Driveway Stone Recommendation
 

Hi, my parents in Moultonborough need to have their loose gravel driveway redone and there has been much family discussion around what type to stone to put down. Their concern is winter plowing pushes all of the stones around so they were considering the same surface that is used on their dirt road by their house (dirt and gravel mix), which really doesn't look so good, but is more durable. Does anyone have any information on what type of loose stone would be more durable for this type of application and any good Moultonborough contractors in the area would be appreciated. Thanks!

The fancy homes will either be paved or blue stone.
Any loose crushed stone is fine.

If the driveway is gravel now and that is what they like then just have a dirt contractor come in with more gravel. And spread it out evenly. Any dirt contractor can do this.

Paving is the best but expensive. Many prefer the "dirt" look for a camp driveway.

Why can't they add a loose brown sand to the hot top when paving. That would give it a brownish look as if it were dirt.

You could use crushed limestone (crusher run), or pea stone mixed with stone dust.
If you have the person who plows their driveway not get too aggressive when he plows, it should hold up pretty good in the winter.

I like the looks of the small pea stone and stone dust combination.

In reality there isn't any driveway aggregate that won't get moved around in the winter time.

I have put down 3/4" ledge pack or next size larger and roll it with a vibrator roller and they have stood up very well. I rent the roller. One does need a good base for it to tie it in for a good bonding. I plow 3 drives that have it without any problems however I have the skids on my plow down about 1 to 1-1/2". Plow people will not do this as it is to much of a time taker and run without them entirely at all times. There are lots of ways to do the drive and all we can do is make suggestions as what has worked for us and/or neighbors and the final decision is yours to make.:)

A paved driveway that's steep can be terrifying when iced-up. A neighbor who has a paved driveway claims that he's never slid downhill into the public roadway. :eek2: To show the situation, I've got to take photos of that driveway. :look:

Another neighbor, with a "sorta-paved" driveway can't get up his driveway—on occasions—in the summer! I like the odor of "burning rubber", but those squealing tires come through our wooded lots like someone's "doing doughnuts". :emb:

I plow about 50/50 dirt & paved, unless the ground is frozen the skids do nothing, once the ground is frozen I do not use them because they leave to much snow behind.
As for stone driveways they are the absolute worst to plow. Even with the skids you still push stones up. On the one stone driveway I plow I will raise the blade and leave a couple of inches of snow down.
If they were not good customers I'd drop the stone driveway in a heartbeat.
Fortunately it looks like the frost may be here to stay as the ground seems to be staying frozen. Even the Merrymeeting river had a nice skim on it yesterday morning when I went by on my way to work.

I bought a house in Moultonboro 11 years ago and it had a stone driveway.
I went through 1 winter with the stones and that was enough for me.
The following summer I had stones replaced with ledge pack. It has worked out great for me. No more stones every where and my plow guy loves it too.
After 10 years of being plowed on, it still looks great.
I would defitnitely recommend having ledge pack put down.

I don't know how far away you are from Ossipee Aggregates on rt 16, but if you can, take a ride over there and look at what they have.

This is what they have:

Crushed Stone Products
•1 1/2” Stone
•7/8” Stone
•1/2” Stone
•3/8” Stone
•7/16” Stone
•3/16” Stone Dust

•Erosion Stone
•1 1/2” Round Stone
•7/8” Round Stone

Base Materials
•Bank Run Gravel
•1 1/2” Crushed Bank Run (CBR)
•3/4” CBR

Sand Products
•Concrete Sand
•Coarse Washed Sand
•Mason Sand
•Asphalt Sand
•Silt(settling pond fines)
•Sandy Fill

Specialty Products
•Screened Loam
•Class A&B Stone

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the suggestions, will discuss with my parents....the end decision is theirs!