I have a wild idea and need to know if it will work. I have a farm lane rthat is about 3/4ths of a mile long, it has a few soft / wet spots , some places it is lower than the fields on either side. I can't afford to build it up with gravel and don't really want gravel anyway. my idea is to lay a thick layer of wood/brush chips to drive on I just do not know how it will hold up and what kind of mess I will have if this don't work. Has anyone ever done this before and how did it work out?
- Thread starter JDMAN60
- Start date
Got that idea from NRCS. Amish farmer aboout 20 miles east of here started using wood chips for a road so he could get his honey wagon out to fields without going on the road. I started using wood chips for hi traffic areas for the cows about two years ago. Other than washing some during rain storms, it seems to have helped solve a mud problem around here. Local tree trimmers have been bringing me loads of it, and I put it into the manure spreader for a fairly even coat.
It's done everyday on pipe line right of ways. In that case they basically run a brush cutter through shredding every tree that stands in the way, leaving all of the chips on the ground. Having spent alot of time repairing equipment that has broken down on those right of ways, I can attest to the fact that the wood chips are a great deterent to having a muddy mess in a non-vegitated area that recieves alot of vehicle traffic.
Jim in Ma.
Well-known Member
For the short turm it will work very well. But after a year or two it will become compost and you will not be happy with it.
37chief
Well-known Member
- Location
- California
If the road is used alot the chips will rot, and turn to powder. I live in a community that uses wood chips around a meeting hall. The chips are fine for the first year. Then it is dust time, as cars grind up the chips. Stan
37chief
Well-known Member
- Location
- California
If the road is used alot the chips will rot, and turn to powder. I live in a community that uses wood chips around a meeting hall. The chips are fine for the first year. Then it is dust time, as cars grind up the chips. Stan
Janicholson
Well-known Member
In my opinion the organics will work into the mud and make a layer of composition that will in the end become composted. It will be even harder to clean up when the option is available. Another issue is floating off in the wet seasons coming. Even slow near stationary water will lift them and they will be over in the down current roadside.
I would use a back blade to cut some off of the high spots and fill the low. Crushed concrete from 2 to 3 inch, spread, then covered with fill from the high spots might also be a simple solution. Contractors and road engineers go way out of their way to start with clean earth minus organics on a road. Jim
I would use a back blade to cut some off of the high spots and fill the low. Crushed concrete from 2 to 3 inch, spread, then covered with fill from the high spots might also be a simple solution. Contractors and road engineers go way out of their way to start with clean earth minus organics on a road. Jim
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
if you use geo textile fabric under it it will work for a while ,, but thats more expense ,,often wondered how well used carpet would work under a driveway ,,carpet dealers have to dispose of the old stuff they take out ,, ,
Chips rot, create mush, more problems- gravel doesn"t rot, rocks don"t, hey, even dirt doesn"t! Work with it over time, as you can afford it- nothing wrong with that....we older ones did that.......certainly nothing wrong with fixing stuff as you can afford it. key to any driveway is to crown the center, so the water drains to the side, and all water needs an outlet. If the driveway is lower than the field alongside----only way to fix is to raise the road! Water needs to drain! OK that you can"t do all now. Just do it right, when you can.
60 acre hillside
Member
Look around your local sawmill. Their lot is covered with chips, sawdust, and shavings. Not the best but is the usual thing.
rustyfarmall
Well-known Member
So wood chips are now the NEW "poor mans gravel"? When I was a kid it was corn cobs, which were good for a few short months, and then turned to mush.
GeneMO
Well-known Member
- Location
- Pilot Grove, Mo.
It would end up being a H of a mess.
Gene
Gene
Wheatfarmer
Member
Several years ago I had a bog pop up in the drive way. Had hauled a load of tree bark. Cleaned out the truck in that bog. Worked great.
Thank you to the ones who offered real wisdom and advice. to the rest of you, well.......never mind. It was just a thought as gravel is very expensive and will not last because it sticks to tractor tires and gets strung out on the road. We own some woods and cut alot of firewood and are cleaning some fencerows I was just wondering. I guess I will stick to the mud because I don't know anyone who can afford to build up a gravel road that long.
smallercrawler
Member
Friend tried carpeting under gravel for barn lot driveways. Wound up with a mess as it would "ball up" when muddy with vehicle traffic, and would get caught in mowers at cleanup time. Had to pay more to dispose of it than it cost to get as it was full of mud, wouldn't burn, and had to be hauled to landfill.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
People make an effort to reply and you kick them in the teeth. It is not too difficult to say 'Thanks" without the other cra#.
I did this in a few areas through my woods. When it was freshly laid, it was ok. It provided a decent mat to drive over. But after a while, it compacted in the tire tracks, water collected and the ruts came back. The problem is not so much the rotting away but that it's being put in a spot that is low to start with and collects water. Water is the problem. If you've got the chips, throw them down, but I wouldn't pay anything for them.
rustyfarmall
Well-known Member
If the ground is soft and muddy, don't go in there. Plain and simple.
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