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Any road grader operators here?

Bannedjoe

Well-known member
I have a 6 mile dirt road trek before I get to my roads that I maintain.
The roads weren't built by the county, so they lay no claim to them.
They do maintain them from time to time under something called the Tristan act.
I'm assuming it's a local thing?

There have been a number of blade operators over the years, and some have done better work than others.

The worst part about the road is the wash boarding.

When we first moved out here, it would be a rarity to pass another car on this road.

FF a number of years...
Someone bought an 80 square mile ranch 10 miles above us, chopped it into 80's and 160's and sold it off.
It was pretty much a scam. They told prospective buyers there would be a town with shopping, restaurants, and an airstrip large enough to land a commercial jet.

Many people bought into this, buying land at exorbitant prices.
People started HOA's and POA's.
Quite a few folks built homes, only to find the developer scooped up all their money and ran.
Many bailed, but quite a few stayed.

Traffic increased greatly.

It's not uncommon now to pass at least 10 vehicles either coming or going on any given trip in or out.

Many of these people are just plain hauling ass, and driving way too fast for these roads. I have to wonder, what's the big hurry?

But nonetheless, there's cars, contractors, 18 wheelers hauling building materials, cement trucks etc. who use this road all day.
Then there's the cowboys tending their range cattle who also haul ass with trailers full of horses and cattle.

Needless to say, most times this road is absolute shit.
In certain places, I've seen the washboard grow to 4 to 6 inches in height.

Yesterday it was so bad that I had to slow down to about 3 miles an hour in places to keep my old pickup from bouncing off the road, or just plain getting pounded to death.

Sorry, long story to get to this point.

When grading a dirt road, is the object to cut out the washboard, or just fill it in?

One of our old operators would drop the moldboard deep enough to rip out the the washboard out before resurfacing.
The road would remain pretty good for a few weeks at best.

This new guy barely skims the tops, and basically just fills them in.
The next asshole comes along doing 50mph and just sucks the dirt back out, leaving the road almost as bad as it was before it was bladed.

I'm tempted to stop the grader when I see him and ask if they take the cutting edges out of his paycheck.

I'm also tempted to call the head of operations and just plain ask what the proper procedure is.
Maybe they've changed the standard for some reason?
Maybe they have no idea that this guy is a shitty operator?

They appear to spend more time cutting drainage on either side of the road than on the road itself.

Granted, they grade this road as almost a favor, but it's still my tax dollars paying for it.

So...what is the proper procedure?
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Hello BannedJoe, The correct way to get rid of washboards is to cut deep enough to totally get it smooth then lay your material back over. You are right filling them with loose gravel never works it just ravels out. Best to grade when moisture is in ground. Just my own expierience.
 

Bannedjoe

Well-known member
Hello BannedJoe, The correct way to get rid of washboards is to cut deep enough to totally get it smooth then lay your material back over. You are right filling them with loose gravel never works it just ravels out. Best to grade when moisture is in ground. Just my own expierience.

Thanks.
That's what common sense would dictate, and what I thought.
I'm thinking this guy is just a bad operator.
The bizzare thing is I know his father, and that guy is probably the best and most sought after person in the entire county for operation of any piece of equipment.
If you want to hire him, his waiting list is about a year, and I really don't want to call him and tell him that his son appears to be a dunce, but what's the purpose of doing this job if it's not going to be done right?

What we need is some senator or something to move up there, then maybe they'll pave this damn road.
 

mla2ofus

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Agree, wakeup. The right amount of moisture is the secret along with cutting the ridges down and filling. The fines is what holds everything together when all is moist. w/o the moisture all the fines settle to the bottom leaving the larger stuff on top.
Mike
 

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a suggestion...

Go to the county board of supervisors and point out that even though this road is not county, it ought to be. If as you say there are property tax paying land owners up there, that were not there years ago, I would think you could get some one, and bend there ear... Time changes so much, and the changes in your area should require the road to become a county one, with full time maintenance..

Talk to the head of the secondary roads department, my bet is this road is already on there radar map, and see if he might help you sway the board of supervisors as well. Take along several of the neighbors who use this road with you, as numbers matter..

This is how America is supposed to work. To many folks just like to sit and bitch about the situation, but lack the will to do anything meaningful to change it. Be the catalyst that promotes change..

Regards, Kirk
 

Bannedjoe

Well-known member
I have a suggestion...

Go to the county board of supervisors and point out that even though this road is not county, it ought to be. If as you say there are property tax paying land owners up there, that were not there years ago, I would think you could get some one, and bend there ear... Time changes so much, and the changes in your area should require the road to become a county one, with full time maintenance..

Talk to the head of the secondary roads department, my bet is this road is already on there radar map, and see if he might help you sway the board of supervisors as well. Take along several of the neighbors who use this road with you, as numbers matter..

This is how America is supposed to work. To many folks just like to sit and bitch about the situation, but lack the will to do anything meaningful to change it. Be the catalyst that promotes change..

Regards, Kirk
I think part of the problem with this road, is that it crosses many property lines.
I would think that in order for the county to adopt the road, many would have to relinquish portions of their lands and their rights to it.
I may be wrong.
There was a guy a few years ago just up from me who raised a stink when they needed to widen an area that crossed his property.

I believe he threatened to gate the road unless they met his demands.

He somehow talked them into drilling him a water well in exchange for breaching his property line.
It could be a real messy, complicated task.

I'd just be happy if someone would retrain the blade operator.

Oh, and build a bridge.
We need a damn bridge over the wash that can sometimes trap us in for weeks or months at a time.
 

Bamby

New member
Now stand up and admit it Joe, you stood up and purchased your property because of it's potential and lack of value in "as purchased". Otherwise you wouldn't likely be there. The others purchased theirs based on a dream that was sold to them.

So how bad do you want your bridge and a fresh new paved road? You know they will pull a property reappraisal first before they get anything started. Since you will then be one of the closest property owners to the main road once it completed the county will naturally apply the highest tax to you as receiving the most benefit of resale to boot.

Anyway how much more do you want to give as your share of the road? When others on up the road do more than their share of tearing it all to hell.
 

Bannedjoe

Well-known member
Now stand up and admit it Joe, you stood up and purchased your property because of it's potential and lack of value in "as purchased". Otherwise you wouldn't likely be there. The others purchased theirs based on a dream that was sold to them.

So how bad do you want your bridge and a fresh new paved road? You know they will pull a property reappraisal first before they get anything started. Since you will then be one of the closest property owners to the main road once it completed the county will naturally apply the highest tax to you as receiving the most benefit of resale to boot.

Anyway how much more do you want to give as your share of the road? When others on up the road do more than their share of tearing it all to hell.

A number of schools of thought.
My property is not crossed by the road (2 miles away) so I have nothing to lose as far as land acquisition goes.

Would I want the road paved?
Hell no. There'd just be more traffic and easier access for riff raff.
I purposely keep my road entrance unmarked and a bit rough to discourage traffic.
I certainly don't want to attract attention, nor have my property taxes raised.

I totally realize the pros and cons of my choice of where to reside, and the pros far outweigh the cons.

There are a few spots where this road exceeds 8 or 10% grade.
If people would just slow the hell down, and use their 4wd, things would be better, but short of hiding on a ridge and shooting out the tires of the crazy drivers, there's not much one can do.

Of course newer vehicles ride better, have better suspensions, and can adapt better to the road conditions.

My jeep Cherokees seem to glide over this crap, but my older F250 rides like a brick (even with new shocks and tires) and going over the wash boards at even 10 MPH is enough to come just short of losing control.

I can live with these things, it's not the end of the world, but man when the road isn't graded properly, it can pound a car to pieces in no time.
 

m1west

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
A number of schools of thought.
My property is not crossed by the road (2 miles away) so I have nothing to lose as far as land acquisition goes.

Would I want the road paved?
Hell no. There'd just be more traffic and easier access for riff raff.
I purposely keep my road entrance unmarked and a bit rough to discourage traffic.
I certainly don't want to attract attention, nor have my property taxes raised.

I totally realize the pros and cons of my choice of where to reside, and the pros far outweigh the cons.

There are a few spots where this road exceeds 8 or 10% grade.
If people would just slow the hell down, and use their 4wd, things would be better, but short of hiding on a ridge and shooting out the tires of the crazy drivers, there's not much one can do.

Of course newer vehicles ride better, have better suspensions, and can adapt better to the road conditions.

My jeep Cherokees seem to glide over this crap, but my older F250 rides like a brick (even with new shocks and tires) and going over the wash boards at even 10 MPH is enough to come just short of losing control.

I can live with these things, it's not the end of the world, but man when the road isn't graded properly, it can pound a car to pieces in no time.

Its a tough one, but I would opt to just deal with it. If the county improves the road, what may come with it is County folks like code enforcement, Sheriff etc. Think back to why you moved there in the first place.
 

Bannedjoe

Well-known member
Its a tough one, but I would opt to just deal with it. If the county improves the road, what may come with it is County folks like code enforcement, Sheriff etc. Think back to why you moved there in the first place.

Exactly.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
the right way to take out and prevent wash board is to rip below the washboard with a scarfire than resurface it by grading than pulling fines from the ditch setting the final crown than compact it when wet, other wise all your work will disappear when it rains or with traffic when its dry. You may also be thin on topping material the operator will not want to dig into the sub base. I have seen a lot of roads ruined by crap operators finnish grading and snow removal are 2 different tasks. you cant treat dirt like snow.
 
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