creek gravel

mechanic · Feb 23, 2008

What do you do with the creek gravel you clean out of your creek and what machine do you use to clean it out?

ToadHill · Feb 23, 2008

I use my FEL and I use it for patching my road.

lhfarm · Feb 24, 2008

mechanic said:
What do you do with the creek gravel you clean out of your creek and what machine do you use to clean it out?

A few weeks ago, we had a major storm that washed a section of my drive right where it tees with the county highway. The dry creek had overflowed and clogged the county's culvert. As an emergency fix, I used the FEL to scoop out some creek gravel. I couldn't get much in the bucket after the second load, so filled it with a shovel. It took several loads. Not fun, but too wet to get the tractor into the creek.

The section was 4 feet wide and varied in depth from a couple of inches to a foot. The creek gravel is working for now.

My father-in-law grew up on this land in the late teens and twenties. He and his brothers used to load creek gravel in horse drawn wagons and spread it on county roads as partial payment of property taxes. So I know at one time it was used on roads around here.

I think I may use my BH next spring where I can't get in with the loader and keep a small pile around for emergency drive repairs.

MossRoad · Feb 24, 2008

mechanic said:
What do you do with the creek gravel you clean out of your creek and what machine do you use to clean it out?

One bad thing about gravel for roads is gravel is usually rounded and does not pack to itself very well. When tires go over it, it tends to push the gravel to the sides, making a center ridge and two side ridges. That's why people used crushed gravel as it tends to lock to itself better.

wushaw · Feb 24, 2008

MossRoad said:
One bad thing about gravel for roads is gravel is usually rounded and does not pack to itself very well. When tires go over it, it tends to push the gravel to the sides, making a center ridge and two side ridges. That's why people used crushed gravel as it tends to lock to itself better.

That is a fact, I buried a truck in creek gravel once;(

450EXC · Feb 25, 2008

I have used it as mulch around trees etc. Cannot use regular bark or wood mulch since the chickens would have a field day with it scratching around.

I sifted it through a 1/2" screen to get the silt and small stones out. Would need a motorized screen to do very much of it but the stones from my creek are all different colors and look nice.

ToadHill · Feb 25, 2008

Stone isn't really a good mulch for tree roots. One of the reasons to mulch is to keep the ground cool and moist. Stone heats up and can dry out the soil you are trying to keep moist.

mahlers · Feb 25, 2008

Depending on the type of rock in your area, creek gravel makes really nice walkways. Around here, we have sandstone, granite, jasper, quartz, and lots of green and red rocks (don't know what those are) and those make very decorative walks and garden borders. In the areas where the small rocks are mixed with sand, the old timers had been known to use it to make concrete - it must be good because there are 100 year old retaining walls still in use and in good shape.

SPIKER · Feb 25, 2008

I used my tractor & fel to pull out probably over a hundred ton in last 3~5 years, mostly all of it used to fill in under my barn where I'll pour concrete but the gravel I'm using is mostly flat sand stone with a small amount of granite round stuff mixed in. I ended up mixing in 100 ton more of compactable
sand/gravel mix with that. I also use it to build up wet spots on the property and in/out creek fords and on both sides of the bridge. this creek has gone dry 1 time in 8 years is all and owner I got it from said maybe 3 times in his life (late 60's guy who grew up there.) bottom of the creek is gravel on top of the base sand stone/shale bed rock and is some 20+ feet below surrounding ground level. I have almost gotten stuck at the fords in/out of the creek more than once. had to dump FEL load of gravel and use FEL to get back out, always drive IN and BACK out I learned. I use 2 wheel drive IN and 4 wheel drive OUT if it starts to RUT on the ford (usually right where the ramp is 2' higher than creek) I stop and let it dry out and move to different ford spot. (I have 4 fords now and may be able to get one or 2 more as time passes.)

Worst thing about it is there is a lot of leave/silt matter if it is taken from a deep spot, the 3 main ones I use are all gravel with bed rock and are easy to get with very low amount of bio-degradable material mixed in (sometimes a branch or such) but lots of small sand and small bits of chipped sand stone. and flakes that are off the bed rock that are flat in the 3~10 square inch size. these are great as toppers and I also in spring or after heavy floods can get LARGE 1~5 square foot chunks of the gray/sand stone with pretty root trails picked up off the bottom

these are usually only about an inch or so thick is worst thing and they break pretty easy. I'm saving some of the better ones back for a patio but will have to come up with a good idea to support them from breaking, hopping sand only will work for this but who knows...

Mark M