Need advice on gravel driveway repair

[Squirrely Baker]

Our gravel road is rutted and needs fixing. I have a lx2620 with a box blade and am ready to tackle it, but I need some advice. Pictures below dont quite capture the grade/slope issue but hopefully you can make out what im seeing. On one side of the drive is a fence, the other side drops off into the field. I cant tell what they originally did here but the question is, do I try to put a crown in the center, or can I/should i just slope it all away from the fence and towards the other side, where it drops off into the field?

How much of a slope, in either case, and how might i measure that, lacking a transit?

Any idea as to how much gravel I might need on this? My original estimate of 3" seems way too low, now that I looked at the troubled spots.

Any other thoughts on what im about to do?

I appreciate any help you can offer

 

[old and tired]

No offense... but I wish my drive was half as good as your photos. I thought those were "After" photos...

Mine is just shy of a mile and runs through a couple cow pastures.

I would slope it from the fence to the field, just slightly... you can eyeball it. Wait until it rains and see if it works. You'll most likely not get it right the first time but you get practice doing it. As for gravel, get it right with the slope first then add gravel after you got it right. I would ask the driver to try and spread it with 2" - he should be able to get it close.

 

[dirtydeed]

looking at your pics, I'd just slope it from the fence to the field side slightly.

Honestly, I don't think that you'll need to buy any stone at all. Put the rippers down on the box blade to loosen what you have. The box blade with pull up the stone. Once the box blade is full of stone it will level off your driveway. Just raise one side of the box blade a bit to get your slope.

If you did need to buy stone, the easiest way to figure it is that a yard of stone will roughly cover 100 sqft to a depth of 3". That yard of (driveway) stone will weigh in just shy of 1.5 ton.

Alternatively, 1 ton is approx 3/4 yard...so about 75 sqft at 3' depth.

There are many good youtube videos on how to rejuvenate a stone driveway. Just watch a few of them before you proceed.

Good luck to you.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

agree to slope from fence line to ditch, no 'crown' in the center.
maybe start straight blade (no angle, or pitch) to remove the crown, then angle toward ditch.
After you've made a zillion passes, quit for the day, let Mother nature take over for a week or two, then grade(pitch) towards the ditch. Drive on that for 2-3 weeks and DON"T drive in the same two lines....
Late farmer cross the road would drag 8' C-channel and used tire chains, up and down his 1/4mdriveway, every Sunday, after church, before brunch. His driveway looked GREAT !
You may find after restoring the 'base' you won't 'need a lot of 'topcoat' gravel.
When you do buy it, lay ONE course down, drive on it for 2-3 weeks, THEN add another if needed.
The idea is to tamp each thin layer firmly. You cannot add '4-6" and get a good result.

 

[Squirrely Baker]

No offense... but I wish my drive was half as good as your photos. I thought those were "After" photos...

Mine is just shy of a mile and runs through a couple cow pastures.

I would slope it from the fence to the field, just slightly... you can eyeball it. Wait until it rains and see if it works. You'll most likely not get it right the first time but you get practice doing it. As for gravel, get it right with the slope first then add gravel after you got it right. I would ask the driver to try and spread it with 2" - he should be able to get it close.

I anticipate learning a few expensive lessons for sure. Pictures dont quite capture the ruts and valleys in the road, but i take your point, ive seen worse than what i have.

I made the gamble of buying a front wheel drive commuter car this year, and the snow stacks up quickly with the wind. Im just hoping i can avoid bottoming out come january.

The gravel spreading is causing blood pressure issues. Ive got a few days off to do it but im a complete rookie at this. I might just have them dump it all in the field, and spread it bucket by bucket so we dont end up boxed in.

 

[jimh406]

I would mow the edges even if it's just a bit. I also would follow the existing slope.

Do take your time with the box blade. If it's level, it should still cut enough to smooth the driveway.

Don't use the rippers unless you have to. It will increase the amount of work you do to smooth it back out. Otherwise, you'll have lines in your driveway from the rippers. Rippers are good for potholes, but I'm not seeing that.

If you have weeds, I'd consider spraying them and waiting a few days before mowing.

Finally, a landplane/graderscraper is much easier for a driveway. It take almost all of the thought out of it since the grader scraper drops the gravel automatically toward the left.

 

[old and tired]

Do you know how to use a box blade? Basic question but if you have the top link too short to begin with, you can make a mess very quickly (several of us have done that). Try extending the top link so that you are riding on the rear blade of the box blade at first... then shorten the top link a wee bit until the cutting front blade starts to work up the gravel...

Learning, you'll be up and down, out of the tractor seat, adjusting things MANY times...

And yes, someone mentioned, your 3 point hitch, the right side of the hitch can be adjusted so that side could be raised or lowered. I would honestly try and get it somewhat flat and level first than progress to this!!! Good luck, don't be afraid to show results, good or bad and ask for more help!!

 

[KubotaHawg]

agree to slope from fence line to ditch, no 'crown' in the center.
maybe start straight blade (no angle, or pitch) to remove the crown, then angle toward ditch.
After you've made a zillion passes, quit for the day, let Mother nature take over for a week or two, then grade(pitch) towards the ditch. Drive on that for 2-3 weeks and DON"T drive in the same two lines....
Late farmer cross the road would drag 8' C-channel and used tire chains, up and down his 1/4mdriveway, every Sunday, after church, before brunch. His driveway looked GREAT !
You may find after restoring the 'base' you won't 'need a lot of 'topcoat' gravel.
When you do buy it, lay ONE course down, drive on it for 2-3 weeks, THEN add another if needed.
The idea is to tamp each thin layer firmly. You cannot add '4-6" and get a good result.

^^THIS^^

Looks pretty good compared to my 6/10 mile driveway.

My 2 cents to add to Jay's very solid advice:

1) your light duty (read not much weight) box blade won't do a whole lot unless you have had a decent rain recently, and you need WEIGHT on that blade. I have a light duty 5' BB with a 14" log that is 5 ft long strapped on top. I wouldn't use rippers either.

2) A very thin layer of gravel is all you really need, but only after you get it graded. A good driver can tailgate as thin as you want. After that drive up and down over and over with the heaviest vehicle you have available, getting every little line packed down. A good rain will almost cement it in if you have a lot of fines in your gravel. Too much thickness will just be soft to drive on and will cause washboarding and divots. This from personal experience.

3) Remember, the enemy of good is perfect. I always have to remind myself of this because I'm a perfectionist. Tamp it down, let weather do its part.

 

[Squirrely Baker]

agree to slope from fence line to ditch, no 'crown' in the center.
maybe start straight blade (no angle, or pitch) to remove the crown, then angle toward ditch.
After you've made a zillion passes, quit for the day, let Mother nature take over for a week or two, then grade(pitch) towards the ditch. Drive on that for 2-3 weeks and DON"T drive in the same two lines....
Late farmer cross the road would drag 8' C-channel and used tire chains, up and down his 1/4mdriveway, every Sunday, after church, before brunch. His driveway looked GREAT !
You may find after restoring the 'base' you won't 'need a lot of 'topcoat' gravel.
When you do buy it, lay ONE course down, drive on it for 2-3 weeks, THEN add another if needed.
The idea is to tamp each thin layer firmly. You cannot add '4-6" and get a good result.

This seems entirely reasonable. Im not sure i can get away without more gravel, but im hoping you are right.

 

[Squirrely Baker]

looking at your pics, I'd just slope it from the fence to the field side slightly.

Honestly, I don't think that you'll need to buy any stone at all. Put the rippers down on the box blade to loosen what you have. The box blade with pull up the stone. Once the box blade is full of stone it will level off your driveway. Just raise one side of the box blade a bit to get your slope.

If you did need to buy stone, the easiest way to figure it is that a yard of stone will roughly cover 100 sqft to a depth of 3". That yard of (driveway) stone will weigh in just shy of 1.5 ton.

Alternatively, 1 ton is approx 3/4 yard...so about 75 sqft at 3' depth.

There are many good youtube videos on how to rejuvenate a stone driveway. Just watch a few of them before you proceed.

Good luck to you.

Encouraging to hear this. Im trying to watch, but I am a pessimist. Thank you.

 

[Russell King]

One other thing to remember about the slope and a rear blade or box blade. If you set the slope on the blade for going out of the drive, when you head back in the slope of the blade is the wrong direction and will cause you a headache. Just work in one direction, drive back with implement up and then start working again when you are turned the correct direction.

There are ways to set the slope easily if you really want to do that. Most people will just use the
“that looks good “ method and adjust it as time and erosion occur.

You can set up level across the driveway with a water level or an A frame level or a transit or a hand held level

 

[drygulch]

Maybe worth mentioning this. If the slope along the driveway is steeper than the slope across the driveway, the water will mostly run that direction, potentially creating long diagonal ruts down the length of the driveway. In that particular case, you may need to crown it.

I couldn't really tell from the pics, so thought I throw that out there.

Your driveway would be a nice upgrade for me as well. Would like to hear how it goes. Good luck!

Greg

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Don't use the rippers unless you have to. It will increase the amount of work you do to smooth it back out. Otherwise, you'll have lines in your driveway from the rippers. Rippers are good for potholes, but I'm not seeing that.

+1

I am a novice as well, and one time I decided to "shake things up a bit" I put those rippers down, and holy crap!!!!

Now my driveway is chocked full of 2 to 3 inch "ankle breakers" that the rippers brought to the surface.

Putting those rippers down was a mistake for me.

I now only use the box blade itself on the drive way, and truth be told, I kinda wish I had bought a "land plane" instead.

Oh well......Like my grandpa used to say "Sh!t in one hand, and wish in the other, and see which one fills up first" ...........

 

[BAP]

I anticipate learning a few expensive lessons for sure. Pictures dont quite capture the ruts and valleys in the road, but i take your point, ive seen worse than what i have.

I made the gamble of buying a front wheel drive commuter car this year, and the snow stacks up quickly with the wind. Im just hoping i can avoid bottoming out come january.

The gravel spreading is causing blood pressure issues. Ive got a few days off to do it but im a complete rookie at this. I might just have them dump it all in the field, and spread it bucket by bucket so we dont end up boxed in.

Have the truck driver put on their spreader chains and tailgate spread the load as they dump. It will make it way, way way easier for you to grade out. A good truck driver will spread the load out quite well, particularly in an open, fairly level area like your driveway. I used to spread loads driving trucks and get them pretty well spread out.

 

[InTheWoods]

Our gravel road is rutted...

Lots of advice so far. But I'll just focus in those first 5 words. Since ruts are an issue, I'd start by angling my box blade so that it cuts on the 'outside' and then I'd make repeated passes up and down the drive to pull inward that gravel that's been effectively wasted in or near the weeds. One advantage of this as a first step for a new box blade user is that there's a pretty good chance of doing more good than harm. A grader blade is better for this, but you don't have one and a box blade will certainly work.

Having a mound of gravel in the center of your drive is a good starting point because entropy means gravel naturally tends to spread out as you work with it, so having a starting point with excess down the center of your drive is a good thing because the forces of nature will be on your side!

But the next step is a bit trickier for an inexperienced user (myself included). Properly smoothing down that center mound of gravel with a box blade isn't easy. I've found a landscape rake is less aggressive and it's much easier to get the desired finish with it than the box blade because a box blade (in my hands anyway) can easily start to 'telegraph' existing hills and valleys into new hills and valleys rather than smooth them out. Landscape rakes and lightweight grader blades pop up on FB often and might be worth considering, if you're at all into tool acquiring. With either a landscape rake or grader blade, it can be swiveled to be pulled 'backwards', making it even less aggressive.

If you do need gravel, get it spread by the truck! In my experience gravel truck drivers are very good at evenly spreading a layer on top of the drive. So much so that I'd do this as a last step because once they put down that perfectly smooth layer of new stone it's VERY easy to do more harm than good, especially if all you have is a box blade.

 

[dirtydeed]

i forgot to mention that there are many on line stone calculators for estimating quantity needed...

Here are a few:

STONE CALCULATOR [How Much Stone do I Need]

Use our stone calculator to estimate the volume and cost of your project. Factor in the type and shape of stone to complete your project successfully.

concalculator.com

Calculate 2A Limestone | Cubic Yard (or Feet) to Tons

www.gravelshop.com

Product Calculator - New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., Inc.

Use our product calculator to estimate how much product is needed for a job.

www.nesl.com

 

[D2Cat]

Because traffic throws all gravel to the outside and no traffic there allows weed to grow, your driveway is actually wider then the picture will show. As mentioned, begin by bringing that ridge that is on both sides towards the center. Then play with scraping and leveling. Probably won't need gravel at all.

 

[Squirrely Baker]

Lots of advice so far. But I'll just focus in those first 5 words. Since ruts are an issue, I'd start by angling my box blade so that it cuts on the 'outside' and then I'd make repeated passes up and down the drive to pull inward that gravel that's been effectively wasted in or near the weeds. One advantage of this as a first step for a new box blade user is that there's a pretty good chance of doing more good than harm. A grader blade is better for this, but you don't have one and a box blade will certainly work.

Having a mound of gravel in the center of your drive is a good starting point because entropy means gravel naturally tends to spread out as you work with it, so having a starting point with excess down the center of your drive is a good thing because the forces of nature will be on your side!

But the next step is a bit trickier for an inexperienced user (myself included). Properly smoothing down that center mound of gravel with a box blade isn't easy. I've found a landscape rake is less aggressive and it's much easier to get the desired finish with it than the box blade because a box blade (in my hands anyway) can easily start to 'telegraph' existing hills and valleys into new hills and valleys rather than smooth them out. Landscape rakes and lightweight grader blades pop up on FB often and might be worth considering, if you're at all into tool acquiring. With either a landscape rake or grader blade, it can be swiveled to be pulled 'backwards', making it even less aggressive.

If you do need gravel, get it spread by the truck! In my experience gravel truck drivers are very good at evenly spreading a layer on top of the drive. So much so that I'd do this as a last step because once they put down that perfectly smooth layer of new stone it's VERY easy to do more harm than good, especially if all you have is a box blade.

This sounds like a great strategy. Very useful. Thank you.

 

[Squirrely Baker]

Because traffic throws all gravel to the outside and no traffic there allows weed to grow, your driveway is actually wider then the picture will show. As mentioned, begin by bringing that ridge that is on both sides towards the center. Then play with scraping and leveling. Probably won't need gravel at all.

I think this is what I will try. Hoping you are right about the gravel.