Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-02-19
HINTS IN
ROAD MAKING
Spring the Proper Time to Work
Roads---The Split Log Drag

INV SFhh Ivy NJ
WASHINGTON, D. c.. Feb. IA
It is great mistake to put off work
ing roads until August OF September,
according to road experts of the c
5. Department of Agriculture The
roads should be worked when the
soil is damp so as to make the soil
bake when it dries out If the roads
are worked when they are dry, it
takes more power to draw the ma
chine and besides dry earth and dust
retain moisture and quickly rut
after rains. The use OF clods, Sods,
weeds or vegetable matter in build
ing earth roads should be advoided
because they also retain moisture.
If the working OF the roads is de-
ferred until the latter part of the
summer when the surface is baked
dry and hard, they are not only diff
ficult to work, but the work is I'M
satisfactory when done Earth which
Ia AOooS anu III Will AVllidAl uISl9
as long as the dry weather lasts,
and then turn to mud as the rains
begin. By Itssing the road machine
in the spring while the soil is soft
and damp, the surface is more east
ly shaped and soon packs down into
a dry hard crust which is less liable
to become dusty in summer and
not in winter.
Repairs to roads should be made
when needed and not once a year at
ter crops are laid by. Because of it's
simplicity, efficiency, and cheapness,
the split log drag or some similar
device is destined to come into more
and more general use. With the drag
properly built and it's use well under
stood, the maintenance of earth and
gravel roads become a simple and in
expensive matter. Care should be
taken to make the log so light that
one man can lift it with ease, a S a
light drag can be drawn by two
medium sized horses and responds
more readily to various methods of
hitching and the shifting position OF
the operator than a heavier one
dry cedar log, though elm, walnut,
box elder or soft maple are excellent.
Oak. hickory. or ash are too heavy.
The drag should be from seven to 1
ten feet long, and from eight ito ten
inches in diameter 1t should be
split carefIlly as near the center as
possible and the heaviest and best
slab chosen for the front. When the
soil is moist. but not sticky, the drag
does the best work. AS the soil in
the field will bake if plowed wet,
so the road will bake if the drag
is used on it when it is west. II the
roadway is full of holes or badly rut=
ted the drag should be used once
when the road. is soft and slushy.
The earth road can best be crown
ed and ditched with a road machine
and not with picks and shovels.
scoops and plows.. One road machine
with a suitable power and operator
will do the work of many men with
picks and shovels, and in addition
will do it better. If the road is COM
posed of fine clay or soil it will
sometimes pay to resurface it with
top soil from an adjacent field, which
has sand On gravel mixed with it.
This method, called the top soil
method" is now in successful use
in Clarke county, Georgia.
Storm water should be disposed OF
quickly before it has had time to
penetrate deeply into the surface OF
the road. This can be done by Civ
ing the road, crown or slope from
the center to the sides. For an
earth road which is "a feet wide the |
center should be not less than 8
inches nor more than II inches high |
er than the outer edges of the Shout |
der. The narrow road which is high |
in the middle will become rutted al |
most as quickly as one which us
too flat, for the reason that on a
narrow road all the traffic is forced |
to use only a. narrow strip. Shout |
ders are often formed on both sides |
of the road, which prevents Storm
water from flowing into the side
retaining it in the ruts and
softening the roadway. These ruts
and shoulders can be entirely elimi-
mated with the road machine or
splitlog drag:
The width of the earth road will
depend on the traffic. AS a rule,
25 or 80 feet from ditch to ditch is
sufficient If the road is properly
crowned Ordinarily the only bitches
needed are those made with the roa1
machine which are wide and shallow
Deep narrow bitches was rapidly, es-
peciaHy on steep slopes. The earth
road should not be Ioosened, dug up,
or ploWed up any more than lis alb
solutely necessary 1t should be
gradually raised, not lowered; hard
ened, nor softened.