Land Leveler

My driveway is hard packed yellow clay.
You could not put a water line across it with a pick ax.
It has had river gravel put on it a few times in the years I have lived here.
From driving over it the gravel gets pushed down into the clay never to be seen again.
I use a box blade with the rippers down to try and dig some of the gravel back up usually with little or no success.
Usually all it does is cut small ruts in the clay where the rippers run.
Without the rippers the 6 foot box blade just runs across the top doing nothing but maybe catching a high spot and pulling it into a hole.

I priced a 22 ton trailer load of 57 gravel washed to get the mason sand out of it for $750 a load delivered.
Talking to my neighbor to see if he knew anyone I might get a better deal he says you want me to fix your driveway.
I say sure have at it.
He brings his JD 1020 over with a 6 foot land leveler.
I have seen this things before but never used on or watched one work.
I considered it like a box blade without the box.

He runs across the drive a few times; gets off makes and adjustment; and then runs over it a few more times.
This land leveler is cutting down into the hard drive and bringing all those old rock buried in the clay to the top.
Took him about 45 minutes but he has my driveway looking like I just bought a new load of gravel in.
Where has this land leveler been all my life.
The price tag to buy one while expensive seems easier to take if you consider he saved me $750 on a load of gravel.

And they will just punch down again till all you have is the clay again. Sounds like you need in the wet of the year to put some bigger rock down like a 2-4 inch then work them down then put some 1-2 inch on work down then put some crushed concrete on top will probably out last you then. I had to do the driveways here and I peeled off the top 4-6 inches of topsoil/clay/gravel. Then hauled in loads of crushed concrete spread it about 6 inches deep. IT doesn't rut up when used regularly in the spring and has held up with dropping loaded trailers on it in spring to grease truck and 5th wheel and such. Yes I did this about 20 years agoo or more and it is just needing to have the top spread a wee bit over spots I've nicked or roughed up with the loader plowing snow or has finally started to settle into the clay here. I think that has held pretty well for having a loaded semi setting on it's back over the years. I'm still adding to the area for more room to park as things have expanded over the years like more trailers and more bigger equipment. It still holds though.

It will probably disappear too. Seems I have seen driveways with some sort of shells on them down your way. Is that a possibility?

John
Each spring I go to a friend's place and repair his driveway. I find clay and gravel makes a great pot hole patch.
My friend's driveway isn't level.
Rain runs down the hill, collects at the bottom and the standing water makes potholes. I have tried many things to prevent water from standing at the bottom of the hill.
Gravel alone doesn't stay very long in the potholes.

What is going to keep the rocks in your driveway from getting pushed down in the clay again?
I would use #2 gravel on top of your new driveway. #2 usually stays out of the clay.

You need good quality road fabric to maintain separation between the clay and the gravel. If what you have is well packed and properly graded now put the fabric on top and then another 6" of rock and you should be good to go, just a bit poorer.

What? No picture of eqmt??

(quoted from post at 09:46:52 06/03/23) You need good quality road fabric to maintain separation between the clay and the gravel. If what you have is well packed and properly graded now put the fabric on top and then another 6" of rock and you should be good to go, just a bit poorer.

Click to expand...

that's what i should be doing as well, no doubt. all clay here too, but not yellow. i'm partly colorblind - to me, most of it looks gray, which would normally mean brown. but luckily i don't have heavy stuff in and out of here often.

Ive got a 7 ton dump trailer and occasionally go to the limestone quarry about 30 miles away and buy the #1 size limestone gravel for $14 per ton. This stuff is great, once it gets wet it hardens like concrete. Our county road crews get it there too and put in on rural dirt roads , been thinking about spreading several loads on my barn dirt floors.

Is this what he used ?
I would like to have one of these about 8 foot wide

This is what I use. It's a Harley Rock Rake. Brings up all the gravel and levels it. Makes a great seedbed.

Clam shells are old school.
The environmentalist will not let us dredge the lake for them for years now.
It makes the water dirty.

Todays equivalent are oyster shells but them things are expensive.
The oyster fishermen want them to reseed oyster beds and if you can find them they need to be trucked 100 miles to my house.

Yes grayrider that is what he used.

Limestone is nice.
Only way we can get it is going to the port on the river where they bring it in on barges.
Cost about twice as much as local concrete gravel that we use.