Your numbers don't make any sense. Only two tons spread out over 1/4 mile???

Check with several sources and pretty soon a you will see a truer picture. This is a local issue that an international forum could only guess at.

IronBelly

Hmmm, unfortunate typo. That figure is 200 tons, not 2.

True, it is an international forum, but there are lots of people from this area who I am sure could advise me what to look for.

Keep in mind that you are hardly the first person that ever wanted to do such a project as economically as possible. That said, it might be wise to do what everybody else with a quareter mile driveway does, whatever that might be. Sometimes a penny saved is a lot of dollars wasted.

I have 1/4 mile driveway. Here is what I did. First contour the driveway so it has a pronounced crown, especially in low places. You don't want any water running down the 'roots' of the driveway. If it holds water, it will be a chuckhole that you will forever be filling with gravel. Then I put down a 3 inch layer of 1 1/4 crushed rock with fines. (Small pieces of rock down in size to sand.) Then a top dressing of 5/8's minus. It's held up for almost 30 years with only a dumptruck load (12 tons) or two added about every 5 years. If I had to do it over again I would just stick with 1 1/4 minus. I would also make a more pronounced crown when grading. You don't want to make the crown out of purchased material. That gets expensive! The crown material comes from the ditches when grading.
Hope this helps.

callagain,
We are a bit handicaped to give any but general advice. We don't know the geology, soil types, or commonly available materials of your area.

Moreover, you don't tell us why the drive needs work. Is it just too rough to drive over? Is the whole drive effected or only spots? Is it a good drive in summer, but turn to mud in winter?

Most gravel roads fail from either a water problem or unsuitable, lack of quantity, of materials.

To even make a guess at what needs to be done, we need to know the topography of the area, the type of material used in construction, the drive grade compared with the adjoining land, and the grade of side ditches and their amount of offset from the edge of drive.

When was the drive built. What has been the maintenance history.

I suggest you make a close inspection of unpaved county roads in your area. Those county boys have had years to refine the construction for the best cost / durability ratio.