and water didn't puddle, so I felt lucky. When it was dry I drove one of the forklifts out on it and stopped. When I tried to move, even tho the stone was crushed not round bank run, the tires rolled the stones and they sunk down.
A sinking feeling for sure.
Searched around on the net some more, and wondered about 'fines' mentioned. Visited a couple gravel yards where they had sample piles, and stumbled upon the '3/4 and less with fines'. They call it 'Item 2' here in upstate NY. I kicked at the pile and wow did it seem solid! So I had 5 tons delivered to try it out, and to my amazement, just a 'dusting' of maybe 1" of that stuff, and everything tightened up! Drive the forklifts over it now with no issues. I ended up putting down about a 2" layer and tamping it in, letting the rain get on it, and after that the tires barely leave any impression. I call it 'miracle stone'. When you finally figure things out, it can be a good feeling.

 

[ZiggyD]

Ours is long and steep so I cut shallow channels at a 45 degree angle to the road that start around the middle and end in the drain ditch. It does slow down traffic (which is only us and our guests) but mostly it diverts run water coming down the road and prevents it from gaining momentum and flow.

 

[cbosworth]

I have about 1/2 mile gravel road which takes a beating. I'm going to redo it with fabric and gravel, but I want to figure out a way to pack it as smoothly as possible, after I'm through with a land plane. A lot of the road is on a north facing hill, and it tends to wash out, even though I plan on raising and crowning it, I'd like to pack it in, as when I leave it loose, it is gone in 2-3 weeks.

Typically, I get my F350 out and drive up and down the driveway as many times as it takes to track in everything, but it always drives me crazy, as it seems like there should be a better alternative. I'm not going to buy a vibratory packer, although that would be what I'd actually like. I've looked at skid steer vibratory packers, but they are ridiculously expensive $15-20K. I've looked at tractor tow pneumatic 'Wobbly type - trailers' which would work VERY well... but new, they are same price and used... they are all in Canada, that I find, and by the time they are shipped to me, they are once again pushing the $$$ up to $12-15K and are 'well worn' by the looks of them.

Matt, from YT channel 'Diesel Creek' had a couple old Vibratory units, ran off a diesel motor but towed by a tractor or something. That would work... but I haven't been unable to find ANY at ANY price... so I know I'm looking in the wrong spot. I don't want a project. I want a packed road.

Thoughts? I'd like to get away from driving up and down my driveway if I can.

Similar situation here - 1/2 mile. gravel sinks into rain soaked roads and disappears.

I hired a skilled dozer to build 5 foot deep ditches to manage rain water. Ground water stays 3-4 feet below the road surface. The crown is never water logged.

30” Drainage tubes (culverts, tin horns,) are placed strategically to carry water under the road to the down hill side. 5 total were installed.

It’s been 15 years. A semi can be driven on the road without crumbling over failing.

It was the drainage project that gave me a reliable road.

 

[rsizem]

I live in central KY w/ 1/2 mile gravel driveway. Drive has an avg grade of 17% and a 500ft section of 20% grade. I sloped the steep section to one side w/ drainage (big rock lined). Base stone comprised of stream rock approx 12 inches. After home construction, I added 6 inches of DGA, smoothed w/ skid steer bucket, then compacted w/ rented roller compactor. It's been a almost two yrs and the road only requires a little work w/ the skid steer bucket(going in reverse once) to re-smooth the light ripples from traffic. Takes about 30 minutes and I'm good to go. Way better than $180K asphalt covering or higher for concrete.
Good luck!

 

[jyoutz]

I'm gonna guess if the +/- were connected backwards, it took out at least the regulator.

I had an area between buildings 25 x 65ft that over the years became sod when dry and mud when wet/winter. Needed to occasionally drive pneumatic tire forklifts thru there, and that was OK....when
dry. Not so good when wet. Finally decided it needed to be fixed, with near-zero clue of how to fix it.
I asked around on some of the 'dirt' forums. Most popular answer was 'concrete', which was not an option. One dude said 'you don't sound like an excavation contractor, get off this forum'. So nice.
Anyway, I scraped off the sod and decayed grass and dirt, got a slope away from the buildings, and
laid down fabric and about 4" of #2 crushed limestone. It looked so much better and water didn't puddle, so I felt lucky. When it was dry I drove one of the forklifts out on it and stopped. When I tried to move, even tho the stone was crushed not round bank run, the tires rolled the stones and they sunk down.
A sinking feeling for sure.
Searched around on the net some more, and wondered about 'fines' mentioned. Visited a couple gravel yards where they had sample piles, and stumbled upon the '3/4 and less with fines'. They call it 'Item 2' here in upstate NY. I kicked at the pile and wow did it seem solid! So I had 5 tons delivered to try it out, and to my amazement, just a 'dusting' of maybe 1" of that stuff, and everything tightened up! Drive the forklifts over it now with no issues. I ended up putting down about a 2" layer and tamping it in, letting the rain get on it, and after that the tires barely leave any impression. I call it 'miracle stone'. When you finally figure things out, it can be a good feeling.

Yep. A road bed constructed with proper drainage and material with fines shouldn’t need repeated packing after the initial construction.

 

[LouNY]

Ours is long and steep so I cut shallow channels at a 45 degree angle to the road that start around the middle and end in the drain ditch. It does slow down traffic (which is only us and our guests) but mostly it diverts run water coming down the road and prevents it from gaining momentum and flow.

That is exactly what I do.

With the steepness of most of my driveway, just the tractors weight is enough to cut the water cuts in my packed driveway. I often have the reverser in reverse and just the clutch depressed then brakes to keep her slow and easy.

 

[Fxfymn413]

Have you had a contractor come look at the job for you? I'd get an estimate and a detailed scope of proposed work so you have a better idea of what to do.

In Virginia the mixed stone/stone dust is called 21A. Lots of wives don't like to have the drive made with this as the dust that gets tracked into the house seems to never disappear, but it is the only way to get the drive to stay in place if you cannot afford paving.

When building a new house place large stone (#3/4) on the new drive so the delivery, concrete, etc. trucks will push it down into the subsoil, top with a couple of inches 3/4 inch stone (57) for drainage, and finish with 3/4 inch stone mixed with fines (21A)

 

[dkmc]

Yep. A road bed constructed with proper drainage and material with fines shouldn’t need repeated packing after the initial construction.

I don't know, but I imagine eventually the drainage thru the larger stone underneath will clog with decaying leaves and then puddles will appear. At that point it will probably need to get torn up and
re-done. That might be after my time.

 

[LARGEONE]

I can't seem to find it right now, but there is a Facebook group called "Homemade Attachments" (or something to that effect) and one of the recent posts was a guy who made a vibratory compactor attachment out of three small plate compactors that are fairly inexpensive compared to these large machines. He pulled the three small plate compactors behind his tractor and it seemed to do a fairly good job of compacting. If I find the post, I'll try to steal a pic and post it here.

another idea with filled tires