Dirt Road maintenance

[Let'sgoflying!]

So I was pondering having to get the local guy to fix all the low spots in my road and parking lots again, (they fill with water in wet years like this one, making isolated quagmires). This is all native dirt with a thin layer of caliche. Probably a half mile in total plus parking areas.
Each time I call it's 3K sometimes 5K, and one year it was 10K. I have only done this 6 times in the last 22 years and probably will need maintenance for the next 10 years.
Just for grins I wanted to do a loose estimate of cost to have someone do it v buying my own machine and diy.
I would need something to dig down 6-12" at times in very hard dirt. I would need to be able to smooth the result, ie 100' sections.
Let's choose the tool first then look at pricing (of used. Well used).
Tractor with bucket? Small motor grader?

 

[weilke]

Tractor with bucket? Small motor grader?

I have seen some small graders sell on county auctions for very little money. Even for the minimal maintenance roads they use the large machinery, so there is little use for the small stuff.

 

[GrampaMark]

I don't know if a carpentry/woodworking analogy is appropriate, but, a tractor and loader is like a wood chisel; a motor grader is like a jack plane. You wouldn't try to chop a mortise with a plane, nor would you try to smooth a wide, flat board with a chisel. You need a jack plane.

I owned a half interest in an old No. 12 Cat grader years ago. We paid $6k. After about 10 years the engine went TU. The estimate for an overhaul was $9-10K. I wanted to sell the grader as a parts machine (worth about $2500 at the time). My partner wanted to spend the money on a new engine. I wished him luck and gave him a bill of sale for my half. This was about 25 years ago.

You can still buy those old graders for $5K or so today, but major repairs will cost at least double what they were in the 80s. You could buy one cheap and, if you got five years out of it before it became scrap iron or an ugly lawn ornament, you might save a little after selling for scrap (which is worth quite a lot per ton these days). You'd also have a better maintained road, because you would do it as needed, not when you finally had to bite the bullet and pay someone.

Mark

 

[denverpilot]

If you already have a tractor for other maintenance chores, a box grader on the back and a small blade can be used pretty effectively to patch up small problem areas. You may need some fill dirt from somewhere else on the property or not, depending on how bad the drainage problem is at the "holes".

If you need to "pull" the ditches or re-crown a significant section of road, you'll want the heavy gear, and as mentioned above, it isn't cheap.

But fill-in and patchwork can usually be done for a long time before you'll need the big boys to come re-grade the whole thing.

 

[UngaWunga]

http://www.drpower.com/power-equipment/power-graders/

 

[Scotty78]

Jason Aldean recommends "chillin" on a dirt road. YMMV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb9q1ScC4cg

 

[Henning]

It's like anything else, when you have the right tool for the job, you use it. If you have the grader, you will keep your road in better condition because it only takes a few minutes to run out and zip-zip do a nice fix, and an hour or so to do the whole thing once you have your pattern down.

You still need a system of adding fill material. Pickup and shovel is of course the most basic solution, however turning a dead of pick up into a dump bed trailer isn't as big of a chore or expense as you might think. Of course big loads to do repair and build up after big washouts, you just direct the dump trucks.

Can you do it with a small tractor and box blade? Sure, but not as well and it takes a lot longer. Old road machines are available pretty cheap. Trick is fixing them ain't cheap.

 

[ARFlyer]

So I was pondering having to get the local guy to fix all the low spots in my road and parking lots again, (they fill with water in wet years like this one, making isolated quagmires). This is all native dirt with a thin layer of caliche. Probably a half mile in total plus parking areas.
Each time I call it's 3K sometimes 5K, and one year it was 10K. I have only done this 6 times in the last 22 years and probably will need maintenance for the next 10 years.
Just for grins I wanted to do a loose estimate of cost to have someone do it v buying my own machine and diy.
I would need something to dig down 6-12" at times in very hard dirt. I would need to be able to smooth the result, ie 100' sections.
Let's choose the tool first then look at pricing (of used. Well used).
Tractor with bucket? Small motor grader?

I'd ask Tim. I'll shoot him a text for him to pop in on this thread.

 

[Clark1961]

So I was pondering having to get the local guy to fix all the low spots in my road and parking lots again, (they fill with water in wet years like this one, making isolated quagmires). This is all native dirt with a thin layer of caliche. Probably a half mile in total plus parking areas.
Each time I call it's 3K sometimes 5K, and one year it was 10K. I have only done this 6 times in the last 22 years and probably will need maintenance for the next 10 years.
Just for grins I wanted to do a loose estimate of cost to have someone do it v buying my own machine and diy.
I would need something to dig down 6-12" at times in very hard dirt. I would need to be able to smooth the result, ie 100' sections.
Let's choose the tool first then look at pricing (of used. Well used).
Tractor with bucket? Small motor grader?

A simple drag will do a lot. Get a piece of 7" casing, cut to length about 3/4 of the width of your road. Split the casing then use scrap (substantial scrap) to fix the two pieces of casing about a foot apart. Weld it together like you mean it. Put a couple half loops on the one of the pieces of casing, you'll use these to tow it. Use some hefty steel rope to tow the drag about 10 feet or so behind a pick-up. Drive up and down your road with the drag a couple times every couple months and you'll have a smooth road. Drive in circles in the parking area to smooth it out.

At some point it'd be good to put some 3/4- roadbase down but that gets expensive.

 

[Henning]

Railroad track, head forward, makes a good drag as well, depending on what industrial scrap is in your area.

 

[44Gort]

So I was pondering having to get the local guy to fix all the low spots in my road and parking lots again, (they fill with water in wet years like this one, making isolated quagmires). This is all native dirt with a thin layer of caliche. Probably a half mile in total plus parking areas.
Each time I call it's 3K sometimes 5K, and one year it was 10K. I have only done this 6 times in the last 22 years and probably will need maintenance for the next 10 years.
Just for grins I wanted to do a loose estimate of cost to have someone do it v buying my own machine and diy.
I would need something to dig down 6-12" at times in very hard dirt. I would need to be able to smooth the result, ie 100' sections.
Let's choose the tool first then look at pricing (of used. Well used).
Tractor with bucket? Small motor grader?

If you're just doing this every 4 years, DONT buy equipment for it. RENT, its far cheaper and less headache.

1. Rent, what is called a "Payloader". Bucket up front and "Gannon" in back (box grader). Be sure to get one that is 4x4 as you will be pushing/pulling a significant amount of dirt.

2. Be sure the Gannon is 3 way adjustable so you can set the crown angle. (you want the road to drain to the gutters.

3. DO NOT RIP down more than 1-3 INCHES. repeat. DONT RIP. Unless you know what you're doing and are prepared to Re-Compact the roadway properly (with water and a vibratory roller) you will just be creating more soft spots. BTDT.

4. If you have ditches, you will need to re-cut them prior to working on the roadway. Work them in the opposite direction you would expect them to flow (if they flow, sometimes a ditch just holds water runoff from the road). this is called pulling up the ditches and then spreading the dirt across the crown. The opposite of what nature does the other 4 years.


If you want to DIY and do it more often, they I do suggest buying a tractor (Kubota is good) Case is good, but so is JD and Cat. Buy used.

--BTDT, PE, CA, AZ

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