Anyone have water on driveway problems?

[Johndeere3720]

well this morning, I went out on the 3720 to try and tackle the water issue we have on our driveway. It tends to run strait down the middle, snaking its wat to the bottom of the driveway. So I tried using the middle buster to make a small trench down the side. The small trench filled up really quick until it over flowed and went back onto the driveway. In the last week, we have had several inches of rain, and with a small natural spring on our property, our driveway turns into a mess. Thinking hard, I put the left tires into my small trench and used the bucket to make a larger ditch running down the driveway. It was really muddy the whole time, making it hard for the tractor not to get stuck. I got half way down and had to find a spot for all this extra dirt. It is along the driveway, in small piles now. I went to the bottom, and turned sideways so I could use the bucket to make a ditch to the creek. It worked up the driveway until It got to tippy from the incline. I still havent finished, as I need to use the skidsteer to make the ditch larger, and I also need to bring a shovel down and dig a bit. I atleast got most of the water tackled. I was just wondering if anyone else has water troubles on their driveway. The whole time I wished I had a backhoe and my rear blade.

 

[Tig]

My lane (600m) does get into trouble in some spots. Large drainage area, some not so lagre culverts. I am working towards little improvements everywhere. Keeping culverts and ditches clear, raising low spots, creating swales. Water is the enemy. Every little bit helps.

 

[Ezlivn]

I have had problems with water in my driveway for a very long time. I have a huge hill in my backyard and have problems with runoff. I really need to dig a trench and refill with rocks. I also seem to have a spring of some kind right in the middle as water seems to just bubble up from the ground. I just wish it was oil rather than water

It's a nasty problem when it runs and freezes over and over. Some years are worse than others. I'm looking at a couple grand worth of excavator work and I'm trying to convince myself that I absolutely need to get that done. A couple grand would look a heck of alot better on a new garage that I desperately need as well.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Here are a few pictures of the process. This morning I put the furrow head on the middle buster and made 2 nice ditches, 1 was from the middle buster, the other is from the left tires on the soft wet ground. The picture may not show it but from the bottom of the driveway to the top is a gain of 100 feet of elevation. I dug sideways as far as I could until the tractor got tippy. You can see in one of the pictures that most of the driveway was covered in water. The last picture is of me this morning using the middle buster to make a ditch. Atleast I got the water off of the driveway.

 

[dave1949]

It's difficult to get a sense the grade in the photos. It looks like in some stretches your driveway is the lowest grade with higher ground on each side?

In any case, to prevent the water from running down the drive rather than off the drive, you could use those metal water bars that are set into the surface of the drive and angled slightly downhill. They catch the running water in their channel and divert it off to the side. You need to install them where the water can exit the channel to a lower grade than the driveway.

The net effect is to limit the amount of water running down any given stretch of driveway, reducing overall erosion.

Yes, a backhoe would be a real blessing for ditching along the sides.
Dave.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

My driveway is much shorter, but I did have water problems until I brought in some sandy gravel and put a crown on the driveway. Now it's the first place to dry out, and the grass on either side gets the water rather than the pot holes.

 

[CowwFace]

Here are a few pictures of the process. This morning I put the furrow head on the middle buster and made 2 nice ditches, 1 was from the middle buster, the other is from the left tires on the soft wet ground. The picture may not show it but from the bottom of the driveway to the top is a gain of 100 feet of elevation. I dug sideways as far as I could until the tractor got tippy. You can see in one of the pictures that most of the driveway was covered in water. The last picture is of me this morning using the middle buster to make a ditch. Atleast I got the water off of the driveway.

Hey JD,

Have you tried to make the ditch on the other side of the road.. I agree that from the pictures it appears the road grade is on the oppside side that your tractor bucket is on. (Could be an illusion). The best advice I got was to use top cover that has lots of angled stone in it, and avoid rounded stone/sand. The angular stuff is compacted down and forms hard top. We ended up using reclaimed asphalt .. and so far (4 months) it's been very good.

Carry on

 

[tommu56]

To keep from water washing out road you have to keep it's speed down so cut some water bars across the road every 200ft or so.
Google water bar to see what I mean.




tom

 

[teg]

You need water bars (mounded up gravel) to divert water into the ditch. You can make these out of crusher run, just mound up some 2-3" high about 10-12" wide and angle them down hill, off to one side (like speed bumps at a 30-45* angle). You can use more of a crown on that road (it's pretty flat across). Make it so the water will slope off to the side of the road and into the ditch. Make your ditch as wide a possible to keep them from filling up.

 

[tommu56]

something like this http://www.tractorbynet.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/7359

I dont know why photo wouldt post.


tom