driveway maintenance

[TimPa]

have a 700' farm road that has many pot holes. i see the DR machine ($$) that you drag to loosen the gravel and redistribute. this road has some big rocks in it as well. will this machine do the job, or do you guys have alternatives you recommend. no shortage of machines to pull it with. thanks in advance.

 

[old]

Hard to beat a true road grader like the W Speed Patrol I have/ I spent almost 3 hour on my mile long driveway Saturday. A heavy I-beam with a chain hook to it works well also and if dirt cheap

 

[Michael Soldan]

Tim , there is only one thing that makes potholes..driving too fast on a wet roadway lol !

 

[old]

Driving to slow also causes pot holes and wash boarding

 

[mechanicfred]

The best is to have a road grader, not everyone has one. I've bladed thousands of miles of roadway,pulling slopes putting in a crown and all that is related to the job. I do my road about twice a year and the best time is after a good rain. The object is to cut the road open to the depth of the pot holes rolling the material to the side and then laying it back to create a nice smooth driving surface with some crown to shed water and finish it off by wheel rolling. I use the kids Raptor cause its got nice fat tires LOL ! Forgot, I use my Jubilee with a back blade.

 

[fastfarmall]

How about braking,and acceleration, we have rumble strips, in the gravel roads, near the stop signs,and they have been there for 60 years!

 

[JayinNY]

Get a 3pt harley rake.

 

[SVcummins]

These don?t cost much more than the dr and js actually heavy enough to do something

Grader blade

 

[MF243RedTop]

Little something I built back when I was 25...
7' works great..

 

[MF243RedTop]

Well pics didn't post the first time...

 

[Credysis]

LOL, I agree but some extreme acceleration, I am sure that will reslolve the concern.

 

[showcrop]

Tim there is a lot to read here about driveways on the two threads that started yesterday. There are three main things that you need to do. First is to cut it deep enough to get down to the bottom of the potholes. Second is to have crushed gravel to shape it with. crushed gravel material has many names but it needs to have a mix of 1.5 inch broken (angular) stone mixed with fines and all sizes in between. Third is to end up with an aggressive crown. If the water runs right off you will not get new potholes.

 

[Gumby]

I use a DR grader that?s about 10 years old. Does a great job of loosening and spreading the gravel. I maintain a 740? drive and 100+? spur off the main drive. You can only work the gravel when it?s very dry. The DR is made to just loosen a little with each pass. I may need to go over the drive 4-6 times to get it back in shape, for example after a long winter with no grading. It goes fast. I pull it with an older 12.5 hp Kubota B6100, 2-wheel drive. I put on my head phones and in less than an hour the drive looks great. A bit of a learning curve to get the feathering just right where the gravel meets asphalt or concrete. The DR?s are expensive, I?ll give you that. During the summer months, I work the drive over every 7-8 weeks, depending on how much rain we?ve had (I live in western Illinois). Don?t know what I?d do without it.

 

[showcrop]

As Mechanic fred said you want to do it after a good soaking rain.

 

[SVcummins]

Here?s another one
Road maintainer

 

[Leroy]

Doing it that often you are not getting the deep potholes tha a lot have. With then you would never get it done as you may have to be working 10-12: deep.