Grading Road Grading

[MtnViewRanch]

Well, while some of you are plowing snow, I graded our road that we share with 3 neighbors. I use the Road Boss Grader when the ground is a little damp so that the redistributed dirt packs better.

 

[JoeinTX]

Nice pictures.

Curious, MVR, because it doesn't look like you're trying to elevate the road surface or build much of an appreciable crown.

Is water washing-out dirt/gravel roads not a big worry where you are at due to limited rainfall?

 

[Aquaman]

That looks like a great set-up brian. Wish I had one

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Nice pictures.

Curious, MVR, because it doesn't look like you're trying to elevate the road surface or build much of an appreciable crown.

Is water washing-out dirt/gravel roads not a big worry where you are at due to limited rainfall?

The road has a very small crown and yes with only 14" of annual rain fall on a decomposed granite surface, wash outs are non existent. The main concern with our road is wash boarding.

 

[weldingisfun]

The Road Boss is a great piece of equipment. It is a little pricey but well worth the $.

 

[Hammy]

Impressive to say the least. I wish it would work on my road. Nice work.

Craig

 

[dirtworksequip]

That sure is a nice job. It looks as though the material is packed nicely from the way your tractor is leaving minimal tire marks on the surface. At what speed do you and others drive a vehicle on this road?

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[MtnViewRanch]

That sure is a nice job. It looks as though the material is packed nicely from the way your tractor is leaving minimal tire marks on the surface. At what speed do you and others drive a vehicle on this road?

Sincerely, Dirt

We drive 10-20 mph, depends on how much dust kicks up. The sheriff, (my next door neighbor) 15-40mph would be my guess. The next two neighbors will do as I do, 10-20mph would be my guess. When I am done grading the road, you could drive as fast as you want until the wash boarding started to show up again.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

The Road Boss is a great piece of equipment. It is a little pricey but well worth the $.

I think that the Road Boss is a tad to much $$$ also. I got lucky and was able to get mine from a local dealer that had bought a bunch of them over 10 years ago and gave me a great deal on mine. He just wanted to get rid of it.

 

[dirtworksequip]

I was just curious as to how fast people drive since it is so smooth and straight. I would think that it would not wash board as fast or bad if everyone drove in and out at a slow speed. I think the faster people drive the harder it is on the road. What are your thoughts on that?

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[rtdiggr]

i wish i could work in soil like that, would you like me to send some clay?

Shane

 

[tcarter1]

How well would this rig work with crush-n-run?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I was just curious as to how fast people drive since it is so smooth and straight. I would think that it would not wash board as fast or bad if everyone drove in and out at a slow speed. I think the faster people drive the harder it is on the road. What are your thoughts on that?

Sincerely, Dirt

I would tend to agree that our speeder neighbors don't help things out much.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

i wish i could work in soil like that, would you like me to send some clay?

Shane

No thanks, no clay for me. Thanks for the offer though.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

How well would this rig work with crush-n-run?

Not 100% sure what that is, would you explain? Is it crushed rock? What size is it crushed down to, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4? Just what is this crush-n-run?

 

[tcarter1]

While I'm sure someone can give a more detailed explanation, I describe it as a gravel mix of varying sizes. Very common for driveways. When compacted, it makes for a pretty firm bed.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

While I'm sure someone can give a more detailed explanation, I describe it as a gravel mix of varying sizes. Very common for driveways. When compacted, it makes for a pretty firm bed.

Sounds like what I thought it might be, just a bit finer. With that being the case, I would say that a Road Boss or similar implement would work well with crusher fines. Here's a link to a Road Boss. Road Boss Grader - Road and Landscape Grading, Surfacing and Leveling, and Material Spreading and Reclamation There are many other manufactures that are less money, do some research if your interested.

 

[2manyrocks]

There's probably a technical description for it, but limestone is crushed into various sizes 3" 2" etc. What we call crusher run around here has a lot of crushed up fines in it, and rock that's probably no bigger than a peanut. It packs down well because of all the small material in it.

Your road looks like a superhighway compared to what we have with hills, curves, and limestock rock outcropping.

 

[orezok]

The phenomenon you refer to is known as "washboarding," a wave-like pattern on unpaved roads that might more aptly be called speedbump ****. As you've observed, the ruts occur with striking regularity, belying a chaotic event like erosion.

According to Tom Pettigrew, a Forest Service engineer, the cause is an unlikely source: your car's suspension. (Well, maybe not yours specifically, but it's not innocent in this matter, either.) A vehicle's suspension system distributes the shock and energy of road irregularities with a bouncing rhythm called harmonic oscillation. At each downstroke, the wheels exert extra force on the road, causing the particles in the road to either pack or displace at regular intervals. Once a pattern of ruts starts to establish itself, it becomes self-reinforcing due to what engineers call forced oscillation. The next car hits the same irregularities in the road and bounces at the same rate, causing the pattern to become more and more defined. Forced oscillation overcomes minor variations in oscillation rate that might otherwise arise due to differences in car weight.

Wouldn't variations in speed affect the washboard pattern? Sure, which brings us to another critical part of the feedback loop: you, the driver. Drive too fast on a washboard road and the downstroke exerted by the car wheels may meet the road at a point where a bump is ramping upwards. You know what that means: You bounce off the ceiling. Instinctively most drivers slow to a speed at which the downstrokes coincide with the troughs between bumps, reinforcing the pattern.

Washboarding is inevitable in any unpaved road that sees fairly heavy traffic. The only way to avoid it is to: (a) radically redesign how automotive suspensions are made, (b) give up suspensions altogether, or (c) keep off those dirt roads.

I too live on a dirt road that I maintain an I find that slightly higher speeds does reduce the washboard formation. Maybe your sheriff is doing you a favor?

 

[3RRL]

Hey Brian,
Your road looks as smooth as a baby's butt!
Great job and thanks for sharing all those pictures showing how well your road grader works.