Ever build your own gravel driveway?

[Wampuscat]

I'm wanting to build my own gravel driveway in the north Brazoria county area...Liverpool. My smallish 3 acre property drains really well. Its really two one and a half acre lots measuring 270' x 485'. There are cuts on each side and one down the middle that drain to the back and out to a ditch. No standing water during any of the deluges in the past year.

I'm thinking on a 12' wide gravel driveway about 250' long with an eventual 40' x 50' parking area. This will lead to the future 40' x 50' Barndo. The gravel drive willtie into another future house's drive for a horseshoe.

I've read on some other forums where others have put in their own drives and the types of road material varies greatly. There are no trees to remove and the soil where I buried our dog was a mix of sand and red clay down to 3'. The ground cover consists mainly of field grasses and weeds with some dewberry vines that get mowed down.

Should I grade out what top soil there is and then refill with bought dirt? I've read where some put down a roll cloth over the top soil and then cover with gravel. I'm not sure as to the type of gravel to get either? I've heard to get fist sized as a bottom layer then cover with half that size and top it off with 3/4" - 1 1/2" gravel.

I've heard of people using crushed shell too. I'm really lost on that route but learning about it is half of the fun. I grew up with caliche roads in Oklahoma but we are a long way from any caliche shelves. I'm not quite sure on what type gravel to use. I'm not against using ground asphault, crushed concrete, wash-out or anything else...

I just don't want to break the bank. I'm trying to build this "Rancho Not-So Grande" on a cash in pocket basis.

Anyone have any help or words of wisdom/caution here? I have a 27HP tractor with a 4' FEL and will be getting a box blade. Any places to get gravel delivered from would be appreciated too.

I'm debating renting a dozer to dig out a pond for dirt to raise the Barndo pad some. I could use some of this dirt for the road too if needed. Not sure if there is any usable clay for lining a pond... will worry about that later.

[Geezy Rider]

I just used road base and level it out with the bucket on my tractor. Any local guy with a ten yard dump truck will know where to get some.

[Steve_243]

Yep....every time it's rains more than 5 inches I have to rebuild mine, but then again, it's 1300 feet long with a 50 elevation difference from top to bottom.....LOL

Where I live, we would put in a good clay base and use creek gravel on top of that, but that's what we have to work with around here.

[12 point]

Not an expert by any means. I had a bad problem as far as drainage on one property where vehicles were parked. Decided to dig out the soil and put chunks of old concrete in. A friend owned a company that bought left over aggregate and river rock. I put river rock down over the concrete chunks, but that required more and more gravel over time to fill in areas that kept sinking.

An acquaintance had a trucking company and told me about the crushed concrete they put down for their dump trucks. I bought several dump truck loads of flex base and spread that out and packed it with tractors. Then I bought a little larger crushed concrete to put over that and packed it too.

If I could have done anything different, I'd like to have found some #4 crushed stone to put down over the flex base instead of the larger crushed concrete. The reason I went with the crushed concrete was the cheap price.

[WIKI]

Ever build your own gravel driveway?

I did a gravel drive way bank in early 90's when we first got married and lived in family farm. It was roughly hundred yards long. I used a box blade to get it how I wanted it. My father in law had hundreds or railroad ties. I ran them on each side and used rebar to keep them in place. We sold and moved on. But it still looks good to this day. It kept gravel from spreading out.

[Wampuscat]

I did a gravel drive way bank in early 90's when we first got married and lived in family farm. It was roughly hundred yards long. I used a box blade to get it how I wanted it. My father in law had hundreds or railroad ties. I ran them on each side and used rebar to keep them in place. We sold and moved on. But it still looks good to this day. It kept gravel from spreading out.

There are hundreds of old railroad ties along the tracks near my place. I was told a contractor is coming to get them, but that was months ago. I'm sure they would miss them if I got any more than I already have.