Ruts on your trails

[BJE80]

Ruts on your trails
So what do you guys do about ruts on your trails from driving the ATV through? My land is heavy clay and it holds water like crazy. I know the answer is to stay off of them while wet but if I waited until the trails dried out it would be literally mid to late July and anytime it rains it will be soft and moist again. That would not allow much work to be done and I need the UTV for a lot of the stuff I do.

Some of my main trail is "ditched". Other parts are not. And once it is rutted it holds water literally forever. I stay off my side trails and just drive when I have to. For example last weekend when I planted apple trees I need the UTV to get trees, fencing, stakes, etc in to my spot.


What can be done both temporary and permanently to fix this? I've considered trying to fill up some of the large ruts with small straight trees and get them to sink into the ground so they don't tip up but yet fill in some of the rut and then spread the weight of the UTV along the tree. So you would be driving on the tree in the rut which would be recessed in the rut. I have no idea if that will work or not. My clay is real sticky so I thought it might work.


I have a logging scheduled in 2016 where I don't want to stick a ton of money into the trails at this point but I am starting to bottom out in places and need some help. Plus I know it would be expensive to fix it right with gravel or to ditch the entire thing.
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This is how it begins (which I can handle):

Then it turns into this:

My worst part of the trail looks like this.

I understand this is a problem with not a lot of good answers. I am just looking to start a discussion on things I may not be thinking of to help this out. I've actaully thought about selling my land and cabin just because I am so annoyed with this darn clay. Thanks.

 

[bueller]

loads and loads of mulch during the logging in 2016???

 

[BJE80]

golf ball size gravel?

1/2 mile of it? That is how long my main trail is. And I'm not expert but it would take a lot of it because it would push into the clay quite a bit.

 

[BJE80]

loads and loads of mulch during the logging in 2016???

Maybe? But a half mile of it? How deep would it need to go?

 

[bat man]

what about a tracked Argo?

I have a 6 wheel Bigfoot Argo that is way easier on my wet trails than the 4 wheeler. Put the tracks on I bet it would be a winner.

 

[j-bird]

Long term solution is gravel -yes the larger stuff (roughly 1/2 as big as your fist). It will sink into the clay (not as badly as the smaller gravel), but it will take the use better than the bare soil. Biggest expense with gravel is the trucking cost. You would typically go about 4" deep for somehting like a driveway for a road vehicle. Something else to consider - just an idea here - is something like the old cordroads. I live on a gravelroad currently that passes thru an area that holds lots of water. The base of the road is old logs laid across the road and then gravel is laid on top. Every once in a while they set the grader a little too deep and catch a log and pull it up - that was how I found out about its construction. This constructions essentially allows the road to float as the ground shift. Maybe something to consider for your more worste case spots.

 

[jwill1776]

If I have my math right that is 228 yards of material, at 1.4 tons per yard thats 320 tons or 16 truck loads assuming 20 tons per truck.

 

[j-bird]

Rome wasn't built in a day. Wasn't paid for in a day either!

 

[BJE80]

what about a tracked Argo?

I have a 6 wheel Bigfoot Argo that is way easier on my wet trails than the 4 wheeler. Put the tracks on I bet it would be a winner.

That is actually something I thought about but forgot to post about. I think they even make tracks for my Kawa Mule.

 

[BJE80]

If I have my math right that is 228 yards of material, at 1.4 tons per yard thats 320 tons or 16 truck loads assuming 20 tons per truck.

What does a truck load cost assuming trucking is only 10 miles? Any idea? You still gotta spread it though. Wonder how many days he would have into that.

 

[BJE80]

Long term solution is gravel -yes the larger stuff (roughly 1/2 as big as your fist). It will sink into the clay (not as badly as the smaller gravel), but it will take the use better than the bare soil. Biggest expense with gravel is the trucking cost. You would typically go about 4" deep for somehting like a driveway for a road vehicle. Something else to consider - just an idea here - is something like the old cordroads. I live on a gravelroad currently that passes thru an area that holds lots of water. The base of the road is old logs laid across the road and then gravel is laid on top. Every once in a while they set the grader a little too deep and catch a log and pull it up - that was how I found out about its construction. This constructions essentially allows the road to float as the ground shift. Maybe something to consider for your more worste case spots.

I thought about the cord roads too. Like what loggers use by putting trees crossways. My only question is how do they install those efficiently and how would i do it?

 

[BJE80]

Rome wasn't built in a day. Wasn't paid for in a day either!

Very true. Gotta start somewhere. Just got to figure out what method is the best to build Rome.

 

[jwill1776]

What does a truck load cost assuming trucking is only 10 miles? Any idea? You still gotta spread it though. Wonder how many days he would have into that.

Just checked my area, ballpark $26 per ton and $35 delivery per truckload, I'm sure costs vary widely by location.

 

[tooln]

I have the same problem. Last year the township redid (dug out) the ditch's. They were looking for a place to get rid of what they dug out. I took 20 truck loads, granted it was dirt, weeds, stone & some trash (but not much) but it was also free. Rented a tractor for a day and spread it on the low spots. Some places the trail was raised over a foot. It's not near as bad this spring but I still have more work to get them right.

 

[kabic]

Instead of creating an 8 foot wide trail, could you just put the gravel down in the tracks, so two strips 2 feet wide each would cut the amount of material needed in half.

 

[BJE80]

Instead of creating an 8 foot wide trail, could you just put the gravel down in the tracks, so two strips 2 feet wide each would cut the amount of material needed in half.

That is not a half bad idea. Just fill those areas in and then only drive on those areas.

 

[BJE80]

I have the same problem. Last year the township redid (dug out) the ditch's. They were looking for a place to get rid of what they dug out. I took 20 truck loads, granted it was dirt, weeds, stone & some trash (but not much) but it was also free. Rented a tractor for a day and spread it on the low spots. Some places the trail was raised over a foot. It's not near as bad this spring but I still have more work to get them right.

That is a sweet deal. What do you plan on doing long term? What ideas have you had to fix it? Just brainstorming.

 

[tooln]

That is a sweet deal. What do you plan on doing long term? What ideas have you had to fix it? Just brainstorming.

Try to get more from them this year. I also live in a town that has 5 very large compost piles. I gotten much from them to fill holes & low spots in my plots. It take me about a hour to load, travel, unload & return to the pile, cost me my time and gas. I haul about 1500 lbs. per load. Once the plot is done it's trail time.

 

[BJE80]

Try to get more from them this year. I also live in a town that has 5 very large compost piles. I gotten much from them to fill holes & low spots in my plots. It take me about a hour to load, travel, unload & return to the pile, cost me my time and gas. I haul about 1500 lbs. per load. Once the plot is done it's trail time.

Boy, if i start hauling trailers and doing trips back to my plots with fill I would need to fix my trails first. They would get destroyed even in summer and I would likely get stuck eventually. My plots need fill too.

 

[Jlane35]

Instead of creating an 8 foot wide trail, could you just put the gravel down in the tracks, so two strips 2 feet wide each would cut the amount of material needed in half.

If you can get your hands on a smaller dump truck you can block the center of the tailgate just wide enough where stone won't fall in the center of the road and only in the ruts. We have done that before it saves a lot of time shoveling and moving stone around by hand.