Adding gravel to existing driveway?

[Irrelevant]

I work for a civil engineering firm. There are a millions ways to skin this cat. It all depends on your take of cost vs value. If you put down some non-woven geofab then some crushed, then some geogrid (different than fabric), then two lifts of crushed on top (base course then top course (1 1/4" minus and 5/8" minus respectively)), and you'd have a road you could drive semi's on.

Growing up, my folks used 4" pitrun then just topped it off with crushed (whatever was cheap) every couple years as it washed off or was plowed off. My current driveway is a gooey mess, I tried just rock and it didn't last even a year. So now I'm going with a geo grid over what's left of the existing rock, then another 6" of 1 1/4" minus.

For compaction, like others have mentioned, anything with tracks isn't going to get the job down, the point loading just isn't very high. I would use you skid steer to load you biggest truck with as much as it'll take, then drive back and forth on various lines to compact it. It's the same idea as proof rolling a subgrade prior to putting down rock.

 

[Lawnboy]

You've been given some good advice. I'm not sure what they "call it" in your area so I'd recommend calling the pit and asking them for advice. If you use the words you've learned here I think they'll know what your looking for. When building a driveway you excavate the topsoil until you get to some rocky surface. Then you bring it "pit run" which are larger rocks mixed with some dirt and compact that. The next step is what everyone has mentioned which is "Road base or Road mix". It is 1" or smaller that is mixed with some dirt and smaller fines. This is what you see them prepping with just before applying asphalt on a road. It packs real well and makes for a good road surface even without asphalt. They usually put down 4" of that prior to rolling for asphalt. But like I said call the local pit and explain to them what you want to do and they will help you.

 

[elkhnter]

CA 7 white rock. It will pack down in your bigger stone or rock and pack down solid. Make sure you have good ditches. Getting the water away is the key to a good road.

 

[Art Vandeley]

Asphalt millings will get so hard over time that you won't be able to blade it. That's the one downside

 

[Zach]

3/4 minus road base. mtmuley

This is what I have. Doesn't bother any of my horses. 1/3 mile driveway.

 

[Gut Shot]

Whatever you use if your drive isn't built up above grade you will be adding every year.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Have you tried Flex Seal? It come in a big can now! John

 

[Sytes]

Have you tried Flex Seal? It come in a big can now! John

Haha!

I stopped by one of our sand/gravel... Concrete, etc, etc, etc places. Great conversation and it helped to have a base understanding of what he spoke from the info shared here. Thanks all for the info.

Holding off the driveway until mid June - July. Going to knock out the horse area with 12 tons of a sand /gravel wash mix. Get the built up horse Dung outta there and build up about 8" floor of the mix. Let the days *off* roll. More and more, I find going to work are the real days off.

 

[Mthuntinfool]

See if you can get 3/4 minus crushed rock from your local gravel pit, it packs well and looks nice. I did driveways and concrete for lots of years, and this works best.

 

[338 win mag]

The 3/4 minus (called ABC for Aggregate Base Course in my neck of the woods) is a good choice. Might not be a bad idea to smooth and grade the drive prior to spreading it. It will make the material go farther. If you already have a good base, a washed stone without the fines will give you a more finished product. If the company delivering it has the ability they can spread it with the truck to save you time. I can spread rock very efficiently, far quicker and more evenly than a skidsteer, with my truck. Just food for thought.

 

[MT_Chad]

Sytes, I thought I saw you are here in helena. If so call valley, they are much better than helena sand. I like their 1 1/2 road base, it's cheap and has a good fines content so it sets up like a rock, that's what I used on my dad's driveway. I got asphalt millings on mine from valley, their millings are pretty dirty though. I think valley has crushed concrete as well. Make sure you get your drainage right and a road base driveway will last a long time.

 

[Sytes]

I'm in NW MT. Ben Lamb's nightmare stories of skate to work, city snowplow-less operations frightened the dickens out of my interest to live there. Thanks for the input.

I laid 3/4 crushed for our parking area though held off the driveway at least until it warms up.

I had delivered and spread 12 cu yards of a sand / gravel mix for the horse stalls. already notice a value with keeping their frog, inner and outer walls of their hooves, etc much cleaner.