Trail Maintenance Question

[thewoodlands]

We have some holes starting to develop on the hill we run up and down. We have a chipper and was thinking of chipping some branches and the filling with chips, any other ideas.


Zap

 

[SolarAndWood]

I've found corduroy to work well. Water bars are also a good idea on any of your steeper grades to reduce erosion.

 

[LLigetfa]

Would not the chips float away with rains? Stone chips would probably be better.

 

[thewoodlands]

Would not the chips float away with rains? Stone chips would probably be better.

Just want to use things from the woods, it has a good canopy so it stops some of the rain. I was also thinking of putting pine needles over top the chips.

Zap

 

[Bootlegger]

Chips are a good use for landscape protection, but not on a trail. You need erosion control by diverting the water as S&W notes.

 

[thewoodlands]

Chips are a good use for landscape protection, but not on a trail. You need erosion control by diverting the water as S&W notes.

The erosion is from the 4 wheeler, the path was fine until running up and down with the wood but I will try some of everything to fix the path.


Thanks
Zap

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Zap, the atv will just keep on wearing ruts. Stone mix or something similar will work fairly well as will the corduroy. We live on sand and the only place that bothers much is the corners. I smooth them out occasionally with the snow blade on the atv but mostly just don't worry about them. However, we are fairly flat here so not too much gets washed down with the rain except a couple spots.

 

['bert]

I have found that pulling my driveway drag thru the trails can really help smooth them down.

 

[savageactor7]

zap back in '88 we had the lot professionally logged. That left huge knee high ruts on the trails in desperation I started filling them in with hard pan clay...which I have a lot of after digging drainage ditches. Well I found the clay once it dried became as hard as a sidewalk...sure it always slippery when wet. But now thanks to clay trails no matter how soaking wet it is outside all my equipment can travel loaded over those trails without getting stuck. Back in the day every time I went into the woods we'd have pack a cable pulley for self recovery just in case.

 

[thewoodlands]

I've found corduroy to work well. Water bars are also a good idea on any of your steeper grades to reduce erosion.

Solar when I was home and looking at the walkway I put in the answer hit me, stone dust in the ruts with some chips and dirt over top.

Zap

 

[SolarAndWood]

If you just have pot holes, stone dust is a beautiful thing. Our family's camp is an hour or two south of you and in the big band that comes off Lake Ontario. If there is any kind of grade on the equipment trails, even the smallest tire track becomes a stream and quickly becomes eroded without some kind of water bar. All those shallow soft spots get big quick as well without corduroy to both carry the load of the wheels and allow water to pass through. In a few places, even the corduroy hasn't been enough and I have had to add culverts.

Another trick is to get blackberries growing on your trails where the canopy is a bit more open. Just need to give up wearing shorts and accept that you will have more bears in your woods. A side benefit is all the things that my wife makes with the fruit.

'berta Burner's drag suggestion also works well. I run a 5' back blade through behind the tractor once in a while to keep the black berries in check, fill the low spots and take down the high spots. Just needs to be done when it is dry or you make a mess. You can achieve almost the same thing by skidding an unlimbed tree.