what to do with a pile of asphalt

[3 Horse Ranch]

What I don't understand about that is the site preparation needed for a good asphalt job.

The good contractors I know of where I worked did the prep work and since it was usually on well compacted already used driveways, there really wasn't that much prep. It would save the home owner most of the coast of transporting the paving machine, rollers and crew but they paid full retail for the asphalt.

 

[Diggin It]

Maybe there are homeowners with properly prepared sites ...

Me. I'm on a hill of hard packed red rock gravel. Nearly impossible to get a shovel into. Contractor that laid the county water supply main nearly stood a full sized track hoe on the nose. Guy that dug my water line from there to the house had trouble digging with a full sized backhoe.

When I had my driveway paved, that contractor just used a smaller machine to scrape the surface level.

I most likely would not have gone with a door knocker guy though.

 

[plowhog]

A Google search returned a surprising number of returns about asphalt driveway paving scams. The State of WA AG has issued a consumer alert about these. The first one, below, is from Wenatchee WA and sums up what many have experienced:

"An apparent paving scam rolled through Wenatchee a few weeks ago, and left a real mess on the doorsteps of three unhappy customers. Jefferson Robbins hit the street, and came back with this report.

On Sept. 16, Joni Eller saw paving crews working on her neighbor’s driveway. A company called United Paving, based out of Spokane and Moses Lake, offered her the same kind of work, the same day, for about $2,700.

“They came over and started working on my driveway as it was getting dark,” Eller says. “I was surprised they were starting in the dark, but I also understood that they had done a lot of roadwork, so I assumed that they were used to working in the dark.”

An hour and a half later, Joni had a poorly chip-sealed driveway, and a bill for $4,400, payable right then. Two of her neighbors, who asked for their shared drive to be chip-sealed, paid a total of $8,300. The work was poor, tar ran off into the gutters, and suddenly the contractors were gone.

“By the time I could come out and look at the finished product the next morning, they’d already cashed my check at the bank,” Joni says. “I have no recourse.”

We tried to reach out to United Paving and its contractor, Charles Gallagher, but the phone number on its paperwork is disconnected. No company by that name is listed in records with the Washington Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue.

Now Joni and her neighbors are stuck with the shoddy work, until their driveways can be torn down and repaved — which may not happen before winter."

https://www.ncwlife.com/ncwlife-evening-news-october-1-2019/

https://www.atg.wa.gov/all-consuming-blog/beware-asphalt-paving-scams

https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/consumer-alert-beware-asphalt-paving-scams

Avoid Asphalt Scams! - Asphalt Pavement Association of Michigan

BBB Scam Alert: Need a new driveway? Look out for asphalt paving scams - Odessa American

The Odessa American is the leading source of local news, information, entertainment and sports for the Permian Basin.

www.oaoa.com

Police warn people to be wary of ‘extra asphalt’ driveway-paving scams

State police are warning people not to fall for a common bait-and-switch scam in which a promise of cheap driveway paving through the use of “extra asphalt” turns into an expensive fraud.“Paving scams like this occur regularly in New Hampshire and...

www.concordmonitor.com

BBB Scam Alert: Need a new driveway? Look out for asphalt paving scams

Got an offer to pave your driveway for cheap? Scam contractors trick homeowners with supposedly good deals on asphalt paving.

www.bbb.org

Protect Yourself And Learn The Most Common Asphalt Paving Scams In 2023!

Asphalt paving scams are very real. Everyday, homeowners are scammed by asphalt contractors that have one goal in mind. To get in, get out get payed fast leaving a trail of horrific work behind them.

allaboutdriveways.com

Blog | Reliable Paving Inc.

reliablepaving.com

TN AG warns of scammers who claim to have extra asphalt to pave your driveway

The Tennessee Attorney General's Office warns of a driveway paving scam where scammers come to your door and claim to have leftover asphalt from another job that they will use on your driveway and save you money.

www.newschannel5.com

https://www.anythingasphalt.com/crevecoeurpavingblog/top-10-ways-to-spot-traveling-asphalt-crews-aka-gypsies-or-fly-by-night-contractors

Beware of Scammer Paving Companies in the Area

The company has also stated they are based in Early, Texas.

www.brownwoodnews.com

 

[Cougsfan]

A follow up:
After looking at this pile of asphalt for several years, and not seeing a practical solution, I decided to try something, anything. The pile was probably dumped straight from a dump truck and not rolled and compacted. If you attacked it with an FEL like your supposed to use an FEL it was like hitting a giant rock. However I found that if I turned my bucket to point straight down, lowered the FEL onto the pile until the front wheels were off the ground, putting the entire weight of the front end of the tractor on the leading edge of the FEL, then backed up a few feet; it make a horrible screeching, scraping sound, but would pulverize the asphalt. I know this will be considered by many as inappropriate, horrible, unacceptable abuse of my FEL, but it worked surprisingly well! It took literally hundreds and hundreds of small bits and an entire day to pulverize the entire pile into what equals a dump truck full of heavily oiled, fine gravel. The Branson FEL stood up well and I can't see that it damaged anything at all. Yesterday I spread the pulverized asphalt out on my 1/4 mile of driveway where it should make a good road material. Today I still need to go out drag the drive with my chain harrow to mix it with the gravel, and pick up the larger pieces that didn't pulverize, but there really aren't that many large pieces. I am so glad to have that ugly pile of asphalt finally gone!

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the update. There is more then one way to use a FEL!!!!