Ledgepack/Hardpack for Driveway

[donnamatrix]

Hi. We live in the Suissevale development in Moultonboro. Our driveway is currently "gravel", which in NH really means "dirt with some rocks in it." We don't want to pave our driveway with asphalt, and don't want to pave it with loose, crushed bluestone either. We have heard about, and seen something that is often called ledge pack or hard pack. This seems to be small crushed bluestone that is driven into the ground, and after it "settles" becomes a hard study surface that is more attractive than asphalt.

Does anyone have this at their home or know of a paving or construction company that does this type of work??

Appreciate any feedback.

[DRH]

Originally Posted by donnamatrix

Hi. We live in the Suissevale development in Moultonboro. Our driveway is currently "gravel", which in NH really means "dirt with some rocks in it." We don't want to pave our driveway with asphalt, and don't want to pave it with loose, crushed bluestone either. We have heard about, and seen something that is often called ledge pack or hard pack. This seems to be small crushed bluestone that is driven into the ground, and after it "settles" becomes a hard study surface that is more attractive than asphalt.

Does anyone have this at their home or know of a paving or construction company that does this type of work??

Appreciate any feedback.

I don't know if the material you are describing is also known as "stone dust", which is supposed to pack down into a hard surface. We once had a driveway composed of stone dust and it was very undesireable for two reasons. First, it never did pack down into a hard surface and in the spring when the ground was soft we always had ruts form in the driveway that had to be smoothed out. Second, the stone dust material tracked terribly into the house, sticking to shoes when it was dry as well as wet. As a result of our dissatisfaction with the stone dust driveway, we had it covered with crushed stone which worked much better.

By the way, our next door neighbor also had a stone dust driveway and was so unhappy with it he had it paved over.

[trfour]

We used 1 1/2 ledgepack on our driiveway at the camp at Paugus Bay, and it was quite a steep one at that. It has held up very well for the past 16 years, including mud season. Give A. E. Mitchell a call at 267-6400 and tell him trfour sent you.

[ossipeeboater]

they also make a cross between asphalt and loose bluestone. they basically spray tar on the gravel base and then press a layer of bluestone into it giving the look of bluestone with the wear of pavement.

[donnamatrix]

TRFOUR: Thank you, I will call them and mention your "handle"

OSSIPPEE BOATER: Tell me, how do you get the tar to "set" ... so it doesn't get soft and gooey in the sun, or hot weather or whatever??

[ACutAbove]

Hi Donnamatrix, I have done work with ledgepack. If its a good mix it will holdup for a longtime. if its not it might last a short time and wash away. If you would like some info send me a private message and I would be happy to help you out with it......Ken

[trfour]

... does not have blue stone, that being said, he does have the best ledgepack and gravel in the north country.

Tilton Sand & Gravel on rte 140 or Pike Industries on rte 106 in Belmont ( same company ) does have blue stone.

Also, a good friend of mine in Alton ( cell # 630-3361 can do the prep work for you ( with a low overhead, can give you a better price ).

Good Luck,
T.

[Maddog7337@att.net]

Hi DonnaMatrix,

I have a 900' driveway through farmland (read: "quickloam") and mud season used to be a total and complete nightmare. Paving a road this length was way out of the question financially. I had limited equipment and I didn't want to begin a second career in the highway construction business. So, I put down 3/4 inch crushed stone (I tried different sizes but, I had best luck with that size. Larger is better for a base but very difficult to work Smaller stone disappears in the slop at an amazing rate. Over the years (25+) I've put down a couple layers, many years apart, as it slowly packed in. The cost is quite reasonable (I relayered the whole length this year for $800.) If you have access to a small dump truck you can buy the stone direct from a quarry buy the ton and save $$$ not having to hire someone to haul it. Luckly, my buddy has a tandem wheel dump trailer (I'm going to take him salmon fishing at Winnie to repay the favor.) 3/4 inch is easy to put down fairly evenly and I just smooth it off with my snow plow (back dragging.)
Now, it's awesome-possumm at mud time (hardly even notice anymore.) Plus, I can hear when somebody is coming down the driveway.
The only minus (& there's always at least ONE) is I try to pack down the first winter storm on top of the stone (rather than just plow it) that way I don't plow the loose top stones away from the driveway and have to rake them back in the spring. A small minus for the end result.

Goodluck,

Gary