How do you guys compact your gravel driveway?

[wreckedit]

I appreciate the advice I just got on blades, rakes, and LP/GS. I guess the one thing I forgot is compaction. If you read around and look at youtube vidoes put out by state highway departments on rural road (non paved) maintenance they always use a roller to compact because , well, they have one. For the rest of use, is driving up and down over a newly "ripped then crowned then groomed" gravel driveway enough?? Or without a real roller am I wasting my time?
Thanks!

 

[Tig]

I try to groom the lane when the ground is soft and traffic is light. That gives it a chance to settle and the stones are more easily set back in the road. Vehicle traffic is the only compaction I use.

 

[JD 4520]

That is the one thing that I will rent is a roller. Not expensive and does a great job on a long gravel drive and it will make for a long lasting surface. Probably once every five years. Also find a neighbor to share the cost and do more than one on the same rental.

 

[Dr Dave]

I blade the drive after a rain, when still soft, then instruct the wife and kids to drive a different path each time, to pack it down, it works good.

 

[ptexer]

I wait until the drive is very wet and it is lightly raining. I use my jd310 FEL to backblade uphill his puts a lot of pressure on drive and pulls gravel back up the hill.

 

[Lou66]

I use a box blade to crown and smooth it out about every two to three years,, then let the traffic repack it for me,, Lou

 

[Gary Fowler]

I dont really have much driveway just a large area between my shop and house. Driveway is only about 40 feet to that large gravelled area. I just backblade it with the FEL occassionally. I tried doing it with the landscape rake but had mixed results and always had a row of rocks that I had to spread out with a garden rake. Backblading seems to work pretty good then just drive over it. We dont have a lot of traffic on it to start with and maybe one day I will just remove the rocks from road to garage outside slab and put down concrete. I can then use the rocks on the shop area. Maybe next spring or summer job for this IF I decide to do it.

 

[troutsqueezer]

I maintain two miles of gravel road for the neighborhood. We use road base for gravel which packs down quite nicely without a roller. I use the blade around four times a year to keep the big bumps out and bring the larger pieces of gravel back to the center of the road.

 

[Trials]

Tractor is heavy and a Box Scraper Blade makes it perfect smooth to drive on.
...possibly the most useful landscape attachment you can own for any little tractor fitted with a 3 point hitch.

If they can't get 'up' my driveway, they cant get 'to' my driveway because its normally better then the township road

 

[NICKB304]

use a full bucket of dirt and back drag with the bucket almost level. can also use down pressure if you can keep things heading in the right direction.