How to fix a black mud driveway?

[Zeus81]

Hi everyone first time home owner/complete novice hoping someone can.assist we have a black mud driveway and i need help in determining how to fix it. I've been told to put stones but don't understand what that entails. Which stones? 

Issue being the car scrapes  out on the middle an has been bogged before. Gets worse everytime it rains. The block slopes downward slightly dfrom back front but also from one side to the other . 

 

 

[Dave-1]

Evening @Zeus81 

Selling yourself short If you have shifted cars out of that mud, even ith help well you have enough skills already.

The two long trench style deals can be done by hand over time (spoken from experience of digging a 30m trench through solid clay, could have and possibly should have hired a little digger but nope didnt have the dollars) so bit by bit I did it and believe me it looks great now. Stormwater rectification stage 1 is the first stage of the project. 

We dont need huge skillset, just enough of a "want" to continue slowly.

Pavers can be stockpiled as your find them (I have my pile waiting for my spa area project to start and thats 2 years ago I picked them up) They dont have a use by date

Timber for the sides, yeah you probary will need to save or keep an eye out for someone pulling down an old school timber fence and grab the hardwood rails. Prep them before they get used and they will last for awhile (I have a path edged this way with no treatment to the timber, been there  for at least 5 years.

Not tryingto talk you into it but really, bit by bit makes a large project doable.

Whatever way you go, would love to see how you go (even if its just a trench to chanel teh wateraway form the driveway might dry it out enough?)

Dave

[Jewelleryrescue]

hi @Zeus81 

I still stand by my idea

Weed mat on ground add stones or gravel the car weighs  1.5 tonnes  it will soon compact the  drive and no need to hire compactor  simply add  more  gravel into wheel marks until it is compacted.

Some ones  idea taking  out some of that surface mud  will help  50mm  maybe a timber box edge.

Or you can go to  carpet shops and collect old large room section  carpets and put it on the ground all the way  up the drive they  will rot eventually but  they are free.  Carpet places have to pay to remove rubbish so  they will like the idea.

[TedBear]

Hi @Zeus81, from your pics it doesn't look that bad, fairly firm, if you are just planning a quick fix. I would look at getting a truck load of large round gravel stones, delivered in the morning and hire a heavy, powered roller (~$200/day) to pack them down, especially in the tyre tracks, then top that up with a load of mixed sized gravel in the afternoon. Roll it down too. The mud should hold it all in place.

This assumes that there is a place where the surface water can run off to. The roadway hopefully.

[TedBear]

Hi @Zeus81 

In addition to my last suggestion, if hiring a roller is too expensive or too much trouble, you could use a vehicle with wide tyres to pack the gravel as you go.

It would be safest to incorporate @Jewelleryrescue 's idea of getting some old carpet and putting that on top of the gravel before compressing it using a car, so you don't bog down.