Wheel ruts at barn entrance

[WinterDeere]

I've been dealing with the problem of wheel ruts at my shed entrance for too long. This was yesterday:



It's just the first 6 yards from the door going out, and this happens every year, as the sun always softens the frozen earth in this area. Yesterday was 9F - 19F, or something close to that, yet the area just outside this barn door was too soft with a bit of solar heating, to carry the load of the tractor.

My thinking is to pick up some 8' long concrete lintels or parking stops, and set them into the ground across this path, maybe 4" lintels on 8" spacings or 6" parking stops on 10" spacings. This will still allow me to grow grass here, like some of those concrete grid areas you see used in high traffic lawn areas:



I'm figuring an 8' wide lintel or barrier should be sufficient, lowering the soil pressure at least 4x - 6x by their length alone, but even more so because I'd excavate a bit deeper than the concrete objects and use cinder to level them, which spreads the load even more. Perhaps most importantly, the soil they're sitting on, 8" or 10" down, won't be daily warmed by the sun.

I found a photo of close to what I'm thinking, minus the fancy interlocking 2D array, I'd be doing just be a single row of "ribs":



Thoughts? Predictions of success or failure? Possible sources for cheap lintels or parking stops at 8' widths?

My other option is of course to just form and pour myself, which could be done in-place. But I'm thinking that with forming wood and rebar, the actual $$ saved is probably not worth all the effort, esp. since I'd have to hand mix or rent a mixer. Would like to hear others' thoughts on this, though.

 

[Thomas]

I try good heavy gravel base.

 

[mrmikey]

Do what they do around here for the roundabouts that they don't make big enough for the tractor trailers, bury fancy cinder blocks. That way when they drive over the island they don't screw up the grass nor do they screw up their tires and wheels.

 

[dodge man]

The easiest is just use gravel. I’m not sure if some of the other things you have in mind might break up.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I helped a guy on the farm across the valley with a similar problem. I dug shallow ditches in the mud with my hoe and we put down used railroad ties about a foot apart. A defunct railroad was removing track in the area and we got them for cheap.

That was 11 years ago. The ties have deteriorated a bit, but are still sound. The grass has grown up around them and they are hardly noticeable.

 

[WinterDeere]

Not interested in gravel, if only for the having to mow this area, and keeping it out of the grass.

Besides, I've owned gravel driveways, and they rut almost as badly as mud, when your driving pattern is constrained to one narrow lane with no variation. I'm shooting a doorway, wheels always follow same track, within an inch or two.

The grids posted by mrmikey are along the lines of what I'm planning, but with 8' long sections. I suspect the smaller grids would have a tendency to sink in the narrow wheel tracks, versus a longer continuous concrete lintel or parking stop, which should spread the load better.

bdhsfz6's railroad tie idea is exactly inline with my thinking, I'm just shooting for a more rot-resistant variation on that theme.

 

[LHF2019]

bdhsfz6's railroad tie idea is exactly inline with my thinking, I'm just shooting for a more rot-resistant variation on that theme.

You get nice quality ties and they will last a long time. 20+ years. I have also seen composite ties now being made.

 

[WinterDeere]

Oh, I'm sure! But every time I choose a 20-year material, I just end up hating myself for that decision, about 20 years later. I suspect reinforced concrete in this application (no road salt) will probably out-live me.

That little carriage barn was built between 1734 and 1775. I'm not sure if re-inforced concrete will have that sort of longevity, but that's the sort of time scale I like to consider, whenever I choose building materials.

I wonder if they'll still have CUT's in the year 2250? They won't be necessary, but it's already not necessary to heat with firewood now, that being my primary use of the tractor. I suspect there will still be some nut living here, with some illogical romantic ties to the ways of the past, when this house is 500 years old.

Still interested in thoughts on forming and pouring in place, versus just buying lintels or parking stops and setting them on crushed fines, before back-filling with dirt between them.

 

[gstrom99]

Gravel (to fill in the ruts only) will squash down and not really be an issue to mow over, unless you put too much down. You could also dig a bit and put these (12x12 pavers) in.

 

[oldnslo]

Will the frost heave or move the concrete blocks requiring leveling them again? I know that frost moved the 16 x 24 x 2” blocks I used for a sidewalk between buildings.