Gravel base for tractor shed?

10kpharo

Member
Hi, again. My new property has a 12' x 24' three-sided shed (one 12' end is open). It seems to have a thin layer of fine crushed stone on it. When I drove the 8n into it last week, while the ground was soggy, I sank the front wheels up to the axle, and almost didn't get the tractor unstuck.

Obviously, I need another layer of a larger crushed stone. I was thinking of a few inches of 3/4" crushed stone.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any recommendations on the size of the crushed stone I should use? I don't want to puncture a tire............

I think a concrete pad would be a waste of time - the shed is about 100' off the top of a hill, and the water running under it would probably turn the concrete pad into a mass of cracks in about 90 days...
 

if u are concerned with puncturing a tire, why not use gravel instead of crushed stone?
 
(quoted from post at 18:09:29 03/19/17)
if u are concerned with puncturing a tire, why not use gravel instead of crushed stone?

I have dumped tons of #2 stone on my driveway and never once worried about it puncturing any tire including the ones on the cars.

TOH
 
IF it was me I would dig a french drain in the uphill side and put geo grid or geo mat down inside then the rock, you'll use a lot less rock.
 
I dug down about a foot or so, then added #3 stone to just below the level that I wanted. I then topped it with a few inches of #1. Number three is too tough to walk on, but it drains really well.
I also put in a French drain, and some drain tile to catch water coming from the uphill side.

Jerry
 
(quoted from post at 19:15:34 03/19/17)
(quoted from post at 18:09:29 03/19/17)
if u are concerned with puncturing a tire, why not use gravel instead of crushed stone?

I have dumped tons of #2 stone on my driveway and never once worried about it puncturing any tire including the ones on the cars.

TOH

i don't doubt that for a moment. i figure if a tire is punctured by crushed stone, it was already time for a new tire.

i just wondered why, if this was a concern to anyone, they wouldn't just go with gravel to begin with.
 
(quoted from post at 19:26:58 03/19/17)
(quoted from post at 19:15:34 03/19/17)
(quoted from post at 18:09:29 03/19/17)
if u are concerned with puncturing a tire, why not use gravel instead of crushed stone?

I have dumped tons of #2 stone on my driveway and never once worried about it puncturing any tire including the ones on the cars.

TOH

i don't doubt that for a moment. i figure if a tire is punctured by crushed stone, it was already time for a new tire.

i just wondered why, if this was a concern to anyone, they wouldn't just go with gravel to begin with.

It seems I am having a bad brain day - my comment was not meant for you ;-)

TOH
 
When I put a 17x40 lean-to on the back of one of my machine sheds, I covered the bare dirt with 3 or 4 inches of "3/4 with fines" (3/4-inch crushed limestone with dust). It packs down nicely, and when fully dry the fines hold the rock together so the surface is almost as hard as concrete. I have three 8Ns, a half-ton pickup and a full-size old Blazer there and have had no problems (other than that the pickup and Blazer barely fit). FWIW, my 100+-foot driveway is also 3/4 rock and causes me no problems. (I think the base layer is 1-1/2-inch crushed rock.) It has become extremely compacted over the years.
 
You will have to divert the water from uphill with a ditch or french drain. Establish a final grade for your floor and excavate to allow a thick layer of coarse base rock and a topping of 3/4" or 1" crushed rock. This top layer of rock will not hurt your tires. In our rainy area of Western Oregon, the standard base rock is 3" minus crushed rock, which has smaller rock mixed in as it is everything that falls through a screen with 3" square openings. They build logging roads out of 3" minus without putting any top rock on it. They put it on at least 6" deep. It is hard on car tires but log trucks don't have tire trouble.

Crushed rock binds together tightly if it has "minus" (the smaller gradations made by the crushing process) in it. "Open" rock has the smaller stuff screened out, and is good for drain rock, but it doesn't bind up real well. I use 1-1/2 to 3/4 open rock instead of a gutter/grating at the entrance to one of my machine sheds and it works fine. Round rock (like river gravel) moves around and never sets up as well. Think of it like trying to get bearing balls to hold still.
 
I agree with others that you need to divert the water. I am a big fan of the geo-textile fabric and then gravel or crushed stone on top, never have to worry about it again
 

I would think that people would read what has already been posted before entering their own :roll:
 

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