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SandyR
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 08:56am
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The 10 acres that we bought last year is an old farm field. It has some pretty awful ruts, and we are now thinking of a driveway.
My husband is a mechanic and can fix and run machinery and has leveled the spot for our garage at our main home in the past.
I am assuming that it would be cheaper to put in the driveway ourselves, right? What is the best machine for the job? Do you think that we really need stone? The driveway would be about 600 feet long and have an incline to it so the water wouldn't build up on it.
Or should we hire someone to do it or help us?
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razmichael
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:24am - Edited by: razmichael
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Given the 600 feet length, I would suggest you look around for a local dozer or backhoe operator and get a quote. He/She would know what works best in your area and likely know where to get the gravel/sand at a good price. You might be surprised how cheap it can be. In my case the excavator guy also had the dump truck and the cost was very cheap (included plowing through some woods as well). 600 feet is a long way so, at least with a quote or two you could decide if you want it done in a day or two by someone else with all the right equipment or spend what might be a lot of time and effort yourself to try to do it.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:26am - Edited by: bldginsp
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What machinery does your husband have?
To make a gravel road you need to be able to grade well, this is usually done with a tractor and any of several grading scrapers that attach to the tractor. Unless you have a dump truck, you will have to have the gravel delivered. Usually the delivery driver will spread the gravel for you as much as he can, but he can't do the whole job. You need a tractor to do the final spreading.
What substrate you use on the driveway is probably a function of your soil quality, and how saturated the soil remains in the wet season. For that reason it's probably a good idea to find out from local people what works best in your particular conditions. A contractor can do the whole thing for you and if you find the right one with a lot of experience he'll know what to do. Maybe the gravel supply can give you general instructions if you want to do it yourself.
A good substrate, or simply putting down enough thickness of gravel, is essential to avoid the mud bubbling up from below.
Send pictures!
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:26am
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I had 20 tons of #57 gravel and tailgate spread for $425 this week...it looks GREAT.....I just dressed up/leveled the ruts with box blade/scrape blade on the tractor BEFORE the delivery....BUT IT HAS TO BE DRY GROUND for a dump truck loaded down with 20 tons of gravel to put on your driveway....pouring today..so I got it just in time before the rain.
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SandyR
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:33am
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Thank you for the responses!
We do not own the machinery, he only repairs them. We would rent the machinery again.
I will call around today and see what we can find. It is NOT dry here yet.
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creeky
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 10:58am
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I highly recommend using geotextile fabric anywhere the soil gets wet. Otherwise the truck/car traffic will push the stone into the muck and your money will slowly sink away.
I built a 900 ft laneway. With 750 ft using geotextile. The laneway went through pure farm muck. 1500 was for geotextile fabric. 1500 for crushed aggregate. I brought in aprox. 160 tonnes of stone.
The steps are:
* clear organic material (for me that was 6-8 inches of topsoil)
* roll out geotextile (it was available in 12 or 17 foot widths)
* pour and level a layer of 3" aggregate 4" deep.
* top dress with 1-2" of roadtopper (1.5" and smaller with fines)
Every area seems to have a different name for the stone. But 3" minus and road topper were the names in my area.
Using crushed aggregate allows the sharper stone edges to lock together making a better road. Round gravel may not hold as well.
I call it the "30 year" road. After 3 years it still looks like the day it was finished. I have not had to scrape or level.
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swampshaman
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 11:06am
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I did the driveway on my hunting property several years ago 250 ft long in muddy loamy soil.used a tracked skid steer loader and had the dump driver drop everything at the main road.used 100cubic yards of stone/gravel.The driver was also the guy who rented the skid steer and he gave a ton of good advice on how to put in the driveway.started with 4" river stone,then 2" stone, then covered it with a layer of crushed bluestone and used a vibratory roller to pack it all down .You can now drive an 18wheeler over it!!took 3 days with 3 people.I saved about half of what using a contractor would have cost.
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VTweekender
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 12:08pm
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I would also use a small "tracked" skid steer loader like swampshaman did, as it doesn't sound like you will need to dig stumps out, I would also make sure it is diesel as they have more power than the gas jobs, even the small machines like this are about 250 a day now plus fuel if you rent for 5 days or more, prices of renting machinery has risen a lot over the last few years.....I did my own as well but I bought an old backhoe/loader as I had to go through the woods and dig stumps etc..overall spent the same as what a contractor would have charged but now have the backhoe...and I also layed the stone the similar way as others have mentioned above, using 3" stone for the base, about 6" deep then another 4" deep of 1 1/2" on top of that....I didn't use the fabric but I am thinking I should have as the stone is seeping in now a couple years later.....Just to mention it for reference, a 20 ton delivery of stone laying it 4 to 6" deep went about 60 to 70 feet per load....I paid 325 per load.
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swampshaman
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2014 12:55pm
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In retrospect the money I have spent on renting a backhoe/skid steer loader for the clearing of my property and digging the driveway would have been better spent buying a used one then selling it after completion of the cabin.If you are going to do a lot I would recommend it(if you have the money.)
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SandyR
Member
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# Posted: 20 Apr 2014 02:48pm
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Going on Tuesday to meet the guy that we bought the property from. I called them first to see if they had anyone that they would recommend.
I can't believe the price that he said it would be around. There was no way I could have beat that price if we did it ourselves.
Looks like we will have the driveway and the gravel pad in within the next few weeks!
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