I need to put my TC in the back yard and this requires me to drive across the lawn. I won't have time to put in a real driveway of gravel or pavers or whatever this fall. So, I need something temporary to get the truck back there to drop the TC.Anyone ever use some temporary material to protect the lawn? 3/4" plywood? 5/8"? Any other material?Or just drive over it knowing the track left behind will be a driveway next spring?Thanks

It's all according to the soil under the grass. The grass will bend, and will recover, but the soil is the biggy. Where I lived before retiring, the soil was clay....you could have driven a semi over it and nothing. But where we are now, it's so sandy below the compost and grass that it moves and sink easily.....we don't drive across it. It would take adding soil to get it back to flat.

Personally, if I were going to make it a driveway in the spring, I would not bother putting down plywood or anything else. Unless, there is a chance you will sink in and get stuck.I did the same thing, drove/parked on the grass. It made small ruts and killed some of the grass.It's now a gravel pad. Problem solved.

Geewizard wrote:I need to put my TC in the back yard and this requires me to drive across the lawn. I won't have time to put in a real driveway of gravel or pavers or whatever this fall. So, I need something temporary to get the truck back there to drop the TC.Anyone ever use some temporary material to protect the lawn? 3/4" plywood? 5/8"? Any other material?Or just drive over it knowing the track left behind will be a driveway next spring?ThanksIf you're sure that the driveway will be installed next spring, I would not spend the time,money or effort to put anything temporary down - what's the point?

Won't hurt it anyway. I drive thru my yard with the TT all the time. It does press the grass down, but in a few days you'll never know it ever happened. The only way it will wear a path, is if you do it very often.

F105 wrote:Geewizard wrote:I need to put my TC in the back yard and this requires me to drive across the lawn. I won't have time to put in a real driveway of gravel or pavers or whatever this fall. So, I need something temporary to get the truck back there to drop the TC.Anyone ever use some temporary material to protect the lawn? 3/4" plywood? 5/8"? Any other material?Or just drive over it knowing the track left behind will be a driveway next spring?ThanksIf you're sure that the driveway will be installed next spring, I would not spend the time,money or effort to put anything temporary down - what's the point?The point is so it doesn't look like crap.

Driving truck with TC across the lawn? | Good Sam Community

22 Replies

mkirsch
Nomad II
Nov 20, 2013
If you're not going to put in a drive, try to move around so you're not always driving in the same place each time. That gives the grass and ground time to recover between trips.
trail-explorer
Explorer
Nov 20, 2013
Driving across the lawn a few times isn't going to kill the grass.

If it's wet, then you may leave tire track imprints.

I did it for 4 years with a trailer, and the only time I had a problem was during the winter when the Washington ground was saturated... I'd leave imprints that sometimes got a little mushy.

HOA never bothered me. Grass never died off.
Geewizard
Explorer
Nov 16, 2013
Update: Put the TC on the truck Thursday night, drove across the lawn, and got 'er done. No ruts, no muss, no fuss. Except for that one pop-up sprinkler head I heard go .....crunch....

I just waited until the lawn and the soil underneath got dried out enough. And we had a forecast of more precip for Friday and beyond.

Not one HOA cop came by and ticketed me in 3 months. :B
bka0721
Explorer II
Oct 10, 2013
Geewizard wrote:
bka0721 wrote:
We installed trees and lighting at ball fields all the time, after the weather turned cold in the fall. Without the wet, sprinklers running, the ground gets harder and the big trucks, crane trucks don't leave the ruts that they would any other time.

Wait until it gets colder and the ground begins to freeze and drive it back there. Bring it out before the ground starts thawing out in the spring.

b

I had that thought too. I shut off my sprinklers two weeks ago to let the ground firm up. If it's still too soft, I can wait until a hard freeze as you suggest. If the HOA cops will let me......
Damn neighbourhood Nazis. Yeah they harass people, associations, just to show their board members that they are doing something. Some people go to their truck dealers parts department to buy new badges for their truck, so they can rebadge a truck from a; F350/3500 to a F250/2500. Many HOAs prohibit 1 ton trucks from even parking in your own driveway. Good luck.

b
Geewizard
Explorer
Oct 10, 2013
bka0721 wrote:
We installed trees and lighting at ball fields all the time, after the weather turned cold in the fall. Without the wet, sprinklers running, the ground gets harder and the big trucks, crane trucks don't leave the ruts that they would any other time.

Wait until it gets colder and the ground begins to freeze and drive it back there. Bring it out before the ground starts thawing out in the spring.

b

I had that thought too. I shut off my sprinklers two weeks ago to let the ground firm up. If it's still too soft, I can wait until a hard freeze as you suggest. If the HOA cops will let me......
zcookiemonstar
Explorer
Oct 10, 2013
try driving a lighter vehicle across it first or maybe the truck without the weight of the camper on it to see how it is.
bka0721
Explorer II
Oct 10, 2013
We installed trees and lighting at ball fields all the time, after the weather turned cold in the fall. Without the wet, sprinklers running, the ground gets harder and the big trucks, crane trucks don't leave the ruts that they would any other time.

Wait until it gets colder and the ground begins to freeze and drive it back there. Bring it out before the ground starts thawing out in the spring.

b
sabconsulting
Explorer
Oct 09, 2013
msiminoff wrote:
...I installed a product called Grasspave...
-Mark

Interesting Mark, I'll make a note of that - I really should install something similar at home.

Steve.
Geewizard
Explorer
Oct 08, 2013
msiminoff wrote:
Anyone ever use some temporary material to protect the lawn? 3/4" plywood? 5/8"? Any other material?

For much of the summer my camper is parked on a concrete pad in our back yard and I have to drive across 30' of lawn to get there. This parking spot was part of the master plan when we landscaped the yard so before I put the sod down I installed a product called Grasspave.
Even with the Grasspave in place, I lay down 24" wide strips of 3/4" plywood before I drive across. I'm not at all concerned about sinking... it just that the lawn is just too darn pretty to mess-up, especially because I often need to do some creative steering to get the truck lined up to load the camper.
Cheers,
-Mark

I looked into getting Grasspave locally but it's not available. I might consider that next spring. Until then, I think I'll do what you and others have suggested: 3/4" plywood sheets sawn in half.

Thanks everyone for your input.
msiminoff
Explorer II
Oct 08, 2013
Anyone ever use some temporary material to protect the lawn? 3/4" plywood? 5/8"? Any other material?

For much of the summer my camper is parked on a concrete pad in our back yard and I have to drive across 30' of lawn to get there. This parking spot was part of the master plan when we landscaped the yard so before I put the sod down I installed a product called Grasspave.
Even with the Grasspave in place, I lay down 24" wide strips of 3/4" plywood before I drive across. I'm not at all concerned about sinking... it just that the lawn is just too darn pretty to mess-up, especially because I often need to do some creative steering to get the truck lined up to load the camper.
Cheers,
-Mark