Prices on driveway paving

[Forest_Man]

Just so you know, you Can do this ditch work with about 6-10 passes with a angle and tilt grader blade.

Would this be an adequate rear blade? I see it has some adjustment.

You would work top to bottom; with the inside corner tilted down, and also swept to roll the windrow into the roadway, maybe 3-4" deep per pass; then relevel the blade, and then sweep your windrow towards the outside with successive passes.

I can't visualize this, yet.

Something like this 84" King Kutter rear blade (HD-RB-84) would work; but is $2200; but something like the King Kutter 84" at RK (5000-RMB-84-RR) doesn't have the tilt, just pivot, at $1700. You can still get a couple degrees of tilt with the lower 3 point link adjustment; but I don't know if that's enough to effectively cut the ditch?

Yes, a Box blade can also be adjusted using the lower links; but it doesn't give you the ability to "hook" that material out, or to windrow it.

Clear. I will study the cut sheets for the two blades and better understand what you mean.

Thank you again.

 

[Forest_Man]

Yes, very easily. I recently did a 1/4 mile of road with our mini and a 36" smooth trenching bucket. It will not take you all that long especially if you can dump it within the swing of the excavator (or in a dump trailer/truck).

Amazing. Just to clarify, bigger excavator is better for this task than smaller? I thought smaller would be enough to create this drainage.

I did install a few drains/pipes to take water under the road and made sure to crown the road to aid in drainage.View attachment 868057

Just beautiful! Wow!

Did you do it for yourself or are you a contractor/professional? This looks like commercial work.

If you did it for yourself, how many hours of experience to get to this level of quality?

 

[LouNY]

For the ditch "swale" I use mostly two methods.
The fastest is with my back blade it is an old heavy one with tilt, angle and offset. To ditch with it I will tilt it to it's maximum tilt, then angle it forward on the low point and offset it as necessary. This way when I lower the blade the front corner of the blade is digging in and the dirt and rocks are rolling up the blade and off onto the edge of the ditch. Then I can leave the angle as it was and remove the tilt or most of it and roll that dirt over to the driveway and come back and get it with the bucket. I can get 10-12" deep ditch 12-16" wide with that method fairly quickly.
The second method is a bit clumsier but if I have the room to get my tractor sideways in the driveway I'll use the loader bucket and scoop out a narrow ditch of decent depth.
A deeper 10-12" ditch will help to keep the driveway surface and base much drier and solid. I try and keep mine as narrow as will work well.

 

[paulsharvey]

The blade you linked does not appear to tilt, only pivot in the horizontal plane; you want to be able to lower a corner. You Can still get some tilt with your link arms; but it may or may not be enough to cut the swale/ditch.

 

[paulsharvey]

I know this isn't what you are using, but you are looking for a rear blade that can do the same job, it's a short, boring video, and the control part is of no interest, but he explains how your cutting and moving the material

 

[paulsharvey]

 

[paulsharvey]

"Amazing. Just to clarify, bigger excavator is better for this task than smaller? I thought smaller would be enough to create this drainage."

A JD-35 will be better than a JD-27; a JD-50 better than a 35; upto maybe the point of a PC-85 max. If we start talking about 120 machines; we are no longer in the right class. I think something starting at a John Deere JD-27 upto a JD-50 (Cat 303 to 305) is probably the sweat spot for the task. A wider ditching bucket will be good, something like 24" smooth bucket; might get away with a 30" on a JD-50, or might have to make an 18" work on a JD-27. Stuff in the 1,400-2000# machine, that's really foe electricians, plumbers, irrigation guys.

 

[Code54]

Amazing. Just to clarify, bigger excavator is better for this task than smaller? I thought smaller would be enough to create this drainage.




Just beautiful! Wow!

Did you do it for yourself or are you a contractor/professional? This looks like commercial work.

If you did it for yourself, how many hours of experience to get to this level of quality?

Thanks. I just have a mini ex (Kubota KX91 - roughly 7500lbs) machine for home use. I had under 20 hrs on it when I did my first ditching job - they all looked the same but with a lot more hrs on the machine I have gotten a lot faster/smoother. That was done with a 36" smooth bottom bucket. We have a shared private road and I mostly take care of all ditching and road maintenance so I do get plenty of practice on ditching and tree removals. lol

With some time in the machine, you will quickly see it is really easy and a "large" machine is not needed for simple ditching. The problem with larger machines is they do not have room to move to keep things leveled and smooth while doing your ditch. Also, the blade on a mini is not just for pushing dirt, it is great for changing the pitch of the machine/bucket for doing some slope work. If you take your time I think you will be surprised at the results you are able to achieve. Plus always feel free to ask questions, several of us have machines and will be glad to try and help in any way we can.

 

[oosik]

Again - I would recommend a well built gravel driveway. MUCH, much lower cost and something you will be able to maintain yourself.

 

[oosik]

Hey - TuckR. What part of Spokane do you live in. I'm 10 miles SW of Cheney or 25 miles SW of Spokane.

I reread your first post. I haven't had to plow my mile long gravel driveway in over five years. I get six inches - there is hope. Wake up the next day - there may be three inches remaining. Many times it's all gone because the snow turned to rain before the storm passed.

I'm sure as heck not going to waste fuel on three inches. I have a standing rule. Six inches and still snowing. I just might find time to break out the Eddie Bauer down gear.

Been out here 43 years. The last decade has seen some of the weirdest weather in all this time.

 

[paulsharvey]

I had a meeting with a nice enough guy and his um, translator, wife, who knows and doesn't matter. Anyways; guy bought his first ever piece of property in the US, got a permit for a driveway from the high speed roadway. Things get a bit sideways, and I ask them to meet me onsite. Driveway is supposed to have a 24" corrugated metal pipe or reinforced concrete pipe; clearly called out in paper work. It has a Very short, 15" HDPE. Anyways; basically, a guy stopped and offered to build the driveway for him, and told him what to buy. He obliviously bought it and paid the guy to put it in.

Point being; driveways and such cost real money, and for some reason, people just hire a guy who stops on the side of the road, and they bought what this handyman told them to buy.

Why do people agree to these terms without a contract? If I'm dropping $5-9k, this isn't gonna be a handshake deal, and I do what the contractor tells me....

Rant over, for now; but read your paper work, and have a simple contract..

 

[oosik]

Hey - where is the OP - TuckR. Not a peep since the original post.

BTW - I had a friend drop by last week. He asked - when are you going to have your dusty driveway paved? Not so strange - he does that kind of work. His current estimate for my driveway - $83K to $90K.

A little dust is very nice.

 

[ponytug]

Hey - where is the OP - TuckR. Not a peep since the original post.

BTW - I had a friend drop by last week. He asked - when are you going to have your dusty driveway paved? Not so strange - he does that kind of work. His current estimate for my driveway - $83K to $90K.

A little dust is very nice.

That's a great price from where I sit.

FWIW: we had an estimate for 800' for over $100k, and the advice not to pave it until just before selling...

All the best,

Peter

 

[bdhsfz6]

I considered paving my 800' drive but was advised against it. I use a tractor to plow the driveway, and 1 mile private gravel road. It's quite steep in spots, and requires tire chains. Over time, the chains can damage the asphalt.

I decided to spend the money elsewhere on the property.

 

[EddieWalker]

I drove down a rural road that I haven't been on in over a year, and one of the houses had their driveway done in concrete. From the gate, it went to a barn on the left, then up a hill to the house. I have to admit, that driveway was really nice looking. Better then the barn or the house!!!!

Weird that a concrete driveway would be something that stood out to me while driving out in the country. I even thought about turning around and taking a picture of it!!!

 

[Diggin It]

Skips a bunch ....

Mine is something under 200' long, 10' wide for the drive, opening up to 20' + for the apron in front of the garage. Had it done around '13 or '14 for a little over $5K. Word is it would be about 75-80% higher now.

 

[newbury]

Weird that a concrete driveway would be something that stood out to me while driving out in the country. I even thought about turning around and taking a picture of it!!!

With your drone?

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Ours is 520ft x 10ft with areas under 2 sheds and turn around 8,500 sq.ft. asphalt. Repaved last year, recently second sealcoat. About $30k plus $8k sealer. To us about the best thing I ever did, house stays clean, no dust, so easy rolling hand truck or cart. We shovel snow by hand (plastic shovel). It's almost level. I can blow leaves off in minutes. Cars stay clean.
Two other entrances are lawn & pasture.

 

[ponytug]

Ours is 520ft x 10ft with areas under 2 sheds and turn around 8,500 sq.ft. asphalt. Repaved last year, recently second sealcoat. About $30k plus $8k sealer. To us about the best thing I ever did, house stays clean, no dust, so easy rolling hand truck or cart. We shovel snow by hand (plastic shovel). It's almost level. I can blow leaves off in minutes. Cars stay clean.
Two other entrances are lawn & pasture.

@Fuddyduddy1952 where is your place? Roughly. Just trying to get a sense of pricing by region...

All the best,

Peter

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

@Fuddyduddy1952 where is your place? Roughly. Just trying to get a sense of pricing by region...

All the best,

Peter

S. Central Virginia.
Between Lynchburg & Roanoke.
There are lots of paving companies, like everything from good to bad.