OT: dirt driveway

7lazy77 · Mar 3, 2010

I have about had enough of all the mud & muck on my dirt driveway. I have added road base to it several times, but when we get the melt-off or a big rain storm, it gets VERY deep & we can't get through it unless we have our 4x4.
I am thinking of either putting 3/4" crushed rock or even crushed asphalt. ANY suggestions/recommendations??? Thanks

kyhayman · Mar 3, 2010

Geotextile fabric, then #2 crushed stone base topped with dga.

oliver power · Mar 3, 2010

Many things you can put on the driveway. Here's what I did. I stopped into the gravel pit to order five 10 wheeler loads of crusher run. Being early in the spring, they didn't have any . They suggested crushed gravel. Said it would pack hard, and hold up good. It did exactly what they said it would do, and at a lot less money. From now on, it's crushed gravel for me.

S2710 · Mar 3, 2010

First of all it depends on your soil. But for a general idea grade the road bed and ditch it and put in culverts where needed. Next put down 6 inches of breaker run then put down 4 inches reg gravel and you will have a driveway that will hold up.

7lazy77 · Mar 3, 2010

What size of crushed gravel??

olgentdc · Mar 3, 2010

RIGHT ON with the Fabric !,,, Over the years it Will Save You TONS of ROCK and $$$$... great for cow feed ing pads with 4 inches of 53s and 2 inches lime dust...

ericlb · Mar 3, 2010

if the mud is that deep on basecourse, you have a drainage problem, either the driveway itself needs to have a crown put into it or the sides need to have the water drain away from the driveway, either under it via culverts or by drainage ditches, you must move the water, once you do that, blade a crown into the driveway and put down course basecourse, then roll that with a roller, then after that put down gravel on top, if you have women who wear high heels in the family, use 3/4 or even 5/8, it will make it easier for them to walk on it, this will stay for years

hoosier boy · Mar 3, 2010

Im piling on the geotextile suggestions, your just wasting rock without it.

Im piling on the geotextile recommendations, the rock doesnt matter much if you get the fabric down first.

old · Mar 3, 2010

Believe me this works but it also may sound down right crazy. Grade you road a few times then drive it and then grade it again as needed. My drive which is a mile long was getting very bad and I graded it and in less then a week if formed up why because grading it mixes the water and the dirt and the gravel up and that lets to water run off. Learned that decades ago from building road for a living when I drove dump trucks. Now don't grade it to much either just maybe once a week or so

Gun guru · Mar 4, 2010

You may have to put down 1x3 limestone gravel. Basically golf ball to baseball sized limestone rock. I put this down when I put my driveway in 10 years ago and the mud could be much worse. Right now (melting season) the car tires sink about a 1/2" at the most. After the 1x3 limestone is spread then cap it with small crushed limestone and it packs in tight.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 4, 2010

As mentioned below, geotex fabric, THEN rock. You'll have a much better drive. Skip the geotex and you'll eventually spend as much on gravel and still not have as good of a drive.

Also, make certain the road base drains well. Laying a roadbed over a wet, mushy base is a recipe' for troubles "down the road".

MarkB_MI · Mar 4, 2010

What to use depends on where you live. Here in SE Michigan, crushed limestone is the best. I've used crushed concrete, which is pretty good but doesn't seem to pack down and hold up like limestone.

buickanddeere · Mar 4, 2010

Road base?
Around here 6"to 12" of soil has to be dug out. back filled level with coarse gravel. Then topped with another 6" of #2 or #1 road gravel.
Without gravel under the road to allow draingage. The road saturates and turns to mush.

bradk · Mar 4, 2010

1 1/2 rock for a base.Drive it down for a few months,then 3/4 to level and fill.

We did this on alot of soggy field drives and approaches and in my driveway and it works every time.

4430jd · Mar 4, 2010

Use limestone, Crushed or milled asphalt does not lock together and will fail unless topped off,
Yoyu need the angular limestone to lock together to keep on top of, Ideally you would strip off topsoil and fill in with #2 stone (3-4inch size) 4-6inches thick and roll in then top off with a #304 stone ( Crushed 3/4" and Screenings) about 2-3" thick, That should give good base for moderate traffic,

of course you need a good well drained soiul base to place this on,

JayinNY · Mar 4, 2010

Like B&D said except aruond here we put road fabric down first than add the crusher run, and #2 crushed stone. If not it all turns to mush like a big marshmello

Bill(Wis) · Mar 4, 2010

YA! Fine for you to say but most of us don't have our own Speed Patrol.

Case e · Mar 4, 2010

First of all grade it and make sure it drains, depending on soil type you may or may not have to go with the fabric, put down 3" limestone if availible, this will allow for drainage. Let this go for a month or so then you can put down a smaller granual, 1-1 1/2" crushed material. after this is worked in there is nothing wrong with reclaimed ashpalt, (howerver because of the value of the oil that is in it it may be as expensive or more expinsive than virgin material.

JDemaris · Mar 4, 2010

In my area of NY, shale is what's used for a long lasting base in dirt/mud driveways. Gravel just disappears in a year. But, shale is usually a local product and only works if it's available in your area.

fixerupper · Mar 4, 2010

Are you driving big stuff like loaded trucks on it or just pickups and cars? How much do you want to spend? If it's loaded heavy dig out some of the base dirt and fill with 3" limestone, then top dress with 1" limestone. Jim

showcrop · Mar 4, 2010

Stop throwing away money with band-aids! It's like Eric LB says, You have to get the water out from under. Road specs around here (glacial till) call for under-drain in any cut area. twelve inches clean sand, 16 inches of road base. You need good deep ditches along the upslope side and adequate culverts to let the water pass under, in order to make up for lack of clean drainage sand under the road. geo-textile is a big help in areas that are very poorly drained. but good ditches are a lot cheaper to install.

dhermesc · Mar 4, 2010

Agreed.

Unless you are in a permafrost country the directions above will fix your problem.

Hire a person with a dozer to build the road and blade the rock out. The dozer can also pack each layer (first the dirt, then the course base and then the top layer). Make sure you leave the "fines" in the course base.

olgentdc · Mar 4, 2010

ha-ha

ncpapaul · Mar 4, 2010

In Mississippi you have to let it dry out, spread red clay gravel, pack that in as many months of driving on it as you can before winter, then spread crushed limestone, called "crush and run" and it sets up like concrete after a time. Paul

sotxbill · Mar 4, 2010

bigger material first, then finer material next.. 3/4 to 1.5 will make a good base. then the finer crushed limestone on top will hold up very well. But the larger will make a better base for the finer and hold up longer.

Try to make sure its higher and does not hold or run water or it will continue to sink.

old · Mar 4, 2010

Hope your saying that because your jealous LOL But all kidding aside an back blade will help it also but ya not do as good as my W Speed Patrol will do

old · Mar 4, 2010

I never did say anything about what type of gravel you might use. Like I said grade it first you may find that in a few days your problem goes away mine did.
Now as for gravel 2 inch crushed lime stone, topped with 1 inch dirty. In my area that is the most common used on all new driveway and yes I did that for a living for 2 or 3 years till my doctor found out I was driving truck then he told me that was it I was retired no questions asked

PJH · Mar 4, 2010

Ditches? If your roadway has no ditches, that's where you need to start, but this is a bad time of year to do ditch work. The material you excavate to build the ditches can be thrown on the roadway. That will get you up a little farther from the moisture. Road surface should be crowned to allow the runoff into the ditches. Remember any buried utilities - they're unnecessary expenses. A good base material will be open graded - in other words - will contain no fines. Golf ball size is good for a base. Drive on it for a few months, then top with a road mix. Stay away from the recycled asphalt mix for a base. The fines will make it like driving on a mattress. It is good for a top surface, depending on the age of the asphalt. Old and dry will roll around like marbles, but a mix with "live" asphalt in it will compact well. Some of the "dead" recycled asphalt also has big chunks in it that are difficult to deal with. If you can't do the ditch work due to soil conditions or budget, the golf ball sized gravel - no fines - will mash down and mix with the mud and give you a drivable surface that won't beat the bottom out of momma's car. Bigger rock is better, but you need to be able to drive on it for awhile to settle it in. . .

Paul

7lazy77 · Mar 4, 2010

While it is still "soft", should I lay the the larger aggregate down first to settle it in the dirt/mud & then come back with a layer of 1 1/2" crushed on the top??

tjdub · Mar 4, 2010

My neighbor has the same issue. He says that it doesn't do any good to put down crushed rock because it just disappears in a year (and it does). Always wonders how my driveway is so solid in the spring. I tell him if you keep doing it, you will get a base, but he doesn't buy it I guess. Really though, it's best to start with something big (bigger than 3/4" for sure). I made a new road through some very wet ground to my cowyard and started with 2ft field rocks. Just kept adding rocks until I stopped making ruts when I drove over them with the tractor. It's one of the few things in life that if you throw enough rocks at the problem and it goes away.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 6, 2010

We've been dealing with a 600' long driveway for 25 years.It started with a dozer cutting the road through a red clay field that had been cultivated for 90 years.Culverts were put in and 52 dump truck loads of chert topping added.After the first winter of freezing and thawing it was a muddy mess.A friend with family ties to the road building business loaned me an old book from the 1930's on the subject.It stated that a mix of 15% 'metal' and 85% clay would make a stable roadbed.We tried to achieve something close to that with 29 loads of creek gravel on top of what we had.It proved true,about every 3 or 4 years we hire a fellow with a road grader and dump truck to shape it up and bring a couple of loads of chert to fill in trouble spots.It's a $100 a year or so to have a good driveway.The grader puts a crown on it that causes it to drain properly and tightens up the edges to keep it from getting wider.My efforts with the box blade make it flatter and wider.It's kinda like roofing or plumbing,we can do it.Sometimes it's just better to pay a pro.

OT: dirt driveway

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