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Road and driveway maintenance
Carl, the site Ken linked to is good, but IMHO, it is a little more important to have a working knowledge first. If you don't understand the what, why, where and how, you will just be wandering aimlessly in the dark. You don't need a 4 year college program, just the basics.
One of the best examples I've found is a US DOT publication, linked to below. While it is aimed at 'real' roads, and for people who do it for a living, it is a really good crash course for anybody. Well worth the time to read it.
IMHO, the other critical item is the equipment. Without the right stuff it can be a long and tiresome job. With the good stuff, it's a joy to do.
I would suggest a good box blade is the first choice. Next is a coin toss between a good landscape rake or rear blade, hopefully both having a double offset hitch. They are for pulling the shoulders back without driving in the ditch to do so.
Ideally you would have a hydraulically adjustable, tow-able box blade with independently adjustable gauge wheels or pull-behind grader attachment. Either would be a serious investment to the average homeowner.
As always, questions are always free,  .
Best of luck.
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Road and driveway maintenance
Carl, glad I could be of some assistance. It's amazing how much there is to know about something as simple as a gravel roadway isn't it?
A landscape rake is basically a set of large curved spring tines, about the same size, shape & format as a rear blade, but instead of a mouldboard, it has flat spring tines about 1/2" wide and spaced closely together. It is very good at surface finishing and will usually roll all the larger stones of the surface for you. It is also handy for doing things like raking all the leaves off in the spring, or clearing light snow falls, without chewing up the road surface.
Best of luck.
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Kenneth has brought up a good point.
As a 'professional' I am insured up the wazoo, but the average homeowner is not, usually. Generally speaking a 'volunteer' is pretty hard to make the scape-goat unless there is a very blatant case of carelessness or stupidity, someone getting paid is held to a much hire standard of professionalism.
The simple solution, if not already accomplished, would be for the residents assoc. to pay for a liability policy, naming the 'volunteer'. We do periodic (3 or 4 times a year only) work on sevral private roads, they have a liability policy which takes the burden off any one person. If the road crosses several pieces of private property this may already be covered in the basic homeowners policy.
Better safe than very, very sorry.
Best of luck.
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Road and driveway maintenance
Doc, if the ground is very flat, and the driveway well maintained there is little need for a crown.
I do not however understand how it can create a mess though, please explain it a little.
The problem is that inevitably wheel tracks will appear in a travelled road, then water starts to run in those tracks, ALONG the road, instead of sideways & OFF of the road. This will cause erosion.
I have seen good-sized sections of roadway completely washed away by surprisingly light rains, especially right around the time of snow melt in the spring.
Best of luck.
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Pete, I believe most homeowners policys only cover what you do on YOUR property, it doesn't cover you for liability beyond your property line.
"Shotgun Litigation" has unfortunately become almost the norm today. Sue everybody you can think of and let a judge & jury sort it out later.
We were named in suit a few years back. A guest at a cottage drove off the road and down the embankment and hit a tree, and in so doing wrote off his new Marcedes. He found through the cottagers association website / newsletter that my company had been hired to advise the assoc. on road maintenance, and so I must be liable because I didn't tell them to cut down the tree, or put up a guard rail.
The cottager the guy was visiting was so pithed at this jerk, the husband of a friend of his wifes, he contacted me to help with the defence. His affidavit that the guy was on his way to buy more booze because his hoist had cut him off pretty much ended the matter. ;->
Best of luck.
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Doc, a flat blade or blower is n o problem on a propery crowned driveway or laneway.
You make one pass on each side of the crown with the cutting edge flush to the ground on the 'slope' portion. There is rarely ever a little strip of snow left on the top of the crown.
Bear in mind also, to be effective on flat(ish) land a crown doesn't need to be any more than about a 2-3% slope from the centerline out. On a 12' wide lane this only amounts to a drop of about 1.5" or 2" per side, that's really not going to cause you any grief.
Best of luck.
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