How to grade smoothe a humpy road with a dozer?

[Nitelite]

I dug out some stumps for a neighbor in exchange for a stock pile of gravel, crusher run. I used my 951C loader to load the gravel and haul it to my driveway. I hauled about thirty loads with my single axel F600 dump truck. The stock pile had been there for a few years and was wet and packed. In order to meet the neighbor's time frame I had no choice but to haul it wet.

I could not spread the crusher run with the truck at all, so it was dumped in piles on the driveway. I used the ag tractor with a front end loader and rear grader box to knock down the piles and spread the gravel as good as I could with it being wet.

Now it is dried out but everywhere a pile was dumped there is a thick hump and it has set up like concrete. It looks like a roller coaster. I need to grade it smooth with my D4E dozer but I don't want to follow the same humps and end up gouging the road. The road has plenty of fall so I don't need or want a crown. I have also ditched the upper side and installed new culverts as needed. I am thinking that it will need grading before the new gravel is spread and again after the new gravel has settled.

I am planning to have the road asphalted. The paver has asked that I have the road graveled with crusher run for the entire quarter mile of its length. The gravel will be delivered and spread on the road this coming week. I need to grade the humps out before it arrives. The new crusher run will also cover what gravel I have already put down on the road. I have about ten hours seat time on the D4E, but not grading or finish work. The dozer is direct drive and has a 10' mapt blade. The road base is about 16 feet wide and the asphalt will be 10' wide. What is the best way for a novice like me to grade the road smooth enough for an asphalt job?

 

[Desertwheeler]

Honestly I would rent a grader, it's sounds like that would take care of it and make it smooth enough for the asphalt.
I'm no expert on dozers but to cut humps out don't try to take it all at once if it's too big of a hump. Shave it down In a couple passes if needed and leave your last pass a bit above grade so you can have something to carry and fill. I don't run small dozers often at all and finish isn't my specialty so I am sure their are others that could be more helpful.
Worst case use the dozer to knock the humps out and use a drag behind the tractor.

 

[watglen]

subscribe.

I only have two thoughts.

Get on that dozer and don't get off till its smooth. You'll eventually figure it out. Then let me know.

The little bit of finish grading I have done has taught me to angle the blade hard one way or the the other. Doing this makes the cutting edge long in the direction of travel and helps it to float over the low spots and slice(like a knife) the high spots. Several passes and it looks decent. Maybe not great.

The other thing is you probably want to tear up those hard spots or they will come back to haunt you once the asphalt is in. Do what you can to bring the subgrade material to a consistent level of compaction. Those hard humps will show up in the asphalt in a couple years if you don't rip them up now.

IMO

 

[CM1995]

Get on that dozer and don't get off till its smooth. You'll eventually figure it out. Then let me know.

Yep.

Take your loader and scarify the humps with the bucket teeth to loosen them up, that will make it easier to grade with the dozer.

is your paver going to bring a motor grader in to touch up the base before asphalt?

When your new stone is delivered, have the drivers tailgate it.

 

[td25c]

Take your time & relax . You need to break up the surface & create some fines to grade with . What I do when grading with a dozer is first track up the drive to loosen up the surface . When I run in to a spot that's tight like concrete I will twist the machine left & right to brake up the top using the track grousers to scarify the high spots .

 

[LT-x7]

Take your time & relax . You need to break up the surface & create some fines to grade with . What I do when grading with a dozer is first track up the drive to loosen up the surface . When I run in to a spot that's tight like concrete I will twist the machine left & right to brake up the top using the track grousers to scarify the high spots .

Isn't that what rippers are for?


1/4 mile of pavement is expensive! If it was me forking out that kind of cash I would want the finished product as nice as possible. I think I would have someone with a grader finish it up before you have it paved. I'm not saying to not give it a shot with the dozer before your gravel shows up.

 

[td25c]

Isn't that what rippers are for?

We would dispatch an Allis Chalmers 175 & Box blade for a driveway grading job Its pretty high tech. LOL www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?14619-Box-blade

If I had a dozer on site would probably just twist around on the tight spots with the grousers to loosen it up & grade as needed.

 

[Dickjr.]

This can be done with your dozer in a fair amount of time. Gonna have to loosen the humps , cut then when finishing get a blade load of material and carry it over the road , lose some in low spots cut others. After that I agree a grader box is the way to go. Your paving guy should have a small grader when your ready to pave. The whole thing can be done with the grader box as well. Take your time and don't get frustrated.

 

[stumpjumper83]

Ok, for the level of finish you want, just clipping the high spots isn't going to work. Also pavers don't fix potholes and waves, pavers are designed to evenly place material over the existing surface, if it was uneven before, it will be after as well. What you need to do is loosen the entire road bed up to a depth below any low spot and pothole by several inches. You want that road tore right up, you can do this with rippers, the trackloaders teeth, or a really heavy disk. Then angle your dozer blade and start working it. Don't try to get it all done at one, get a pass and move over 1/3 to 1/2 a blade width and get that right. Once that's done, you need to compact, wheel rolling with the dump will work, but roll everything, middle and edges inc. Once completely rolled in, you should be able to drive your dump over it loaded and only leave a faint mark if any, then you have a road.

 

[wilko]

We would dispatch an Allis Chalmers 175 & Box blade for a driveway grading job Its pretty high tech. LOL

I grew up on a D17 and 170, still have dad's old D17. Love those old AC's.
What you need is an AC Speed Patrol.

 

[td25c]

I grew up on a D17 and 170, still have dad's old D17. Love those old AC's.
What you need is an AC Speed Patrol.

Yeah wilco,Im the same way. We also have a 170 & WD-45 on stand buy if it get's tough . Hey....... The way I look at it is it's a grading job for a paved driveway..... It aint like we are tryin to land a man on the moon.

 

[Steve Frazier]

If you have a machine with a 3 point hitch, I'd rent a Harley Rake and make several passes over the compacted material to loosen it, then pull the whole length of the driveway. I've dressed driveways with Item 4 this way and they come out as nice as with a grader, especially if you use the box ends on the rake.

 

[OldandWorn]

Lots of good information in this thread. Being a novice also, I would pick out some of the tips and apply them to your road conditions and machinery available. How bad are the humps, how difficult are they to break up, etc... Maybe get the road as good as possible with your dozer (and a lot of initial blade adjusting) and finish up with a box blade. If you are not 100% happy with the finished results then hire someone to dress it up for you. Like others have said, this is a very expensive undertaking and the finished result will depend on the smoothness of your work.

This took a bit of time but I had never used an AG tractor or box blade before. I was very happy with the results for gravel but I never would have paved it as there were some long rolling areas that an experienced hand with a grader or whatever could have easily taken care of.

 

[Cam85]

Listen to stump jumper 83 this guy obvisually knowes what he is talking about.
Rip up the lot take ur time 3 or 4 pushes isn't gunna cut it compaction is very important so is moister content u may have to add some water b carefull not to much or uwill get soft spotts and yes u do want a crown 3 percent is the general rule of thumb ( peg string ribbon bubbel tripod dumpy and staff use them laser gear is great but it is a luxury the old fashioned way still works ) and would seriously concider hiring in a grader and possibly even a final trim operator it will b cheaper than ripping up the black top and redoing it remember b patient and it's all in the base.
I would even concider hiring a small twin smooth drum roller start at the edge and only move half a drum at a time once rolled and sealed give it time to bake out very important depending on ur situation concrete treated base might b a better option .
Also just a thought blue metal ( proper gravel ) say 20 mill dropped on tar mushen with a cockle box may b cheaper and more viable option than proper ash felt.

 

[ttazzman]

a lot of good advice on here for preparing a ROADBED and certainly follow it to get the roadbed ready.........but for asphalt paving that put away the dozer use a grader...anything less is a compromise...with your stated experience levels i would highly recommend you hire the asphalt company to do the final fine grade and compaction immediately prior to laying the asphalt......if it were mine i would have them accept the subgrade....produce the final grade and lay the asphalt and provide a standard 1yr warranty.......with high oil prices these days its easy and profitable for asphalt mixes to be subpar IE shingles etc in the mix where there is no warranty or responsibility involved for the asphalt company...all asphalts are not created equal!!

 

[CM1995]

....with high oil prices these days its easy and profitable for asphalt mixes to be subpar IE shingles etc in the mix where there is no warranty or responsibility involved for the asphalt company...all asphalts are not created equal!!

I know a large asphalt producer in my area ( 4-5 plants) that use recycled shingles in the mix. They have a large area where they let you dump clean shingles for free. I have read a few articles where state DOT's have approved using shingles.

 

[ttazzman]

I know a large asphalt producer in my area ( 4-5 plants) that use recycled shingles in the mix. They have a large area where they let you dump clean shingles for free. I have read a few articles where state DOT's have approved using shingles.

we had several large asphalt parking lots contracted back a few years ago when oil was 150$ a barrel........the asphalt companies wanted to use state DOT approved shingle mixes.....we would only allow it with a 2 yr warranty...they all failed within the two year time period....i guess my point is get a warranty on any asphalt mix...in our area the standard run of the mill warranty on a commercial asphalt parking lot is 1yr ....its kinda like concrete mixes you get stronger mixes if they know your testing the loads....shingles in a mix is not necessarily a bad thing but its a cheaper way of producing a product sometimes creating issues if not watched carefully..

 

[CM1995]

....its kinda like concrete mixes you get stronger mixes if they know your testing the loads....shingles in a mix is not necessarily a bad thing but its a cheaper way of producing a product sometimes creating issues if not watched carefully..

Totally understand that. Standard commercial warranty in my area is the same.

 

[Nitelite]

Almost there

I tore up the road with the teeth of the 951C loader. Next I used the dozer to shave the humps and carry and fill. Then I finished up with the ag tractor. I actually did a better job with the dozer than I thought I would. I worked slow and tried to anticipate the humps and low spots and adjust the blade accordingly.

My grader box does an excellent job and it has the teeth that will roll over and drop down with a pull of a lever on the move. The grader box does a good job of following an existing contour. Re shaping a contour is another story requires a lot more effort.

I have more work to do after traveling the driveway after dark using the headlights. The headlights really show up the high spots and low areas. I could feel them through the dozer seat but couldn't tell exactly where to begin the cut to shave them off without tearing the road up and starting again.

I will get it in shape for the 4" of crusher run and let the truck driver spread it. He is really good when it comes to spreading gravel. I just need to get it in shape for him to do a good spreading job. The asphalt people will bring a grader and roller. They suggest that it rain on the new gravel a couple of times and that it have some time to settle.

Thanks guys for all of the ideas on knocking down those humps. I knew that given enough time and diesel fuel I could get it done but there is always different methods and better methods drawn on someone else's experience.

 

[g_man]

Just curious here - Why would you want to asphalt that road/drive. We leave them gravel around here. Even all the town roads are gravel. Cheaper and easyier to maintain. Looks like you have the equipment and know-how to do it.
I would be afraid my asphalt would get undermined from running water in those ditches.