Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Hi everybody, I'm not sure if this is in the right section or not. If not, my apologies. But, I've been trying to build a highway in my backyard for the semi trucks. I tried Cold Patch from Home Depot. It looks great when you first put it down, but the grass grows through it. I didn't want to dig the grass up, but I may have to if I use that product. Does anyone have any ideas on using Rubber mats? I was thinking of using black rubber mats. They used to sell the 4' x 100' lengths on Amazon, but now I can't find any. I'm thinking about making the roads 16" wide. I could cut the rubber mats, and screw them into the ground using 8" screws. I'm building a cow processing plant, and a dirt and rock quarry. I found 1/16 scale buildings on-line. Any info on making roads would be great. Thanks you.

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Did you consider using ridge shingles? Looks just like a paved road.

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Will it sounds to me like either way you go it's going to kill your grass with that said you could till up the road and put down felt paper like they use on roofs and then put your cold mix from home depot on top and that should keep the grass out for a while !

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Unless you use some type barrier NO asphalt product can be on top of any vegetation. you can spray vegetation killer down first that might help. best practice is to dig it up first.

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

A trick I learned a while back is to cover the area of grass with a few layers of news paper then dampen it with water so it will stay put while you are putting soil, gravel, or your cold patch down. The grass cannot penetrate the paper and will die out. Eventually the paper will biodegrade but the grass below will already be dead and will not grow up through the surface. I use this trick when installing new flower beds over existing grass or when building raised gardens out of railroad ties. It works every time.

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Thanks guys for the input! Flying Beagal has a great idea! I was going to use plastic over the grass, but newspaper sounds better!!! I'm gonna start stocking up on some, and get started soon. Its supposed to rain on and off for tge next few days. I'll try to post my progress as I go. My computers down, so I'm using my cell phone. Take care everybody.

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Depends how permanent you want this to be. If its gonna be there long term, here is one method, same as making a garden path I suppose.

Dig out a trench the width and length of your desired road, about 4 inches deep. Fill with 2 inches deep of crushed rock (we call it hardcore in Ireland). Compact it with a whacker (big vibrating machine like a lawnmower with a big metal plate underneath) and then add 1 inch of silicone sand. That is very fine stuff. Get it dead level and pour cement or asphalt, up to you. Asphalt will require a roller, cement just use a trowel to get it smooth. With cement and a trowel you can draw out lines etc, to look like sections, the way a real road would be done.

It's a bit of work, but you could have a really cool looking road. You could even make scale crash barriers and plant some small trees around it so it looks scale, both for use and for photos of your trucks.

Good luck!

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Hi will,

"I found 1/16 scale buildings on-line. "

Do you have a link to your find??

Thanks,

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Al,
Found a couple of sites:

http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=162251

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/model-builder.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nk...ings&_osacat=0

Best thing I have seen to date though, was Tamiya Cowboys homemade workshop:
http://www.rctruckandconstruction.co...ead.php?t=1439

Maybe check out some doll house / doll shops and websites for more..

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

Swagger,

Cool, Thanks for the info...

Alan

Re: Backyard Semi Roadway
 

What will really be cool is to do what Swagger said

Dig out a trench the width and length of your desired road, about 4 inches deep. Fill with 2 inches deep of crushed rock (we call it hardcore in Ireland). Compact it with a whacker (big vibrating machine like a lawnmower with a big metal plate underneath) and then add 1 inch of silicone sand. That is very fine stuff. Get it dead level and pour cement or asphalt, up to you. Asphalt will require a roller, cement just use a trowel to get it smooth. With cement and a trowel you can draw out lines etc, to look like sections, the way a real road would be done.

It's a bit of work, but you could have a really cool looking road. You could even make scale crash barriers and plant some small trees around it so it looks scale, both for use and for photos of your trucks.

Good luck!

and use rc equipment to do it with!!!!!