Washboard Driveway Repair

[CTKOB]

Any hints on how to flatten out a wash board section of a driveway? I have a 3130 with 723 FEL and owe my neighbor a couple of favors. I am ok at grading but not sure if I can just skim off the high spots to fill in the low spots??? Is there a book somewhere on the basics of dirt moving and grading etc, my work turns out ok but sometimes /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif it takes a lot longer to do then I think it should. Thanks

 

[Soundguy]

You got it.. Skim and then compact.

If you are not good with the box.. how about back dragging with the loader?

Soundguy

 

[mahlers]

I'm sure you already thought about this, but any chance you can get a hold of a box scraper? You can set the scarifiers to scrape down the high spots and then smooth the dirt out with the blade. Personally, I hate using the loader for grading - I'm just not patient enough for it.

 

[RHughes]

I've had pretty good luck using a 3PH grader blade. I set the blade at an angle and back-blade it first, just barely skimming off the rough part. That way I can hit the rough spots with the blade first rather that having the tractor tires bounce over them.
I've found that if I try to drive forward over the section first, the front wheels hit the bumps, which bounces the blade up and down magnifing the problem.

 

[Soundguy]

Thats where draft control comes in handy... Old Ford N-Series ( and others ) had it. Great for ground engaging implements.. and stuff that you more or less wanted to follow the terain without taking too much bite.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[frank_f15]

according to ur profile u don't have a box or rear blade, i did the same thing for a neighbor last spring, just used the toothbar to lossenit up and the fel and rear blade to level it. actually came out pretty nice. just took a little time , but what the heck to me that is play time /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[BillyP]

If you want to do it right, the wash board part needs to be cut down. If you just fill the low spots, they'll come right back.

 

[CTyler]

My driveways top layer is 1 1/2" crusher run, crushed limestone. So this is my frame of reference.

I'm with RHughes in using a grader blade at an angle. This will scrape off the high spots. Its' easier to use than a box blade. I turn the blade around backwards so it just drags. If you need it to dig a little use it on the forward position. Adjusting you top link will change how agressive it is. This is where a hydraulic top link is Saaaweet.

If using a box blade you don't need to the rippers down unless things are really mucked up. When the drive was newer and we had semi's, dump trucks, heavy equip etc.. running up/down out 650'+ drive. Thats the only time I needed to use the box blade to smooth things out. They were more woopty doos than washbords. Still didn't need the rippers. Maybe if I had potholes or something. You have to be carefull with boxblade or you can turn washboads into woopty doos.

You can also use your FEL a couple different ways. If your good you can drive forward and skim the high spots. You can also float the FEL while driving backwards. Depending on the curl angle you can dig or smooth.

If you get it early before the washboards develop much(pack and harden) you can just smooth them over. I.E. backward rear blade or FEL.

This depends on your needs but if I was looking at buying a box blade or rear blade, I'd buy the box. The BB is more versatle than the RB. However the BB has a learning curve.

 

[lamarbur]

I will be repairing some of my washboard tomorrow. I have a 1600 ft driveway, with a fourth of it needing to be re-done. Your more than welcome to take a drive up here to Union. Can't tell you I do it right, I will say, it's the way I've done it for many years and it seems to work for me. I learned this particular technique being on a highway dept from an old timer.. Basically dump fresh gravel/stone ahead fo the bad area, reach over with FEL,, drag back and roll bucket at same time..

 

[SacandagaBrad]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If you want to do it right, the wash board part needs to be cut down. If you just fill the low spots, they'll come right back. )</font>

Billy makes a good point. I use my back blade on a gravel road, tilt it and angle it to cut deep along the edge and windrow the loose material to the center. Then swing the blade around to spread the loose material back in place for compaction with the local traffic. Works best if you can do it during a few dry days.

This approach also allows me to keep the crown on the road easily to promote drainage.

 

[_RaT_]

This is all dependent on you having a boxscraper

A boxscraper and an adjustable top link make a huge difference. Realize the permanancy of what you do is dependent on just what the driveway is dressed with. BillyP mentions taking the high spots off, this is necessary because they are going to stay otherwise and the lows will come back quickly if all you do is fill them. It's a bit of a challenge to get it to stay flat and pothole free for very long without new material. My best efforts typically consist of ripping the whole surface slightly to get somewhat of a homogenous or consistent base. That will depend on your material. If it cuts the high spots easily, then don't rip. From there, provided you have hydraulic top link you can quickly experiment with the various angles available to you on the box blade angles. I can't tell you how to do it here since if your top link does not extend/retract like mine, it would be a useless explaination. It also very much depends on the surface and whether it can support the boxblade bottom "shoes", that thin part of the box on each end that rests on the surface. I end up using either extreme ( top link full out/in) of the boxblade a lot. Often, neither blade is in the cutting position. My final passes typically with new rock is fully retracted top link allowing about 1" of material to pass under the blades. If it were dirt or AB, I might tilt it so link is fully extended allowing only the rear blade to smooth, compact and level the surface. It's a bunch of experimenting which can be done with a manual top link, but you'd wear out with the number of adjustments needed to do a typical driveway. My advice, put the tractor in Low. Go slow and watch what the boxblade is doing. Think about what needs to be done. Cut off tops so angle on box can be critical. To strong or aggresive and your into tops, middles and bottoms. Not enough bite and your rolling over everything.

 

[Poncho]

CTKOB... I use a box blade with my old MF135, but what I do is cross cross back and forth as opposed to going in a straight line. This helps with the magnifying the problem. What we also do in our neighborhood (5+ miles of dirt road) is to cut it with a disc harrow which is dragging a heavy I-Beam behind it. This cuts the bumps and then smooths it. It would be really great if we had a huge roller to compact it after we did this. This would probably be a great way to go since it's a driveway with not much traffic.

 

[_RaT_]

Back and forth criss cross. Poncho, how wide is your road? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Poncho]

RaT... our neighborhood roads are about 40 to 50 ft wide and my drive way is about 20 which with my small tractor and 6' box gives me just enough to criss cross.

 

[AndyMA]

Larry

I've got an 8' boxblade if you'd like to borrow it. You can just pick it up at the farm. It's on the right side of the parh toward where we repaired the tires. Give me a call or just pick it up.

Andy