Last winter when we moved in (December 20, to be exact), we got our rental U-Haul truck stuck in the mud at the top of the driveway.
In fact, the whole area in front of the barn was something of a mud pit, and the driveway had its bad spots as well.
I should explain our house has two driveways: the main one in front of the house (which is flat and nicely graveled), and the longer (and steeper) one that bypasses the house and runs straight to the barn. There is no connection between the house and barn. Kind of an odd arrangement, but we've gotten used to it.
One of the projects we wanted to get done before winter was graveling the long "barn" driveway and the area in front of the barn. Last week, thanks to the efforts of a neighbor who operates heavy equipment (including a dump truck), that happened.
Before bringing in the gravel, Don scraped the driveway a bit with the backblade on the tractor.
Here comes the first of three loads of gravel.
For this first load, we asked the truck driver if he could back the truck up and dump the load on the slope next to the driveway. We wanted some gravel available for a variety of unrelated projects, and having a pile of it in a convenient spot would be helpful.
Like all skilled truckers, maneuvering the massive dump on the narrow strip of driveway was a piece o' cake for the guy.
The next two loads were earmarked for the driveway itself. Each load covered about half the length. Our neighbor backed the dump truck up the length of the driveway, tipped the dump partly up, then drove forward and deposited the gravel in a line as he drove down.
The gravel was left a bit more heaped than usual, but that's okay. Don soon had it evened out with the tractor. (The pile on the right is the first load our neighbor brought.)
When our neighbor brought in the last load, he and Don stopped to jaw for a bit. He's a great guy and Don enjoys his company.
Here he goes with the last load.
He even managed to "feather" it a bit at the end. Nice!
Then Don tackled the thicker spots and started smoothing things out and making the layer of gravel more even.
It's a job he's skilled at, and within a few hours the driveway was even and well-spread. The gravel will pack down over the next couple of weeks.
No more getting stuck in the mud. It's a thing of beauty, is it not?
One more project complete!
That looks great!
ReplyDeleteYou would rather have that rock than a big one on your finger. Wouldn’t you? 😊
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
Delete- Patrice
Any plans to extend your house driveway to the barn?
ReplyDeleteNot really. We have things figured out pretty well know.
Delete- Patrice
One can never have too much gravel on their property. Last year we dug out an area for some lawn. The previous owner had 6" of road base placed all over the proerty (house, barns, etc cover 2 acres out of 20). He must have had a real good friend.
ReplyDeleteProjects accomplished before winter sets in always gives us a good feeling of relief.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me I need to order another load of crushed limestone for our own driveway (someday I'll have a driveway from the pole barn to the house, but not this year. This year I'm still walking the groceries in, lol). XaLynn
ReplyDeleteWe need to do this project as well. A neighbor kindly widened the driveway so now we need to add a layer of stone, especially on the "new" side.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it nice to see projects get completed?!
it's a little late for this suggestion, but we also have a long rural driveway, and before we rocked it, we laid down a heavy fabric that is made to stabilize the road bed...no weeds and the gravel doesn't disappear into the mud. 10 years later it still looks great.
ReplyDelete