Driveway bedlam

I friend has a dirt driveway. During the thaw and muddy seasons the driveway become deeply trenched with ruts. What is the easiest fix that they could do to combat this problem.

Would loads of rock dumped and spread be enough to combat this? These friends do not have much spare cash to work wth. This would be something over a period of time.

Thanks, Big D

 

Seems to me that some kind of rock or gravel you could compact would be the best option.

 

Thanks Mitch,
What kind would you suggest? As I said, the cheaper the better, but if you have a rock type that I could call around on, I'd appreciate it. I am kind of doing this without their knowledge, so I want to have all of the information before I spring a half answer onto them.
Thanks!

 

I know that some materials compact well and others don't, but I don't know enough to suggest a particular material, let alone advise on cost. A trip to the local supply yard could probably answer that question pretty quickly.

 

OK THANKS.

 

Potholes in dirt driveway need to be filled with dirt a few inches above height of holes. Then water soil and tamp as hard as you can. Repeat if necessary. Then gravel can be applied on top. Applying gravel to empty potholes will result in gravel popping out of holes when driving on it. If driveway is deeply rutted, then a bulldozer will likely be needed to smooth out the ruts and create slope for proper drainage before applying stone or gravel. It may be necessary to clean out ditches along driveway to accommodate runoff.

 

if you spot a backhoe around the neighborhood, offer him a couple of bucks to backblade your driveway nice and smooth. then order a few tons of crushed rock and spread it out. this is what you get when you buy a new house. just a thin layer of rock to keep you out of the mud. to order this stuff ask for three quarter which is crushed rock that is not bigger than 3/4 inch. don't use 0-3/4. that contains a lot of stone dust which you don't need unless you're compacting, and you don't want to compact the rock unless you're making a grade and want to pave over it with asphalt or paving stone. the compaction won't last anyway unless it's paved over and the straight stone will look nicer.

 

If I find a back hoe, what would "a couple bucks" be? I wouldn't want to offer too little and am afraid to know what a fair amount is. Also, how much can my friend expect to pay per yard for the 3/4? I don't expect a quote, just a ball park figure.

Thanks!

 

Rock like that would be about $17/yd here.

 

If your friends are really tight for money try talking to contractors and road crews that may doing some demolition work. If they have ground up concrete or asphault ask them if they can dump their rubble on the driveway. Make sure they know you want it for a driveway. Most crews are nice and will try to make up a load of "good stuff" for a driveway. You will have some smoothing to do and may have to pick out some big pieces, but it is cheap.

If you have a shingle factory around you can often get their scrap for cheap. First fill in the pot holes and ruts as best possible and spread the shingle scraps. It makes a surprisingly nice driveway.

If you want to spend money than you can talk about having a load of stone brought in. "Crusher run" is usually a lower priced stone mix but it is still $200+ for a large dump truck load.