Building a new drive

I'm building houses for 2 of my sisters and their families and we are going to have to put in a new drive (long) we'll likely be using crushed asphalt, I'm asking for suggestions to go along with a couple of ideas I have in mind, and a question on one idea, what are some thoughts of using a round cylinder (example 55gl drum) filed with cement built to tow behind a tractor,etc.

Thanks ahead for your response
 
A good drive needs a good foundation.
Think about drainage.
Remove fine material and fill with a stone base followed by the crushed asphalt or gravel.
 

A friend who is in the excavation business spread some on his driveway. He compacted by just driving on it. On a hot day he sprayed fuel on it, and drove on it some more, and it was like new pavement.
 
It could be helpful initially, but you really need to excavate out any unsuitable road base material, compact with a vibratory roller, then build up your subsequent layers of sub base, compact same with a vibratory. Hopefully you are not in a situation where its soft and you need fabric, large rubble, building up to small aggregate, crusher run or like what we call it here, Item #4 which is a NYS D.O.T. specified sub base material. Drainage is key, so is the road profile, it needs to have a crown, higher in the middle. Once the material is graded, a vibratory roller is usually best to for compaction. You will not get the same compaction without vibratory action, well maybe if you roll it every 2" or so as you come up. True enough that any kind of compaction is better than none ! LOL!
 
Pack about a foot of 2" rock then fill/pack with smaller or ground asphalt. You will go right through a ground asphalt with no base.
 
I have alot of clay in my area. When I had my gravel driveway put in they spread 2-3" crushed concrete which is pretty cheap. With all the construction trucks driving on it it self compacted. After construction I top dressed it with 21AA and it has held up well for 8 years.
 
Patrick you never said where you are condition of the ground . If you are wanting advise on building a drive I agree the foundation is everything. If you are wanting weight on the back of your tractor a barrel of cement will do quite well , a friend of mine has a 231 Massey with a barrel of concrete on the back and still wishes it were 4 wheel drive.
 
(quoted from post at 10:19:55 01/14/15) I'm building houses for 2 of my sisters and their families and we are going to have to put in a new drive (long) we'll likely be using crushed asphalt, I'm asking for suggestions to go along with a couple of ideas I have in mind, and a question on one idea, what are some thoughts of using a round cylinder (example 55gl drum) filed with cement built to tow behind a tractor,etc.

Thanks ahead for your response

I have asphalt millings down on my entire driveway. They were originally ground very fine. What the other guys are saying is all correct, but I'll add some observations of my own:

- The base is really important. In my case, I had #57 packed down super hard from 10 years worth of running over it.

- Make sure it drains properly. Don't allow water to stand in any place. If you do, it will eventually go through the millings and freeze, cracking it all up.

- I used my (then) Jubilee and blade and spread it a minimum of 4 to 5 inches thick. Then rented a vibrating roller for a day and went to town packing it. Final pack thickness was 2 to 3 inches thick. If I were to do it over again I'd spread it at least 6 inches thick to try to get 3-4 inches final. There are areas where I laid it down thicker like this and I think it looks better and shows no cracking. But IMO, the key to getting a real nice finish is the vibrating roller.

- The result from using the vibrating roller to pack it "looks" like an asphalt job. It's pretty wild. If you can, do it when the temperatures are hotter, as it helps with rebonding (versus in the middle of winter).

- I used a cheap garden sprayer and sprayed it down about 2 or 3 times with diesel fuel. That helps reactivate the binders. Spray once, then wait a day or two, then spray again. If you can stay off of it for a week or so, that helps. Otherwise, it will track up some.

- After a month or so of driving on it, you can coat it with coal-tar sealer, which will help keep it together also. I built a spray rig using a 275 gallon tote, a Harbor Freight 6.5hp engine, and a 99-dollar trash pump with some plumbing. That helps put it down fast. I recoat each year using this.

I am on year 3 with it and people think it's an asphalt job. They are shocked to hear that it is simple millings. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not the equivalent to a good, hot-asphalt job laid down by a pro. Cosmetics are not as perfect, and I don't think it's going to hold up as long as properly-maintained asphalt. But for the cost of it, it was a good value in my case. It's not for everybody.
 

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