State road finally fixed our road! After swerving to miss some but still hitting potholes too numerous to avoid since Summer, a 2-man crew came out with a small load of crusher run and filled the holes.



Of course by 4-5 weeks the stone will mostly be pushed out and the holes will be back, then Spring comes and it really gets bad. But I get to enjoy month of not swerving and smooth driving!

Happy for you!

Yeah , maybe a month ...

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
Yeah , maybe a month ...

Or until it rains. I've been maintaining a gravel driveway for 30 years so I know a little about potholes.

That's not a fix, that's a patch.

Road, what road?

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
Yeah , maybe a month ...

Or until it rains. I've been maintaining a gravel driveway for 30 years so I know a little about potholes.

That's not a fix, that's a patch.

In your opinion, what is the best fix.

Mine is beginning to get rather ugly and I need to tackle it in the spring while it's still wet and a little softer. I've been told that box-blading it down to the bottom of the holes and adding new gravel across everything is the way to go. Cutting through that hardpan is going to be a chore with my blade though.

Unfortunately it's a fix to WV DOT.

Paul I'm fortunate that the excavator who put in my drive 20+ years back did a really good job. I wish the State would dig up the road and lay a proper base in but in reality I'm fortunate they just fill the holes a few times a year. My excavator took all the organic dirt off and more, then brought in 100 or more tri-axle loads of strip stone and rolled it down 1'+ deep. There's never been any holes or ruts in this drive in spite of a *lot* of heavy truck use, lumber, drywall, concrete trucks from construction. About 10-11 years ago I finally added a 2" cover of 57 stone right before a logger came to remove 450-500 pines. He told me up front his logging trucks will rut the driveway and I need to plan for that, but after they finally finished he couldn't believe there was nary a rut anywhere in the driveway, only the few places trucks got off the drive.
This image is of the worst section of the drive, low where water lays from heavy rain or snow, and after all the logging and shop building construction it's still not been touched. I do want to put an inch or so of 57 there just so I'm not walking through water during heavy rain.



I should add that the freshest looking stone toward the bottom of the pic is right in front of the walk to my porch so I did spread a couple bucket loads of stone there so I wouldn't have to walk through an inch of water when walking back and forth from the house to the shop. That's what needs continued up beyond the trees but I'm out of gravel.

quote:

Originally posted by Patriot:
Road, what road?

I know, not much of one but it's what I have.

At least they used something with dust mixed it to fill them! Has a chance of at least compacting a little bit. Your contractor did a great job putting the original base in, most of them are lucky to even strip the topsoil off anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

In your opinion, what is the best fix.

Mine is beginning to get rather ugly and I need to tackle it in the spring while it's still wet and a little softer. I've been told that box-blading it down to the bottom of the holes and adding new gravel across everything is the way to go. Cutting through that hardpan is going to be a chore with my blade though.

A box blade with adjustable scarifier teeth. Drop the teeth as deep as the tractor will pull and rip the shit out of the top 3-4 inches, or to the depth of the potholes.

Then lift the teeth, tilt the blade with one side 2-3 inches lower than the other and run down the outside with the high side of the blade toward the center. This creates a "crown" in the road allowing water to drain off to the sides rather than sit and soften the base. It also returns what has washed to the sides to the center where it belongs.

Then level the blade and make ONE pass down the center to spread out any ridge the first pass(es) may have made.

You may or may not need to add gravel. I rarely do, perhaps every 5 years or so.

The secret to effective use of a box blade is the top link. Make it shorter, tilting the blade forward to make it cut. Make it longer, tilting the blade back to spread and level.

I have a hydraulic top link on mine so I don't have to get off the tractor to make adjustments.

A "top and tilt" is the trick set up but it can get spendy if you don't already have two remotes on the back. That replaces the top link with a cylinder for tilting the blade back/forward and one side link for tilting the blade left/right.

^^^^^^ Similar to what I've been told. Just not sure my Kubota and blade can handle it. I'll give it a whirl and see...then I'll probably pay somebody to do the whole thing in a fraction of the time with the right equipment.

quote:

Originally posted by Oaklane:
At least they used something with dust mixed it to fill them! Has a chance of at least compacting a little bit. Your contractor did a great job putting the original base in, most of them are lucky to even strip the topsoil off anymore.

Very true, they started using crusher run or millings instead of stone for the holes a couple years back and it packs much tighter. Lasts a month or so instead of a week.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
^^^^^^ Similar to what I've been told. Just not sure my Kubota and blade can handle it. I'll give it a whirl and see...then I'll probably pay somebody to do the whole thing in a fraction of the time with the right equipment.

Remind me which 'Bota you have. Mine is 26hp and as long as I use low range and 4wd, it handles it just fine even in heavy cuts.

BX25D.

I was able to use it to build my lawn with the box blade. Basically tore up and leveled forest floor. It worked, just took a long time.

Power wise it may do it, but I'm not so sure the scarifiers on my box blade will cut through the hard pan on the driveway. I'll give it a go once the snow and ice goes away and while it's soft(er), but I'm thinking I may need a heavier piece of equipment to do the job.

I usually re-grade my drive in the Spring when the moisture content is just right - not too wet so I make a mudhole, not too dry so it's harder than Chinese Arithmetic.

When I get jammed up and have to do it when it's hard, it can take several trips to get it busted up enough for the scarifiers to really rip shit up. The first pass or two they just sort of skid across the top.

I haven't had to resort to concrete blocks on the blade...yet...