Use of Wood Chips to Cross Wet Hole ??

[thecfarm]

I have a little experience with a corduroy road that was put in many,many years ago.When we used haul our wood out on a trailer it went well,but when we started to drag the logs out with a tractor some of the old corduroy stuff would catch and stick up in the air.Than we would have to take that piece out.We hauled out a lot of wood on a trailer,but as soon as we started to drag the logs,problems started pretty quick .This was with a corduroy road that probably had been there for 50 years.Most of it had sunk into the mud,but just dragging the logs moved some around and would cause a mess. A skidder would do fine with slash and all the other stuff but I would never want to drive a tractor through that junk.I started to haul a stone wall into the wet hole and buried all of that old corduroy material and have not had any problems with the corduroy material or mud since.
If you was closer I would give you all the rocks you need.

[g_man]

Thanks for the offer on the rocks, but I think I'm all set  ;D

[jimparamedic]

Let us know how you handle the problem pics are good

[wilson_tree]

Here is a good plan based on everything written above:
1. Dump wood chips in wet spot.
2. Cover with brush.
3. Cover brush with logs, slabs, and rocks.
4. Skid logs over wet spot.
5. Get stuck on mess returning for next hitch.
6. Push tangle of wet crap out of way.
7. Cover with geotextile and gravel like you should have at the beginning.

Geotextile works wonders.  Use it on your skid roads, landings, driveway, etc.  It is worth it.   

[fuzzybear]

 As said earlier I would skid all the logs to the hole, lay small amounts of wood chips/fill. Just enough to winch the logs across.  A little more work but a lot less headache for the small amount your harvesting.

[Radar67]

Does anyone have a good source for geotextile fabric? I've about made my mind up to use it on my 900 foot long driveway.

[Warren]

Radar,

We have a farm supply store that sells the mud fabric.  Approx $360 per 100 yds of 12 ft, approx $470 per 100 yd of 15 ft.  may be able to find betterpricing.  But this place is only 10 or 12 miles from the house. 

Just don't try to lay it down when it has been sitting outside (wet) and then freezes..... :(

Warren

[redneck]

a couple of years ago i made a 200' road  with the slash from the delimber and cover with 2 feet of  fill  then track down with excavator.  log trucks were crossing latter that afternoon.  Not a permanent road but it held up for 3 months

[TwinCut]

 





A friend of mine is building roads through muskeg here in Alberta with this unit on a trial basis. Seems to be working so far. It's almost like "wood pit run" with the big chunks of wood. I think they are putting dirt on top of the chunks to form the road bed.

[g_man]

Thanks for the advice. I decided on a corduroy road. It took a little work but only cost me a case of Bud for the RR guy who let me take some old ties and about $15 worth of 3/4" crusher run that I put in the spaces to help hold it together when it packs/freezes. The idea of my little logging operation is to pay the taxes and I only have small equipment. Most of you guys would not have even noticed this spot but it was enough to stop me. Hopefully my little road will last a while.

[g_man]

This is my "skidder"  :D



and now I can work down this slope to get the fir before it blows over. It has stump rot.

[Gary_C]

Wow! You sure did that wet hole up right. That's better than a railroad track bed.

Great job.  8) 8)

[Jeff]

Now you'll never have to live to regret putting the chips in there.  That looks great.

[StephenRice]

I am more of a building contractor than a sawman like you guys are.  However, I did marine construction for many years down here on the Gulf Coast and I always have used marine grade filter cloth under  concrete or limestone riprap (rocks and boulders along the shoreline) to keep those stones from sinking to China.

Road construction crews and people building high retaining walls and embankments around building use a geotextile fabric to stabilize layers of earth in an embankment situation such as the approach to bridges.  Most of that has large holes in it.

Along the shoreline, landscapers use another type of geotextile weaved fabric with smaller holes (1/8 to 1/4 inch) to stabilize sod and prevent it from washing away during hurricanes.  They use the stuff with the small holes so that roots from the grass can grow through it while stabilizing the surface in a solid sheet.  Some of that fabric would be ideal if you were to try to plant a tough grass over it.

If using the wood chips alone, I might suggest the super tough synthetic fiber marine grade filter cloth.  It will allow water to slowly seep through it, but will not allow dirt to go through.  I have purchased 12'x300' wide rolls of this fabric in the past by the foot for $2.00 per lineal foot.  Of course, whole rolls come at a discount.  Let me assure you, this stuff is not your home center weed control fabric.  It is TOUGH!  You must have a sharp knife or scissors to cut it.  You are not going to tear it by hand, that is for sure.

I would check around for places that can get some of this stuff.  you will need it if you put down rock or not.  In fact, if you do not put it down first and you spend a bunch of money on rock, you will be mostly wasting your money because the rock will sink to China and you will still have a giant sinkhole.  If you lay this stuff down first and THEN put down about 4"-6" of regular gravel (stone and even dirt mixed), then you should be just fine.  Not a bad $120 (plus shipping) investment if you ask me.  Rock costs a lot more than that.

Here is one company I found on Google.  -->  http://www.usfabricsinc.com/products/geotextiles?ex=eep549-5pxuxg-0&gclid=COS18f7n7aMCFSRiswodSHq_1g

http://www.usfabricsinc.com/catalogs/woven-stabilization-separation

If you are not too far from the coast, I am sure lumber yards that sell marine products for seawalls and such will gladly sell you some as well.

[StephenRice]

Oops... I am sorry.  I read to just before you said that you were using the railroad ties when I made the above post.  What you did looks like a lot of work to me, but I am sure that it will do a great job for a long time to come.

[Ron Scott]

Well done! and much better than wood chips. ;)

[slowzuki]

Doesn't look like it should have stopped your tractor, but you won't tear anything up on it this way.  Our ground is similar and we have a similar tractor.  I don't bother with mud anymore though. We pack the snow down on the skid trails so it will freeze.

You'll appreciate your trail years into the future once other wood is ready for harvest.