firming up gravel?

[Diesel Dan]

Hello guys,

I just relocated from so cal to the wonderfull pacific northwest. My question is: the house i bought just north of Spokane, Wa has a area next to the driveway that is filled with gravel. 50 feet by 15 feet of 3/8th to 7/8ths oval shaped gravel apx 4 inches deep. It is a challenge to drive on as it is on a slight incline. I would like to be able to park the small trailers on it but it is too lose to do that. What are my options aside from taking it out and pouring concrete( too expensive). What can i do to firm it up? I want to make it hard as a rock. My thoughts are to ad a bunch of concrete powder and water and let it cure. I am not sure if this will work for a 8,000 lb truck.



What do you guys suggest????





TIA



DD

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Dan I didn't know you moved up this way. When did you come up? Still liking the KORE suspension? I still got some of those wheels of yours



If you have roundish gravel it will always be mushy. I'm not a gravel expert but if you want firm gravel you need the crushed stuff. The roundish gravel will always be loose, sorta acts like ball bearings.



Vaughn

 

[ASchwartz]

Take out the gravel and place a geo-textile on the bottom. Then replace the gravel and use deepened "moe curbs" along the edges to keep the gravel from moving sideways.



Avi

 

[tugboatphil]

My wife's dad works at a quarry. When we were ready to order some gravel, he would tell us when was the best time (not too much dirt mixed in). So to order, we asked for "crush of the run, mixed with 57s. " The 57 is a gravel size and the crush is the smaller bits and dust. It laid down fairly loose, but after the first rain it packed real nice. The crush acts as a bonding agent (not the kind that get you out of jail. :-laf )



If your gravel is in good shape, maybe you could try a few bags of concrete. Lay it out dry and brush it down into the gaps. Either wait for rain, or hit it with a mist from the garden hose. Don't know if this works, but it's something I've always meant to try.



Good luck!

 

[Beach]

If the gravel has fine's in it you could just run a compactor over it to settle it and get all the air out of it! I think if you pour concrete powder over it, it's going to crumble as soon as you drive on it since it's not being mixed in and setting up like a thicker pour would! I'm not an expert but have worked with concrete and gravel!

 

[Diesel Dan]

Hey Vaughn,

Welcome me to the neighborhood if you will as i am a NW bomber now. Moved up early last winter and have been getting organized for a while. I am interested buying back those wheels for a winter set. how many do you have? Still loving my Kore suspension and working on a deal to be the NW guy for this product.



ASchwarts,

It is surronded by a nice edging but is still way schwishy(if that is a word)



Tugboatphil,

this is what i am going to try if i don't get any better ideas.



Thanks

DD

 

[ASchwartz]

If it is oval like your description said then no matter what you do it won't work. You need a crushed aggregate with lots of angular sides in order for it to lock onto itself.



Avi

 

[Little Bill]

I had a similar problem with deep gravel. Filled and firmed it up by washing in some sand.

 

[TowPro]

If you don't mind putting in the work, concrete ain't that expensive. Out my way that size pad would run around $500. 00 in concrete. Form it up, put some wire down, poor it, rent a float with extension poles to get it level, buy a push broom to rough it up instead of finishing it. Rent a saw and cut 1/2" deep cuts into it the following day in around 4'x4' sections and within 30 days it will be 98% hard. I bet one of them NW bombers could help!

 

[moparguy]

We did this at my Lit'l Brothers, mixed in several bags of cement using a garden tiller. Just pored the dry cement out, started wetting it with a water hose while tilling it in. When it looked right, we struck it off with a 2x4, then used a shop broom for the final finish.



It's worked OK. Of course the best option is to move the rock, put down concrete wire, form it up and call the concrete plant.



Good luck RR

 

[Dual EE]

As little Bill stated. . Add sand.

 

[Diesel Dan]

thanks for the info guys



I have also heard of adding pee gravel. It is supposed to fill the voids and stop the squirming. Any body done this?



Best regards



DD



Hey Vaughn,

do you want to sell any rims?

 

[AMink]

Pea gravel on it's own is squishy too. We build trails in the parks were I work and the best way we've found to do it is put down a barrier cloth between the native soil and what you put on top. It keeps the native material (clay in this area) from mixing with your new material. We have had real good luck with crusher fines (rock dust). I think it's what's left over after they make base material. It doesn't have any bigger stuff in it. We take out 4 inches, put down the cloth, put in 7 inches of material and compact the stink out of it while wetting it. Crown it or slope it slightly so water sheets off instead of cutting ruts. The nice thing is, is that if it does rut, it's easy to fix. Good luck!