Gravel Driveway

[phk_xb]

Hi I purchased a Thomas 175 in February to do some of my own yard work. Last week I spread around 15 loads of fill and the skid steer worked great. Today a neighbour seen me outside and asked if I would take a look at his driveway. He has a gravel driveway about 80 feet long with some holes that he wants removed. The drive is packed real hard, so I figured just loosen it up with the teeth on the bucket then smooth it out. He doesn't want to purchase anymore gravel as he plans on doing something like a paved driveway at the the end of the summer. Any tips on doing this would be great.
Evan.

 

[Tazza]

You should talk him into getting gravel for it. As its packed hard now you shouldn't cut into it. You have a nice hard base, perfect for his later plans to pave it.
It may save money now cutting it, but later he will possibly regret it when the paving moves as the ground compacts a little more.
Just my 2c.

 

[phk_xb]

You should talk him into getting gravel for it. As its packed hard now you shouldn't cut into it. You have a nice hard base, perfect for his later plans to pave it.
It may save money now cutting it, but later he will possibly regret it when the paving moves as the ground compacts a little more.
Just my 2c.

I agree with you. When he said he as some holes in his gravel driveway he wants fixed I asked him when the gravel was coming. Hi driveway is more like a crusher dust then gravel, very small and packs hard. Around here there is only one paving company and they seem to always cut out the base and put a new one in.

 

[KevinCuellar]

I agree with you. When he said he as some holes in his gravel driveway he wants fixed I asked him when the gravel was coming. Hi driveway is more like a crusher dust then gravel, very small and packs hard. Around here there is only one paving company and they seem to always cut out the base and put a new one in.

Initially I wanted a rural/rustic look and decided a gravel and stone dust mix would accomplish this goal. I hired a road guy to build me a gravel-stone dust winding road approximately 320 feet long. At installation it looked great. The first problem was the gravel seemed to creep in to the lawn and garden areas. This caused issues mowing and I did not care for gravel mixed into the perenial beds. Winter created another set of problems. In a thaw the gravel heaved and the the snowplow randomly dug up the surface creating ruts. When our cars drove over a rut in the gravel, occasionally we would get stuck. (Just enough ice and snow mix makes for a rut perfect for creating a spinning car tire. Not fun.) Due to the damage from Winter months as well as the creeping gravel into the grass and perenial beds we had to renew the gravel and stone dust yearly. This is alot of maintenance. Today I have a paved 320 foot winding driveway and I do not miss my gravel road. I'm sure others have experience with gravel maybe some are better than mine. I'd definitely not recommend or support a gravel driveway or trail. All the best, Susan hand pallet trcuk pallet trucks pallet truck