gravel compacting

[JohnnyTractor]

I'm going to need to add some gravel to my drive. Looking for some input on how best to compact it.

While I'm at it, any thought on the best materials to use on the drive? Mine is ~400ft by 8ft, and has about a 10-12 degree grade.

 

[Egon]

Rubber or vibratory packer.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[beenthere]

For 35 years, I worked up my gravel drive, whether new gravel or remixing the old, and after spreading it evenly where I wanted it, I drove the car or truck back and forth, up and down the drive (~600+ feet) until it was packed down, and no areas left 'un-packed'. I thought it worked quite well.
The sooner after working up the gravel the better. If it gets a chance to surface dry, then it didn't pack as well and the fines would wash off the first rain and leave nothing but 'marbles' of stone to roll around.

 

[tawilson]

My favorite is the 3/4" crusher run the local pit sells. The bigger stuff doesn't seem to york rake so well. The rocks get picked up and the smaller stuff stays. With the 3/4" the rake picks up everything. The local pit is a rock quarry, so I don't deal with gravel too much, but I've heard it is about the same.

 

[Toolguy]

If you already have a good base then crushed rock is excellent. I had a driveway that needed work about 20 years ago. I had two twenty ton loads of 5/8" crushed limestone delivered on two different days. I was able to spread it out and level it with just my JD214 and front blade. Took only 2 hours per load. Until it packed down it was easy to move. Once it was packed it was almost like concrete. Just driving on it with a car or truck is all it takes to pack it down. A road gravel mix is much harder to work with since it has clay as well as small stones. It packs quicker making it hard to work with a small machine. I like the crushed rock better. It is cleaner and does not cause mud like gravel does.

 

[HillbillyFarmer]

I've been dealing with gravel drives for most my life. The best way to spread it is to "tail gate" it out of the delivery truck. The driver will know how to do that. I usually put down a 4" "lift" (which is what a layer of something on a road is called). Any high or low spots can be worked with a rake.

Like one poster already said, running a car or truck back and forth seems to pack it as good as anything. Take it easy though. If you spin out just once, you've got to get out and repair the spot. A 4WD vehicle going nice and slow is the way to go. You can usually get most of the drive packed except for a foot or so down the middle. . . but that's good, because you can then rake that stuff out into the low spots, and there'll always be low spots.
I usally get what's called "crusher run" or "1 1/2 to dust." The crusher run is a little bit smaller, but not much.

Order enough to have some left over for a pile to be used later to fill in low spots, spread around walkways, driveway/road junctions, etc.

 

[HillbillyFarmer]

I forgot to say "HAVE FUN!" Spreading gravel is big boys with big Tonka toys time!

 

[JohnnyTractor]

I'm starting to look around at local gravel pits for crusher run. I'll try to get it lined up for spring. Any ideas on what type of rake should I buy? I've read alot about york rakes, and have a couple of stores around that sell the King Kutter products - though I must admit that I'm not too thrilled with my KK blade.

 

[beenthere]

When you find the quarry, ask them to bring it 'with' fines. The fines tend to separate from the crushed material, and it slides down the pile differently. A couple times when I requested loads they were loaded out of the side of the pile without the fines. Just like moving marbles around, and they wouldn't pack down. I called back to ask, and they said apparently I didn't get the fines, so they sent out a load of fines and spread them. I mixed them in and the drive packed down real well after that.
In southwest WI you could get into a gravel pit or a limestone pit. I prefer the limestone for the drive.

 

[daTeacha]

Around here they have a material that seems similar to what everyone is calling crusher run, but they call it C320 or something like that. The excavator who put my driveway through the woods laid that over a base of broken sandstone/shale that's a local product. Then he ran over it with a vibrating roller he rented. It still hasn't washed after 2 1/2 years on a pretty good slope. I put a topcoating of crushed dolomite on it for looks. If you get crushed limestone, be aware the dolomite or "blue limestone" is a lot harder and will last a lot longer without dissolving in the rain. You'll pay about double for it, but it will last 4 or 5 times as long as the common "soft" or white limestone.

 

[Cidertom]

Re what to use: The way I do it: Assuming either bare earth or a drive that is so deteriorated that it might as well be.

Grade it out with a blade, slight crown and if need be work up the ditches. With the grade you have, running water will rut any gravel you put down. The crown puts the water in the ditches and the ditches carry it away.

I then put down 6 inches (loose) of 3 inch minus. smooth it out if need be then roll with roller, or vehicles. (I tend to build from the main road back and have the loads staggered to give me enough time to have the lift ready to roll by the time the next load arrives, that way the gravel truck is my heavy roller)

After the base is packed, smooth it out only if it really needs it, you don't want to disturb the pack.

Cover with 1.5 inches of 3/4 inch minus. light rake to make pretty and roll.

I use a 6 ft landscape rake with a set of "gage" wheels mounted 3 ft behind the rake to groom the road and pull the gravel back on every few months as needed. The gage wheels offset the effect of the front of the tractor moving up and down to make it smoother.

Gravel comes in various qualities. Out here we have two types: River stone, this is where the pit is crushing rounded river rocks and Quarry where the rock is coming out of a rock face. The river stuff has a lot of rounded edges so it tends to roll out easier. The Quarry tends to key in better but is harder on tires if you just use base rock as it cuts them up. My rule of thumb is each lift needs to be at a minimum twice the largest dimension of the rock. Less won't let it key in and lock.

my 2 cents