How to Break Up a Packed Gravel Driveway

Pick and Wheelbarrow

• 1

  Put on a dust mask, work gloves and safety goggles.

• 2

  Strike the packed gravel with a pick until the gravel loosens enough to move it.

• 3

  Pick up the gravel with a square-edged shovel and deposit the gravel into a wheelbarrow. Dump the wheelbarrow in a dumpster for removal or a designated area where you plan to keep the gravel.

• 4

  Move to a new gravel-covered area of the driveway and strike the driveway with the pick, shovel the gravel into the wheelbarrow until no gravel remains. Continue to move about the driveway, striking the packed gravel and shoveling it for removal until no gravel remains on the driveway.

Excavator

• 5

  Rent a small excavator from a tool rental company or builder's supply.

• 6

  Thrust the excavator's shovel into the packed gravel to break up the driveway. Lower the excavator's bucket and scrape the loose gravel off the ground. Dump the gravel from the bucket into a designated area.

• 7

  Continue forcefully striking the packed gravel with the bucket and scrape the gravel off the ground until only the gravel next to structures remains.

• 8

  Use a pick to strike the remaining packed gravel near fences and buildings until the gravel is loose. Scoop the gravel up with a square-edged shovel and dump it into a wheelbarrow for hauling. Continue to pick at the packed gravel with the pick and shovel it away until no gravel remains next to structures.