Any ideas on best way to clear driveway of gravel?

Herzlos

I'm planning on replacing the driveway gravel as it's a bit of a mess (not very deep, so bad for weeds) and has a lot of soil etc in it from building work, but struggling to figure out the most cost effective way to get rid of it. I've got a friend with a farm about 10 miles away who'll take the material but have no way to transport it.

I can borrow a 1000kg trailer, but can only tow it with 500kg ton in it due to the car, so that's just not a good use of my time. I've toyed with trying to borrow a van or flat-bed truck with a tow bar, allowing me to take 2000kg (van) or 2500kg (truck) each trip, which is a bit more reasonable, but still pretty expensive and time consuming (there's probably 10-15,000kg of stuff to move). I can get a truck for £160 for the weekend.

I thought about a skip, but the only place I can put it is on the driveway, so I could only do half, and that'd cost me almost as much as the truck (£150).

Are there any other options that might work?

Doozergirl

You could do it Shawshank Redemption style. Put a handful of gravel in your pocket every time you go out somewhere, then empty your pocket when you get to your destination. That's free

LandyAndy

You could ask a local groundworks contractor for a quote. At least they'll have all the necessary kit and it shouldn't take them long. And, it will give you a price to measure the cost of your time and effort against.

evoke

Probably quickest with a mini-digger - ask a local driveway company for a quote to remove the gravel and soil layer and dispose of it.

olias

Get your friend to drop off one of his agricultural trailers, fill it, ring him to come back and get it. Bung him £50 and a case of beer.

Olias

Herzlos

olias wrote: »

Get your friend to drop off one of his agricultural trailers, fill it, ring him to come back and get it. Bung him £50 and a case of beer.

Olias

It's a small livestock farm, so they don't have anything like that. I'll see if I can get another farmer to do that though, since I got away with that in the past.

Hintza

Why remove it? Are you replacing with gravel?

You could always spend a bit of time and seive it to remove the soil and just spread the gravel again and top up. Perhaps also lay a membrane.

karren

try popping it on freecycle as someoone may want it come and pick it up?
i popped a shed on there once and they came dismantled it then tidyed up after, i was in awe so they ended up with free cake too lol!