Gravel Driveway - pothole

[kevin37b]

If the hole is at the entrance , slow down when pulling in ?

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I've never had a pothole problem, just washouts which are running downhill if there's a "gully washer" rain, and I can just drag the gravel back in place. Do you have a solid base of #2 under the road pack? Road pack (or dense grade) by itself will not hold up when the ground turns to peanut butter.

 

[ZTMAN]

I have probably watched a tleast 50 YT videos on grading gravel driveways, and have graded miles at our camp.

Best explanation I heard about fixing potholes, if you don't break up the hole and just fill it in, it is like punching a bowl of dry cheerios. Makes sense.

I lower the rippers on the box blade and rip the hole first, then fill and compact.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Conventional wisdom is that the road should be scarified to a depth greater than the bottom of the pothole. (Pick-axe if it is small, and you do it by hand). A Calvanist philosophy that the longer or more difficult the task, the better the results, dictates that back-filling in multiple layers with tamping between layers is better than a single back-fill. While you could rent a plate compactor or a jumping jack, oosik's suggestion of driving over it (slowly) with the highest ground-pressure tire is probably most expedient. (Might be tractor front wheel with a load in the bucket or rear tire with a heavy implement).

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

So just fill it with the #53's?

Yes, no need in disturbing 99.875% of your road just for a few holes. You have a road to maintain. Extra gravel is good to have. Just get a bag of Portland cement, fill the hole with gravel, sprinkle a couple handfuls of Portland on it, maybe water, and leave the rest of your good drive alone.

 

[scaredychicken]

Boxblades are the great equalizer.
Messes up the driveway for a bit as everything gets roughed up, but then it improves as things pack down.
focus on the problem areas

Dogs and chickens create most of my potholes

 

[Username Taken]

1) Get some quikrete and some chicken wire. Dig the hole just a bit to get some of the loose stuff out (optional), put some chicken wire in the hole and pour in the concrete. Lift the wire up, before the crete starts to set, to where it's about 2 inches below the surface.

2) You can use heavier gauge wire if you're in the mood.

3) (Recommended) If you're real ambitious, you can put some pieces of rebar in before you 'pour' over the chicken wire. You can drive a couple pieces into the ground, place a piece or two sideways........ I'd try to at least drive one piece into the ground so the concrete patch won't roll all over the place if/when it breaks loose after being run over a few hundred times.

fun stuff

I'd level the concrete to about 2 inches below the gravel if you use that much.

ETA: You don't always have to premix the stuff in a wheelbarrow. PITA. You can sometimes just pour it from the bag dry and water it in. Just don't wash all the portland away. You can also do it before a rain. It'll harden. Just be aware that it's not 'set' yet and avoid running over it until it is.

 

[TheMan419]

Yes, no need in disturbing 99.875% of your road just for a few holes. You have a road to maintain. Extra gravel is good to have. Just get a bag of Portland cement, fill the hole with gravel, sprinkle a couple handfuls of Portland on it, maybe water, and leave the rest of your good drive alone.

I would agree disturbing the rest of the drive to fix this is not a good idea. Some good ideas in the thread on how to do by hand. We just filled it in with 53's a couple years ago.... but it is back in the exact same spot, and frankly came back fairly quickly.

 

[TheMan419]

I've never had a pothole problem, just washouts which are running downhill if there's a "gully washer" rain, and I can just drag the gravel back in place. Do you have a solid base of #2 under the road pack? Road pack (or dense grade) by itself will not hold up when the ground turns to peanut butter.

I do not know what is under the drive. We have been in the house 6 years. We have spread the #53's on top once in that time. It is time to do it again. The base is very solid almost looks like concrete, but clearly is not. It is limestone that has been packed down over the years.

 

[Username Taken]