Backcountry Pilot • Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

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Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

Ruts are getting too deep at this strip.
Any tips on how to fix it?

They put gravel but with rain and use it just goes away.(Even it doesn get hardly any use)
Place is remote , no acces by car, just 3 hr boat ride, 6 hrs hike or plane, so not many tools to fix it.

motoadve offline
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Re: Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

You did a good job concentrating on the target touchdown spot. The high trees make the closure rate appear too fast so you have to ignore them.

The only thing you can do is put a grader on a barge and crown the middle and ditch the sides.
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Re: Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

Its easier to fly down and put the plane over the roots from the tree side than landing fron the beach and trying to hit the ruts when on the damp gras and sideways.

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Re: Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

We are constantly telling dump truck drivers to split their tracks. When they don't the make ruts.
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Re: Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

The only way to beat flatness is by digging a valley and making a hill. In mountain flying, we have to pay attention to which way God has drained the mountains. In dirt work, we have to make the drainage. We have to start at the low point, even if only six inches, and work back toward the higher. We steal dirt from the drainage to make the mound all the way back toward the six inch higher ground. It's tricky. You need an irrigation level.

If the ocean is six feet lower, at high tide, you have enough grade to put in a fine golf course.
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Re: Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

We in the US always think machinery. It is amazing what is done with human labor when that's all there is. Even better if there's LOTS of it.

The strip looks wide enough that it might be possible to cut the high stuff and move over as Terry alluded to. As far as fixing the ruts, it sounds like some work has been done with gravel so the indication is there are means to do some work. Geotextile fabric is pretty magic stuff when applied over a soft subgrade if you have something fairly competent to cover it with. Probably couldn't get a 15' roll of it in your airplane but you could cut it into manageable pieces you could fold like a tarp and haul in.

Great landing by the way.
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Re: Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

Not sure of the availability, but if you have access to a horse or a mule (or suitable livestock) that can provide the power. It's amazing how small of parts a plow/harrow/roll can be broken down into. Combine these two and you can get some amazing work done. I've seen an entire sprayer strip cleared, plowed, harrow'd/dragged, and then rolled with a horse. Pretty 19th century but it works and it's easier than getting heavy equipment up there.
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Re: Rutted , narrow ,short jungle strip !

When my dad hooked up with Press and his dad Perry Maxwell in 1947, they were building golf courses with six mule teams and slips. If you have never used a slip, you know nothing about manual labor. Lift up on the two handles when you want to dig. Push down on the handles when the scoop is full. Other than that, the mules do all the work.

A Psychological Operations Officer was demonstrating a garden type walk behind tractor to a Village Chief in Vietnam. He said, "With this tractor, you won't need that water buffalo and all those people." Villagers were standing on the dike watching. The Village Chief said, "What will I do with all those people"?
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