BEST WAY(S) TO WASH PEA GRAVEL?

[Mmathis]

I dread adding pea gravel to anything - hate washing it! Tried not washing it once, and it took 2 days for the water to clear up.

Just curious how you guys do this. I buy mine by the bag, and that's enough of a pain, but know some of you get yours by the truck load!

This last time, I dumped 5 or 6 bags in our garden cart and rinsed, and rinsed, and rinsed..... Other times, when I've just needed small amts., have been able to suspend a colander over a bucket and rinse where the dirty water exits from all sides.. This last method works the best [and uses less water], but would take FOREVER for a large amt.

 

[sissy]

I wash mine with a wooden frame I screwed together and stapled screening to the bottom and just use the hose .I put it over my stock tank I am not using right now .But you can put the frame on top of concrete block and make it as big as you want .Mine was just to wash enough stone to put on top of my plants in the pots in the pond .Almost like the gold miners did .I used wide mesh screening .

 

[gardengimp]

I put some window screening over a plastic bakery delivery tray. Spread a bag of pea gravel then hope for rain.

 

[sissy]

did it rain enough :razz:

 

[taherrmann4]

I drilled about 50 holes into a 5g bucket, scooped a few shovel loads in it and the ran the hose on the top of it. The dirty water would drain out the holes. Did this for the 3 cubic yards of gravel I had dumped for my bog. Had very little dirty water when I started up the bog. It was a major PITA though!

 

[whiskey]

Get a large tub, taller the better , fix an outlet as close to top as possible, attach hose and fill with water, now bring your sieve over to barrel, place a small pond pump[1000] in bottom of tray and the pump hose end into barrel at bottom of barrel.

now you should be able to wash lots of pee gravel as the dirty water stays in bottom of barrel, change water as it becomes too dirty as required.THE SMALLER THE PUMP THE BETTER IT WORKS
good luck
whiskey

 

[mrsclem]

I used large 18" planters that are for lotus plants. Small holes so the dirt just hosed off. I was able to do 1/2 bag at a time (had 200 bags!).

 

[gardengimp]

did it rain enough :razz:

This is central florida during the rainy season! I must have planned this really good. Yeah, right, plan .... :razz: The bad thing was the tray I had suspended over a spot in the yard that needed some nutrients. Then got emergently admitted to the hospital for 5 days. Forgot to ask hubby to remove. Suprisingly, the grass didn't die!

 

[koiguy1969]

if i had a large quantity to wash i think i might have tried a portable cement mixer,,,,fill it with gravel then water.. turn it on... and let it tumble for a while then just a quick rinse. i would think that would do a fantastic job of getting it clean.

 

[adavisus]

Plonk some plastic sheet on a slight slope, pile up gravel on plastic, leave sprinkler going...

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks, all! Great suggestions, and I see a couple that I might try. Guess rinsing pea gravel is going to be a PITA no matter how you do it.

 

[taherrmann4]

TM if you want to practice before you give it a try on yours I still have a 1/2 cubic yard in my driveway you can experiment on... :razz:

 

[Mmathis]

TM if you want to practice before you give it a try on yours I still have a 1/2 cubic yard in my driveway you can experiment on... :razz:

I'll pass, thanks -- would take too long to get there, and I have to pick son up from school in the afternoons

 

[addy1]

our 2800 lbs of pea gravel went in unwashed, except for the first two wheel barrels full.....................

 

[Mmathis]

our 2800 lbs of pea gravel went in unwashed, except for the first two wheel barrels full.....................

ADDY, you sound like me Almost to that point, now. And every time I think I've bought enough bags, well, I haven't and it's another trip to the DEPOT (my home-away-from-home, as Hubby called it yesterday).

Oh, and this is what I came up with as a washer: took a large [straight-sided kitty litter container -- may be equiv. to a 5+ gal. bucket], drilled a hole in the bottom to fit 3/4" PVC fittings [used the gray, electrical fittings] for a spigot to attach the water hose. Then drilled a bunch of holes along the top. Hose runs in from the bottom & dirty water out the top. One container will rinse about 1/2 bag of pea gravel. Since we have 5 indoor cats [!], have lots of the containers, so think I'll make a few more so I can be rinsing one bucket full while dumping another. OOOOPS!!! It's trash day -- I better go be sure Hubby didn't throw those kitty litter buckets out...