How hard can it be?

[brian_H]

Afternoon all.

So, we have a gravel drive that's roughly 18m long x 3m wide. It is also on a decent slope, down to my garage at the bottom of the hill. The gravel is uneven and now accumulating at the bottom near my garage doors.

I am going to level it as best I can by hand while I am off for Christmas but I want a longer term solution. I love the look and sound of the gravel but it is a pain. The house is G2 listed so I am also restricted in what I can do.

I am contemplating scraping the stones back, flatten the hardcore as best I can then add more hardcore were required to get as flat as possible, then lay some plastic gravel grids down then refill with the old stones and some new ones as needed.

I am thinking, as per the title, how hard would it be to rent a mini-digger to do the levelling part? I am literally talking taking a skim off with the backfill blade then driving over it with the tracks to get it more consistent.

I am an engineer by trade so have a decent eye for detail and I can, and have, driven most things before.....just not any kind of digger.

Has anyone tried to do this themselves who can give me any tips, advice or recommendations for digger hire.

Cheers

Brian

[worsy]

I'd guarantee hiring a man with a digger would be the best bet here. Probably cost around the same but take half as long.

[boyse7en]

brian_H said:

Afternoon all.

So, we have a gravel drive that's roughly 18m long x 3m wide. It is also on a decent slope, down to my garage at the bottom of the hill. The gravel is uneven and now accumulating at the bottom near my garage doors.

I am going to level it as best I can by hand while I am off for Christmas but I want a longer term solution. I love the look and sound of the gravel but it is a pain. The house is G2 listed so I am also restricted in what I can do.

I am contemplating scraping the stones back, flatten the hardcore as best I can then add more hardcore were required to get as flat as possible, then lay some plastic gravel grids down then refill with the old stones and some new ones as needed.

I am thinking, as per the title, how hard would it be to rent a mini-digger to do the levelling part? I am literally talking taking a skim off with the backfill blade then driving over it with the tracks to get it more consistent.

I am an engineer by trade so have a decent eye for detail and I can, and have, driven most things before.....just not any kind of digger.

Has anyone tried to do this themselves who can give me any tips, advice or recommendations for digger hire.

Cheers

Brian

I borrowed a mini digger to level off a few hundred tonnes of spoil that I had tipped at the top of my garden.
It is quite easy to get the basics, and once you get the hang of which lever spins you round/tilts the arm/moves you forward it soon becomes second nature. However, scraping a consistent level surface on a slope is quite tricky. I created an upward slope for access onto my levelled-off pile and it took my a long while to get it good. Roughing it out is quick and easy, but mastering the controls to pull the bucket back flat and producing a nice smooth slope takes a fair bit of practice.
Get the biggest mini digger you can afford/provide access to, as they are more stable and do more work with each action

[fttm]

Surely a Bobcat with a bucket to scrape and fill is the way to go ?

[biggiles]

fttm said:

Surely a Bobcat with a bucket to scrape and fill is the way to go ?

For 18m x 3m, that's a pretty small area for a Bobcat to work in - I think it's easier for a digger to get a consistent finish.

[LooneyTunes]

brian_H said:

I am contemplating scraping the stones back, flatten the hardcore as best I can then add more hardcore were required to get as flat as possible, then lay some plastic gravel grids down then refill with the old stones and some new ones as needed.

I am thinking, as per the title, how hard would it be to rent a mini-digger to do the levelling part? I am literally talking taking a skim off with the backfill blade then driving over it with the tracks to get it more consistent.

We’ve used them on a SUDS based driveway and in my new carport (to prevent gravel shifting).

By getting the gravel “as flat as possible” do you seem to mean “yeah, that’ll probably do” rather than actually flat? It really needs to be the latter if you want them to sit right, otherwise laying the grid is like tiling an uneven wall: the edges won’t sit right so you’ll get ridges and the tiles probably won’t lock together properly. Ideally you want a whacker or roller for the compaction.

For the driveway the build up involves compacted/levelled class 3 MOT (no fines, so it drains), a geotextile, sand bedding, then the grids, finally the gravel. For the carport, compacted class 1 MOT, geotextile, the grids, finally gravel when I get round to it.

Levelling with a mini-digger is also harder than it looks. Yes you can set the blade height, but the blade doesn’t independently float at that height. It moves up and down in line with the machine’s movements up or down any bumps in the surface the tracks are moving over. It’s certainly not impossible but it won’t be a single pass to get it done.

[Mad Maximus]

brian_H said:

Afternoon all.

So, we have a gravel drive that's roughly 18m long x 3m wide. It is also on a decent slope, down to my garage at the bottom of the hill. The gravel is uneven and now accumulating at the bottom near my garage doors.

I am going to level it as best I can by hand while I am off for Christmas but I want a longer term solution. I love the look and sound of the gravel but it is a pain. The house is G2 listed so I am also restricted in what I can do.

I am contemplating scraping the stones back, flatten the hardcore as best I can then add more hardcore were required to get as flat as possible, then lay some plastic gravel grids down then refill with the old stones and some new ones as needed.

I am thinking, as per the title, how hard would it be to rent a mini-digger to do the levelling part? I am literally talking taking a skim off with the backfill blade then driving over it with the tracks to get it more consistent.

I am an engineer by trade so have a decent eye for detail and I can, and have, driven most things before.....just not any kind of digger.

Has anyone tried to do this themselves who can give me any tips, advice or recommendations for digger hire.

Cheers

Brian

Search for mini digger hire near you on Facebook eBay etc until you find one local that comes with a driver. It might cost a little more but you don’t need to worry about renting deposits etc and the guys if you search for them well usually have a lot of experience you can call upon while they are there.

We used gravel grids but buried them under an inch or so extra of gravel to hide them. It made it much more stable and looked better than plastic grids poking out.

[hidetheelephants]

brian_H said:

I am going to level it as best I can by hand while I am off for Christmas but I want a longer term solution. I love the look and sound of the gravel but it is a pain. The house is G2 listed so I am also restricted in what I can do.

Have you asked the conservation officer? Until you've spoken to them you don't know what latitude you may have, some are pragmatic and some aren't.

[brian_H]

Thanks everyone, lots to think about there. I think renting a driver as well is probably the way to go.

Once I get sorted I will re visit and post some photo's!

Cheers

Brian

[tim0409]

Definitely the correct choice. I've used mini diggers in the past to do house foundations, and whilst they don't take long to get the hang of, getting a nice level surface with one is much more difficult than digging a hole as it requires more co-ordination. I recently hired one to do a patio, but when it came to levelling the rest of the garden I paid a chap who was working on a nearby site £40 and four cans of Stella to do it, and it was the best money I ever spent.

[brian_H]

Thanks all,

I have approached a local company for a quote for a digger, operator and a Whacker.

I will update, with photo's once I get started.

Cheers everyone, PH doing it's thing once again!

:Edited to add a photo of the drive.

:-)

[LooneyTunes]

If it helps, these are the grids we've been using: https://www.gclproducts.co.uk/c/ground-reinforceme... (X-Grids)

They're quite nice to work with and easily trimmed with a grinder/recip if you need to deal with part sizes.

[brian_H]

Yeah I spotted them yesterday. I have ordered a few so I can see what they are like before I commit to cover the entire drive.

[loskie]

Yep: It's geo grids you need. Various brands, heavy dutyness and sizes are available.