I have some property that is high in the back, but the road frontage stays very muddy, the mud ranges from 8 - 18 inches deep It is muddy year round.

The driveway will not lead to a house, just to the higher ground in the back where I want to hunt, shoot, camp etc. Also, the driveway doesn't have to be car friendly, it just has to be accessible by 4x4 pickup and small tractor (Ford 850). It will be several hundred feet long.

I know that the best way to do this is to excavate all of the mud and fill with something else, but I am looking for something easier and cheaper. I don't want to excavate at all, I need some kind of rough floating road, so my truck and tractor wont immediately sink to the axles. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to proceed?

 

2 1/2 clean recycled concrete or stone. the water will flow through the stone, but it will provide stability for the vehicles.

 

Easy and cheap won't last. Roadbed is 99% preparation, drainage especially. Maybe lay some tile and gravel. Even that's pricey for any length. Or that snap-together stuff - portable flight line etc.

 

Road base fabric with 3/4 minus over it worked well in a swampy area behind my house. The fabric is a bit heavier than garden fabric, but the same concept.
It may help to establish which way the water moves through the area, and add a french drain to give the water a bit more defined path.

 

Marsden matting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsden_Matting
Available but you have to contact them for a quote:

PSP Landing Mat | Calumet Industries

 

That's the stuff - PSP. But I bet there's something similar that would work, too.

 

I'm ok with easy, cheap and temporary. What would you suggest if longevity was not important, just cheap and easy access over several hundred feet of deep mud?

 

This is basically what I am most tempted to do, but before I start dumping load after load of rock, I thought I would ask around some. I'm afraid that this area would swallow up huge amounts of rock with little or no benefit.

 

I've heard about road fabric before, where do you get it?

 

any landscape supply or building supply should carry filter fabric, or as it is also called, road base fabric.

 

If there are any sawmills in your area, you could try slabs. They are the first cut down the log to square it off. Flat on one side, rounded off on the other. Lay them flat side up perpendicular to your direction of travel and butt them up to each other. You could even brace them to each other with curb slabs and some lag bolts. It is an old road building technique that was fairly common in the old days for temporary roads. There is a road in this county called Old Plank Road, because it was initially constructed this way.

 

rig matting, best thing you'll find. Not sure on the cost of it though.

 

Old Rt. 3 near Palermo Maine was built on logs originally, it was called a corduroy road. They would dump gravel on the log base, and as it settled they'd dump more, eventually it would bottom out in the base under the mud and be solid.

 

What if you dug some ditches to drain the water? Is there any where for it to go if you did, or is your "road" area the low point in the area?

If it's wet year round, is there another source for the water that can be diverted?

 

My dad said the reason 80 over PA is so dam bumpy is because they used logs as the base on some of it and it's still settling out.
No idea how true it is, made me think of it when I read that.
Could of been a story to tell a young kid travelling in a semi at the time.
The amish do that still when they log an area out. Gotta watch your sidewalls though on those skid roads.