Wood chips

chrishicks82 · #1 05/10/12, 05:38 PM

Is it possible to use wood chips for a driveway and if so what is the durability of it

Forerunner · #2 05/10/12, 06:02 PM

For light traffic, it can work.
For foot paths, they work great.

After a couple years, you'll have some great soil for other purposes, and then you'll have to bring in more chips.

ETA....make sure the drive is graded to create a bit of a crown to afford adequate drainage under the chips. They're work much better and last longer for the effort.

chrishicks82 · #3 05/10/12, 06:20 PM

I was really hoping you would be the one to answer this question thanks for the advice

Forerunner · #4 05/10/12, 06:26 PM

Me ?!

That's just crazy.

Don't be tempted to drive any larger trucks or anything on such a drive, unless you're in a rather dry spell.
The chips will hold moisture underneath for quite some time, even with drainage.
Light passenger cars and light (emptyish) pickups will do OK.
The "driveways" I've had experience with here have had 8-12 inches of chips.
The times that heavier traffic has been involved made for some ruts, but those were filled back in with more chips and healed up fine.

chrishicks82 · #5 05/10/12, 07:02 PM

Should just be a small car after all the construction things are done. Just an idea not sure if I am going that route

Harry Chickpea · #6 05/10/12, 07:20 PM

Termites will get in your tires!

(Just kidding)

After a couple years of decaying, your drive will support a lovely crop of weeds.

chrishicks82 · #7 05/10/12, 07:28 PM

I am really good at growing weeds

jwal10 · #8 05/10/12, 09:33 PM

Don't work well here, they rot and it is worse than a well crowned grass path. Vehicle just bogs down in the mush. My Dad had a contract to keep 2 mills cleaned up, lots of what is called hog fuel (coarse chips) Dad put them everywhere, worked the first winter, second winter was a mess. Work great for animal bedding outside when left in piles, livestock was up out of the mud....James

am1too · #9 05/10/12, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishicks82

I am really good at growing weeds

Me too. I've thought about changing my moniker to weedfarmer.

haypoint · #10 05/11/12, 06:39 AM

I've had road crews offer to drop off chips, but I passed because they were also chipping thornapple trees and the chipper doesn't always get the thorns. They can give you a flat tire.

blooba · #11 05/11/12, 06:48 AM

The biggest thing with wood chips is that they float. So water control will be your biggest concern.

I haven't used them for drives but for footpaths, usually a pallet or 2 of mulch.

If they are in standing water they will always fill in any low areas (hard to crown the road)
If they are in faster moving water they will always go downstream (ditches and culverts)

I usually can get a few years out of them before they decompose as footpaths as long as i can take care of the water issues but here lately the water has been winning and I have been buying a few pallets full a year.

tinknal · #12 05/11/12, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwal10

Don't work well here, they rot and it is worse than a well crowned grass path. Vehicle just bogs down in the mush. My Dad had a contract to keep 2 mills cleaned up, lots of what is called hog fuel (coarse chips) Dad put them everywhere, worked the first winter, second winter was a mess. Work great for animal bedding outside when left in piles, livestock was up out of the mud....James

I have to agree with James. They just turn to mush when they get wet.

meanwhile · #13 05/15/12, 06:32 AM

Everyone told us not to use wood chips but we did anyway and they have worked great. We dumped them down on four different road beds and they still work great. True, some have rotted but it just blended on the roadway.

We used some on trails too. Worked great.

We did not use it on the main driveway once it was packed down but we did put wood chips even on the main driveway in places that were low. Everyone said it would make a huge mess and "eat up" the gravel later - but it did not.

We did not have the money for the gravel at first so we put dry fresh wood chips in the low areas. Then, later we put the "crush a run" gravel on top of it and it packed down fine. Only in one spot did it get messy and wet and we just dumped some clean cat litter in it and then more wood chips and then gravel on top. It worked.

Be sure to use fresh hard chips since those will last longer.

If you have access to rotting wood chips or a free source for any wood chips types - then get all you can! Wood chips are awesome.

Harry Chickpea · #14 05/15/12, 09:44 AM

Meanwhile - any chance of posting a pic to show us what it looks like? I'm kinda curious.

minor point - "Then, later we put the "crush a run" gravel"

This is NOT a criticism in any way. Just thought you might want to know that it is called "crusher run" because it is the full output (or run) of the stone crusher that is used in a quarry. It does sound like crush a run with some accents.

CarolT · #15 05/15/12, 11:08 AM

Thank you, Harry! I always thought people were saying "crush _and_ run". Never could figure out why. Now I know what _and_ why.

meanwhile · #16 05/15/12, 02:41 PM

Harry Chickpea - I will try to get photo later today or in the morning. Storm on the way now. I thought it was called "crush a run!" Once the gravel man called it "trash gravel" and said it was just the trash when they sorted gravel and so it was sorta like a cement product. I just know it was cheaper than what they called a #2.....

will get a photo.....

meanwhile · #17 05/15/12, 03:10 PM

See if this works:

https://picasaweb.google.com/meanwhi...eat=directlink

I put a description on each photo to tell what the chips use are in each picture. Hope this explains it. Storm on the way so I did not take a lot of photos but I think you can see. We use chips all over the place. We are hauling four dump truck loads tomorrow!

Big Dave · #18 05/15/12, 03:34 PM

I have recently gone wood chip crazy. I am putting them out on my gardens. It seems to be working real well. I have thought about the drive way as well. I read somewhere about roads made of logs that are a hundred years old and still drivable but I may be wrong there. I wish I had acsess to more of the chips. I live in an area there is not much tree trimming.

meanwhile · #19 05/15/12, 03:58 PM

We get all the wood chips we can get people to give us. We beg for chips, barter for chips and sometimes we have to pay for chips. Wood chips are awesome!

Harry Chickpea · #20 05/15/12, 04:00 PM

Meanwhile, thanks for sharing those photos. It gave me a much better idea of what you were talking about, and it looks quite nice and quite sturdy. I'm guessing the gravel and CR limits the "floaters?"

Yeah, on the cheap stuff from the quarry, if it has limestone, it becomes almost a mortar of cement.