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234
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3/28/2016
Location
CA
Looking for some tips and info on what I should go about doing to build a private track. I want it to be fairly small and more like a backyard Supercross track considering I do have some room but I don't have a wide open field or anything. Any pointers?
The Shop
Otherwise, if it is going to be more an SX layout, start staking out the track so that you know where everything, jumps/turns/whoops, are going to go and you end up with consistent width.
What does your budget look like?
Do you have good soil to work with and any elevation changes?
Do you get a lot of rain where you live, where is that water going to pool up on the track and how will you avoid that?
For the jumps, do you have any fill that you can use at the base of the jumps and save the quality soil for corners?
This article should help: http://www.dirtwurx.com/track_tips.php
Stake out a basic outline until you like the flow, then start adding jumps, rollers, etc...
Building and maintenance are going to kill your wallet. especially since your buddies will want to ride it for free, save yourself the time, money, and most of all the headache and just keep to your local track.
But if youre hell bent of doing it, rent a skid steer for a few days, buy a lazer level, buy a 75' tape, grade down your layout about 2 " or so, bring in some clay, build, and have fun. or call Jason Baker and have dream trax do it.
Keep in mind the soil type and condition needs to play a part in what kinds of obstacles and corners you have.
If you don't have access to plenty of water near the track, design it so it can be ridden dry.
If you won't own equipment and will just periodically rent to make changes or groom, build big round mounds of dirt for your jumps and berms. That takes a lot more dirt, maybe twice as much. I've found that my slower friends ride up the faces of my bigger doubles in a low gear and then ride a wheelie down the backside of the take off. That's pretty much like running a ditch-witch through the jump. A larger more round jump holds up better to those guys.
Big round landings are safer if you have doubles, triples, etc.
Do you have elevation change? If you do, use it to your advantage. Building a jump or berm takes a massive amount of dirt. If you use the natural terain to your advantage it will require a lot less earth moving.
Pit Row
One of the first posts that said "start with a large pile of money and change your number" is spot on! I enjoy my track... I enjoy working on my track...but it's amazing how many "friends" you'll pick up along the way that are all about rutting up your track, ditch-witching the jumps, and having a great time for hours...but never offer to pitch in for diesel or weed spray, etc. The best one is when ol' Johnny calls and asks it you wanna ride...then casually throws in "is it alright if I bring Richard and Tony" with me? At that point you're either a dick and say no (which I've done)...or you have two more people rutting up your track with no intentions of helping you make it better.
The other thing I will tell you is everyone...and I mean everyone...thinks they can run equipment. Whether that's you or not, there is an true art to building and maintaining a track. It takes waaaaaay more dirt than you could ever imagine. The distance from corners to faces...or gaps between obstacles isn't something you just wake up and do. I built the pw track for my kids and am quite good at shaping, but building from scratch is a real tough thing to do.
Lastly, we are pretty dry around here and my track only gets watered when it rains....but the weed problem is enormous!!! I go to our county weed and pest and get cost share on chemicals...and I'm here to tell you I spray (backpack sprayer, atv sprayer, etc.) almost nightly. It's a time consuming sob (doesn't help that I'm ocd and want my track looking nice as it's a part of my overall landscape) and definitely isn't cheap.
Bottom line, it's worth the time and money and effort for me to have it accessible for 20 minutes when I get home at night, or four hours on a sunday...but don't kid yourself into thinking it'll be a piece of cake and won't cost you much. All boils down to what you want it to look like, how you're going to use it, and what you have available to maintain it.
Good luck!
I built my own track a 1.2 mile national caliber track (at least have been told this by a few pros that have ridden it) took me 2 years and 5 months doing it myself with a small New Holland 40 HP tractor with a loader bucket and several 3 point hitch attachments.
When it came time to build the jumps i didn't feel comfortable that i could get them right and make them challenging, safe and fun so i hired a Pro builder to come out and build them. He did a superb job and the track flows really well and is a blast to ride. This is no place to be cheap pay what it takes to get it done right.
I have no money to spend but have time so i taught myself how to run the loader and did my best at using the natural terrain to the best advantage still made several changes to the layout to finally get what i wanted and am really happy with the whole project.
I have some videos of the construction from early on to now at
https://vimeo.com/channels/1058204
Next thing is who do you let ride if anyone...You will get many responses to this however i suggest staying out of the legal system entirely. Use your States Recreational Use Statute to protect you from the legal system unless you are starting a business.to make money.
If you have to get rid of it all just level it all back out.
I used to be pretty open about who I had come up then one moron kinda ruined it. Now I just keep it my people I know and any local kids that my boys ride with. I will say some are good about offering some cash or helping out.
It has cost me more than most people can imagine and I do my own building. I have a Case 450 now but did much of the original build with an archaic International TD-6 62 with a clamshell bucket. I also have a 30 horse front loader for most maintenance (rippers/disc/drag & water tanks). Would love to have a tracked skiddy but with horses on the other side of property the tractor is more versatile and implements waaaay cheaper for it.
My last track needed dirt brought in. I would hit up the county when they were cleaning out the ditches and get truckloads dumped off. Win/win for both. The track I have now follows natural terrain so have plenty of dirt (and rock).
I like big safe jumps. Everything I build has a large safety deck & large breakover points on landings. We have trees to kill sound and keep dust contained as possible. We also have a freestyle ramp to play on tahts pretty safe. My 10 year old loves it!.......
Here's the assessor's view of my property. As you can see...not too many neighbors to worry about offending!
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