| Author |
Message |
H3-40
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 9:06 pm: | |
Been thinking about, while the bus is in the cabinet shop, why not build a parking pad next to the existing driveway. The way our house is situated is it has a concrete driveway about 45 feet long and wide enough for two cars side by side. Well since the bus arrived, it kind of took over most of the driveway. granted we can still park nose to tail on one side but it's close. The way I see it is, we have an area to the north of the driveway that measures roughly 50+- by 15-18+-feet that is NOW dead grass from driving on it. I would like to make this a parking pad for the bus. It does a couple of things. Not only puts the bus over to the side, it gives back the front of the house. It gives us plenty of parking for the car and the van and my Kettle Corn trailer and It keeps the neighbors un-sightly, un-cut, full of weeds grass from crawling into our yard which it has. (that's why we drive on it) Question is, would gravel compared to RR gravel be sufficient for the bus to set on or is there anything better and cheaper IYHO? I have a source lined up already to grade it out and level it and I have a friend source for the gravel if I go the RR type. Should I also put some sort of landscaping timbers around the side and front edges? Don't really like RR ties because of termites. If so, how deep should the gravel be? The area for the bus would probably be about 45 feet deep and 10-15 wide. Nothing fancy, just a place to park!
Thanks
Ace |
Cliff (Floridacracker)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 9:43 pm: | |
Ace,
I did a similar setup on the side of my barn.
I put 4" of gravel and after seeing some settling where it sat, I mixed a pad for under the wheels of 8" concrete and rebar.
I didn't put in the concrete until after one our rainy periods and the usually hard packed gravel got a little too spongy for me.
Cliff |
Luke Bonagura (Lukeatuscoach)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 9:45 pm: | |
Hi Ace and Folks:
Having built a bus repair and parts facility from scratch, including a 10,000 sq.ft. building on virgin sandy soil, where we have parked several hundred coaches, I will jump in on this one.
Ace, it is not so much what you put on top, but what is underneath, especially after a period of heavy soaking rain, which you may experience in Florida.
Obviously in a residential area you want a neat, clean, appearance so a stone cover will look good, but you may or may not know what is under it. I would therefore suggest that you place 1/4" steel plates, which could be painted gray, white or whatever the stone color is, and position them so that your coach wheels sit on them. I would have them cut about 6" wider and longer, or more than the footprint of each tire and duals, which in effect spreads the weight of the coach over a larger area of the soil and see what happens.
Without test borings you will not know for sure what your soil will bear, concrete is a whole different story.
Good luck with your project and I hope this HELPS!!
Happy & SAFE Bussin' to ALL.
LUKE at US COACH |
Ed (Ednj)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 10:17 pm: | |
Ace
I used a product called turf block, I covered a large area and its working great.
I have seen these blocks used only in the tire tracks,and they worked just as well.
A little stone, some blocks done.
If you search the archives for turf block there is a couple pictures. |
Marc Bourget
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 5:29 am: | |
All of the above still rely on what's underneath.
My dad parked his Prevost on 4" of concrete with 6x6x10 with little success. It broke up over awhile due to the adobe soil beneath.
He later went to 6" rolled aggregate but tires left slight grooves eventually.
I have 6" of rolled aggregate under the blacktop at the shop but note with interest the technique used locally for clay soils (lots of water absorbtion and dimensional changes from winter to summer). They mix a calcium product into the ground with a large "roto-tiller" about 12-18" deep that makes the ground similar to concrete in consistancy. A swung pick might penetrate 1/2" swung by somebody with your size.
I don't know what your ground is made of but this treatment seems to be (almost) equivalent to concrete.
BTW, saw pictures of the turf block mentioned above and it looked pretty nice, as long as traffic over it is low enough not to wear out the grass in between.
Finally, I felt the bus would spend alot of time there and I might be having to jack off the surface one time or the other. I have 3/8" metal plates for the jack over asphalt but it may take more on other than concrete, especially in soggy conditions.
Recommend going the extra mile (whatever is used locally so you don't come to regret your efforts), More or less like putting cheap pad under good carpet, IYKWIM.
Onward and Upward |
ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 11:11 am: | |
Here's a thread Ian posted about Grass Block or Turf Block. Looks neat! |
Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 8:16 pm: | |
Ace, Independence Recycling on Maine Street, (like the state) off Reynolds Rd., Lakeland, FL, has road base from recycled concrete for around $8/yd. It is made from ginding up used concrete from roads and driveways and buildings. It works on wet land like the green swamp. I put down about 8 inches of it where I had had a bus stuck in muck twice and have a solid parking pad through all the hurricanes. Rock like railroad ballast and gravel would just sink down into the earth on my land. This stuff stayed on top, hardened with time and became a solid pad. It has continued to be good even when there is standing water and muck on both sides of the pad.
I am probably the expert on the board on having a bus on wet land. We are lucky in Lakeland to have the recycled concrete so close. It is better than limestone roadbase, but trucking costs mount up if you have to go very far.
You can ad whatever top you want to control the dust: Gravel, mulch, asphalt, or concrete, but that stuff is the best and cheapest base. Really dust is only a problem when you drive on it. My whole driveway was done in it. You can use it as the surface. Try to strike a deal with a dump truck owner to give you a break on the hauling. They want about $125 per 25 ton load, but can be convinced to do it for less if they can fill in their schedule with your hauls.
Good Luck;
Steve Fessenden |
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