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Putting in an 800' driveway through the forest, advice and tips needed.

Started by Piston, August 15, 2011, 11:55:13 PM

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isawlogs


I am guessing here that you might be in need of a few more culverts or , a better crown on the driveway. Either one will get you the material runoff that you are experiencing.
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Raider Bill

Quote from: isawlogs on August 18, 2011, 10:10:20 AM

I am guessing here that you might be in need of a few more culverts or , a better crown on the driveway. Either one will get you the material runoff that you are experiencing.

Basically it was poor planning and lack of knowledge on my part. Most of the drive drains ok but I have one are that runs alongside a small hill which rounds a corner and the area that goes in front of the double wide I lived in while building. Here you can see the the small hill on the far right and how the water needs to cross the drive. 



The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Patty

Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

Raider Bill

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Kansas

I put a half mile driveway in to get back to where I put my house. The number one mistake I made was not having a good road grader come in and build the road up before I started putting gravel down. If I had raised that road up 6" or a foot, then put the gravel down, it would have cost me less in the long run, and I would have had a lot better road.

shinnlinger

I am just up the road from your house site in NH and I put in 500 ft of driveway thru my field a few years back.  My understanding are state regs are now 21 ft wide driveways for fire trucks, and at 800ft long you may want it that wide regardless so double check.  Sometimes the locals are behind the times, but then again there is a massive upheaval at the state level right now, so who knows?  Live free AND die!

I stripped my top soil and put down fabric and have put some 1-1/2 hardpack on that, but I need more and then plan to top that with 3/4 hardpack.  IN hindsite I would have put down more and bigger stone for a base but $$$ is always the issue.

I also buried my electric and split the pull at the meter half way, might be another way to break up your pull.

My one observation is that you are going to dig up some big rocks from the glaciers in both your drive and at your house/septic site and you are going to drive yourself mad (and beat the snot out of your machine) trying to do all your work with a loader/hoe.  I encountered some boulders/ledge even my 40,000 machine couldn't move in places I did not expect.  I suggest acquiring a big excavator for that portion of your work, you will be much faster and happier in the end and save your 410 for later.

If you need any blasting done, you can use the tailings as a road base and sometimes blasting ledge is a cheaper way to make your own gravel than having it hauled in.  Don't know how close a gravel pit is to your site, but trucking is the big expense up here.

Good Luck!!!

Dave
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

Peter Drouin

shinnlinger  yes there is a (upheaval) to get the libs out of state gov. and the (locals) are not behind the times. just trying to keep it a ( live free OR die ) state. the thinking of live free AND die we don;t need. we locals have made NH so nice that everyone wants to live here . 
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

John Mc

Peter - I believe Shinnlinger's reference to "sometimes the locals are behind the times" was not meant as a slam against native NH folks. I think he was referring to the fact that some municipalities might not be up to speed and/or enforcing the new statewide regs for driveway width.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

shinnlinger

Thank you John,

You are correct. I am a NH native myself and buiding in my small town has at times been frustrating when one person tells you one thing only to have another tell you something else.

As for the current legislature, I was only commenting that there is currently upheaval and getting a straight answer right now may be difficult and things may change shortly.

Dave
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

M-Henry

New forum member - retired PE - maybe a few random thoughts:

Your road will only be as good as the base - don't skimp.

I would never build a road without crown - water will be your worst enemy.

I would never use ditch material for a base - too much chance of organic material.  If happen upon sand or gravel, maybe, but be careful.

Fabric works as does lime or cement stabilization - check around with road contractors or a county engineer - some material may be cheap in one state and cost a fortune elsewhere.

If there is any road work locally - see if you can get waste concrete or asphalt pavement - I was lucky enough 5 years ago to use recycled asphalt for our 1000' driveway - then as now a loaded ready-mix will not pump it an inch.

Frost might heave some larger base stone a little - but a spring walk of "rock picking" will solve that.  A good solid base will make you happy years to come - future repairs could break the bank.

When I first laid out my road with nice curves, etc. - my brother in-law just laughed - good luck plowing that he said.  Straight and wide - was the best advice I got.

Not sure this helps - looks like you're getting enough advice to choke a horse - GOOD LUCK :)



Peter Drouin

Maybe so Shinnlinger, but it just rattles me when people show disrespect for the state motto.

Boy, that is a long driveway you want to put in. I would not use the backhoe to build a driveway. Within a few hours you'll either have a flat tire or rip a hose off. My advice would be to cut the trees for the driveway, pile the brush, butt end facing the driveway so you can grab them and chip them later. Cut and pile the firewood beside the driveway and leave your sawlogs where they lay. Hire a professional with a triaxle and a big excavator. That way the professional will load the truck from the back, dump the stumps and come back with a load of bankrun. Then he will smooth it out and back up his truck load the stumps again, and work his way up the driveway to the house site. He will move the logs as he goes.  See if you let the man with the excavator rough in the driveway then you can dress it with your backhoe after the concrete trucks and well drillers the septic installer are all done and will have settled the base gravel for you.  I would make the driveway as wide as you can. You do have to think about all that snow you have to plow and room for the ditches. So cutting the trees back  25-30 feet wide is not crazy. Besides the forest will grow right back in if you let it. You can spread your wood chips on the sides of the driveway to keep the sapplings at bay. Hope this helps. Best of luck. Pete 8) 8)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Piston

Thanks for the extra advice, I'll keep taking the tips right up until I put the driveway in! 
I finally made a date for the surveyor to come survey the land, so the second week of October he will be taking care of that.  I will also be flagging out the driveway location because I need to have a wetland scientist confirm that it will not interfere with wetlands, he is going to meet me there next Wed. 
At least I'm seeing a little progress, although I'm sure driveway construction won't start until spring time at this point. 

I was hoping to get up to the land and take some more pics of where the driveway will be, but IRENE made a mess back home and I had to spend a week cleaning up from that, which was my week to get up to NH.  So pics are gonna have to wait. 
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

Ironwood

All your drives seem to be in fairly remote areas. BUT, as M-Henry stated, if (BIG "if") you can be patient try to find some local road crews or contractors n your region whom you can get loads of their "waste". I am currently expanding one of my storage area/platforms with the help of my township road crew (their stuff is usually pretty nasty, organic, slimy) which gets buried. The REAL good stuff is a local paving outfit which has 6-7 crews running constantly. They bring EVERYTHING imaginable, gravel with asphalt (my "base"), brick, rock, dirt. It takes a bit of daily care and keeping all the drivers informed, but I have saved thousands of dollars. They brought 80 ton of #3 sized asphalt from a parking lot "redo" in one day. That same day I got brick, and dirt, about 30 ton. Also, they bring hot binder and hot "topcoat" asphalt daily. Usually, it is 1/2 to 4 ton a day. I am around to get "the call" from the foreman that a "hot" load is coming, I just get on the tractor and spread it, then pack it with the truck tires. Been working the "hot" into the ditches on  my steep drive that comes directly up a hollow to my house. The steep drive is topped with 8 year old hardened and compacted millings I bought when a BIG contracting company milled and repaved our main road. The millings are holding up very well, this new material just continues to improve that drive. They also on occasion bring screened topsoil.  8)

It sounds like you have the equipment, just try to find out if there is any material available in your region. Beer and "girly magazines" my female barber saves for me keep the crews happy. She gets 3-4 copies of Playboy every month for free, and I have also been know to show up with coffee and donuts, or pizza on occasion.


Ironwood
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

Al_Smith

I got in on this one a little late .I've built some drives but never 800 footers .300 is about the longest .

Now I suppose it just depends on where you live what is available as far as stone .Being in limestone country I use a minimum of 6 inchs of number 1's and 2' for a base .After about a year of driving over those rough things I lay down another 4 to 6 inches of 304 mix which contains fines as well as stone up to about 3/4" .After another couple years periodicaly top dress with 411 which is a tad finer than 304 mix .

If you live in gravel country ,bank run is a cheaper option . One thing about stone or gravel is it's like beer .You can only rent the stuff .

BTW stumps will burn given enough time .I have no idea why in the world they could be considered hazardous waste .Roll them around with a dozer to knock the dirt off and light them on fire just like you were having a wienie roast or something .Actually they do roast a pretty good hot dog if you are so inclined . ;D

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