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Grading a gravel road .

BigAl

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Have you ever used a 3ph Landscape rake to finish grade a rock road ? Until I moved to Idaho , I had never seen it done . The results are simply amazing .After you have established your crown of the road and graded your ditches , switch to a rock rake for the finish pass . Angle the rake just a little to windrow the rock to one side .Very little down pressure Then bring it back across the other way . You will love the results . The County Road crew does all the finish grading of gravel roads this way in our area .
 
Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I have one gravel drive and 1 asphalt drive. I use a 'landscape rake' hooked up to the 3pt hitch to maintain the gravel drive. A couple passes, once a year does the trick.
 
300 H and H

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Our drives are mostly white lime rock. When they get chuck holed we have found it works better and lasts longer to fill the holes with rock and leave the grader alone. We get 1 and 1/2 inch crushed with the fines iin it to patch with. Works pretty darn good. Once a year is all you have to mess with it usually. I have Level drives, BTW...

Regards, Kirk
 
M

mla2ofus

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
H&H, the key word in your description of patch material is "crushed". All the fractured faces on the rock makes it bind together better. Lots of folks buy the cheapest, ie: pit run or screened gravel, and wonder why it wont stay in place.
Mike
 
M

mla2ofus

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
BigAl said:
Have you ever used a 3ph Landscape rake to finish grade a rock road ? Until I moved to Idaho , I had never seen it done . The results are simply amazing .After you have established your crown of the road and graded your ditches , switch to a rock rake for the finish pass . Angle the rake just a little to windrow the rock to one side .Very little down pressure Then bring it back across the other way . You will love the results . The County Road crew does all the finish grading of gravel roads this way in our area .
Click to expand...

Al, are you referring to a rock rake or ice bits for the graders?
Mike
 
muleman

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
I use a York rake like Al describes. Our town highway dept goes the same thing. They work pretty well after a grader pass. For that i have a drag box with rippers but I seldom use the rippers. Like Kirk I buy a load of crushed with fines mixed in to help bind them together. Snow plowing scatters the top layer and I rake it back off the shoulders each spring.
 
B

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bill - Do you have a good leaf blower? That's what I use in the Spring to get the rocks out of the grass and back into the driveway.

Instead of 3PH, mine is a tow-behind. Works great with an ATV.

YorkTA1A.jpg
 
muleman

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
bczoom said:
Bill - Do you have a good leaf blower? That's what I use in the Spring to get the rocks out of the grass and back into the driveway.

Instead of 3PH, mine is a tow-behind. Works great with an ATV.

YorkTA1A.jpg
Click to expand...
Never owned a leaf blower. The wind up here takes care of it. My stones are usually scattered back in the grass from the plow and I use the rake to bring them back to the road. Then I run a second pass to work them to the center to keep some crown. I need more stone but had to buy wood first and next up is school taxes. Might get stone before the snow flies. At 3/4 mile long a load does not go very far. I could use 3 loads right now but it costs $470 for 21 ton delivered.
 
Snowtrac Nome

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
I have seen those rakes. Ive always wondered how they would for work for breaking up the wind blown snow up here to prep it for grooming
 
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