track build

Knighty
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Knighty
Edited Date/Time 1/26/2012 12:49pm
hey guys.

first post on here, and im looking for some guidance.
ive got a bit of a track going at my holiday house, and its coming along slowly
the layout of it is pretty good, its just a little basic. theres some good straights, loose sections, and good dirt but im keen to get some stuff built.
at the moment its pretty well just a couple of small berms and ruts with a few hand built doubles.
im eager to get more stuff built, but im not really sure how im supposed to get that done without ready access to machinery ofr even a skidsteer. most of it so far has been built by hand, and its getting there VERY slowly. of course becuase its built by hand its pretty small and pathetic, but its better than nothing.

the question is, is there anything i can build on my track that can be built with just shovels, rakes, picks etc? at the moment im just shovelling loose dirt into a trailer connected to my car haha

feedback would be sick guys. bit of a squid question, was just looking for some advice.

here's a little vid of the track. well, parts of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIA04fKOqGQ&feature=player_embedded

cheers guys

james
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jndmx
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jndmx 6/17/2011 6:01am
6/17/2011 6:01am
You can definitely build a good sized track with shovels, picks and other hand tools but by the time you are done you will be too old to ride.....lol.

If it were me I would make a plan as to what I wanted, get the dirt in place in piles and then rent a machine...dozer or skidsteer.....and go to work.
OUMX117
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OUMX117 6/17/2011 6:20am
6/17/2011 6:20am
And some more advice, take the amount of dirt that you "think" you are going to need to make an obstacle and at least double it. That's the most common mistake I have seen when people try to make their first track. Good luck with your project. having your own track is fun, but it is alot of work.
Huckster
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Huckster 6/17/2011 7:09am
6/17/2011 7:09am
yup and then be prepared to spend a ton of time trying to keep it up. If you build whoops they WILL break down and need to be reshaped over and over again. Same with the jump faces. It will take about 1yr for all the weeds to grow back and then you will be married to your weed whacker or mower if you want it to look decent. To much rain, not enough rain... dust etc....unless your blessed with a perfect piece of land it will take up a lot of your time, but it can be a labor of love.....Oh and did I mention the numerous phone calls that you will get from people asking to ride there, but when it comes time to help maintain it their phones seem to be broke......
txmxer
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txmxer 6/17/2011 7:17am
6/17/2011 7:17am
All of the above.

If your goal is to ride, look for natural terrain. If you want jumps go to a track.

If you must build, do it right. Dirt, equipment, etc.

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Mr. Ted
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Mr. Ted 6/17/2011 7:25am
6/17/2011 7:25am
Is there any natural terrain that can be shaped into an obsticle? I built a mini-track for my son in our pasture, which is basically 1 1/2 acres. I used 30 dump truck loads of dirt I had brought in. That made 4 jumps and 4 berm turns. So for a big bike, you would need to double that If you have dirt or terrain on site, you are in better shape, because our pasture was as flat as flat can be. You will definitely need some equipment, unless you are going to just dig the berms in with you rear tire (which I think is a good idea). Good luck!
Albino
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Albino 6/17/2011 7:54am
6/17/2011 7:54am
I have a nice little practice track and I first hired an excavator for 1/2 a day to pile and push the bigger tables,using existing dirt.Then borrowed my Dads tractor w/bucket,spent 75-100 hrs in that moving the best dirt to the top,finished but then watched all the jumps shrink every year for about 5 yrs,so I rented a skidsteer for a weekend every year that the tractor was not available,to add to the dirt.Then disced it when I could with said tractor every year.

Not to discourage you but without the use of the free tractor it would have been an extra $1000 every year to rent a skidsteer twice plus truck and trailer and fuel to haul it .Be careful not to puncture the tractor tires,they're expensive.
Your best bet is to rent a skidsteer for a month.The tracked ones are alot more expensive to rent then a tire one.
Sondy132001
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Sondy132001 6/17/2011 8:16am
6/17/2011 8:16am
Knighty wrote:
hey guys. first post on here, and im looking for some guidance. ive got a bit of a track going at my holiday house, and its...
hey guys.

first post on here, and im looking for some guidance.
ive got a bit of a track going at my holiday house, and its coming along slowly
the layout of it is pretty good, its just a little basic. theres some good straights, loose sections, and good dirt but im keen to get some stuff built.
at the moment its pretty well just a couple of small berms and ruts with a few hand built doubles.
im eager to get more stuff built, but im not really sure how im supposed to get that done without ready access to machinery ofr even a skidsteer. most of it so far has been built by hand, and its getting there VERY slowly. of course becuase its built by hand its pretty small and pathetic, but its better than nothing.

the question is, is there anything i can build on my track that can be built with just shovels, rakes, picks etc? at the moment im just shovelling loose dirt into a trailer connected to my car haha

feedback would be sick guys. bit of a squid question, was just looking for some advice.

here's a little vid of the track. well, parts of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIA04fKOqGQ&feature=player_embedded

cheers guys

james
Carlsbad Raceway was built (1967-68) with shovels, rakes and picks etc. so it's possible, just use your imagination and you will get a good work out too, be smart invite some friends over for a BBQ and have them shovel with you !

S
Huckster
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Huckster 6/17/2011 8:27am
6/17/2011 8:27am
it can become a pretty complicated process. As stated, you will need dirt to replace and repair the faces and sections of the track. If you disc, it will ultimately lower the grade of your lanes then you will encounter issues with water. Same goes for the turns where depending on how much you ride, ruts will form and then become filled with water after each and every rain depending on what type of soil you have and it may take a long time to drain or be soaked up.

I have a track and my land is clay. I built most of it with a farm tractor and a bucket. I did rent a dozer and mini excavator to help but if you are going to do that I would strongly suggest hiring someone that knows how to run the dozer. Its expensive and if you don't know what your doing, it can take a long time. One of the guys who rides on it owns a excavating company and last year he brought some equipment over and redid the track. We had a dozer, mini ex, track skid, big excavator and big dump truck. He spent the better part of 2 weekends over here and we got a lot accomplished but still not all that we wanted. It takes a lot of dirt to build a decent(60-70ft) table top. In hind sight, we should have spent more time developing a drainage system before we laid out the jumps. Layout everything,obstacles, turns, drainage swales, etc before you rent one piece of equipment. I could go on and on but its a learning process and then when you think it's just right, it rains forever or is too dry.....but when its perfect there is nothing better than to roll out of your house and go spin some laps...
peelout
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peelout 6/17/2011 8:32am
6/17/2011 8:32am
don't use a spade shovel. only flat blade shovels can build gnar triples.
Stretch67 6/17/2011 9:03am
6/17/2011 9:03am
After trying to build my own small practice track, I decided that $20 for a practice day at a real tack is cheap.

Yes It is nice to just be able to get dressed and hop on my bike and go ride , but you will get bored with a short backyard track real quick and you will spend more time working on it than riding on it.


If I had it to do over, I think I would spend the money on one of those small FunMover trailers with A/C and make going to the track as easy and as fun possible.

Sometimes the dream is better left a dream.
keeptwostrokesalive 6/17/2011 10:28am
6/17/2011 10:28am
The best option in my opinion is to make a nice turn track with no jumps. Turn tracks are great for training ang gaining corner speed. They can be really fun too if you have a bunch of friends riding together.
level
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level 6/17/2011 11:42am
6/17/2011 11:42am Edited Date/Time 6/17/2011 11:43am
Hate to tell you man but you need big equipment. I have a track at my house. Even a small jump would take you a month to build with a shovel.
I have tried to even rake my track(get the rocks off) and it takes 4 or 5 hours for one small section and a bunch of blisters.

You have to get some big equipment to do it right for a dirtbike. A little jump for a BMX bike maybe you can shovel a tiny jump in a few days.

You get some dirt in there or use some of the dirt you got, get a skidsteer, and pay somebody that knows what they are doing and you will be amazed at what kind of track they can build you in just a day or two.
Ewan
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Ewan 6/17/2011 12:18pm
6/17/2011 12:18pm
keeptwostrokesalive wrote:
The best option in my opinion is to make a nice turn track with no jumps. Turn tracks are great for training ang gaining corner speed...
The best option in my opinion is to make a nice turn track with no jumps. Turn tracks are great for training ang gaining corner speed. They can be really fun too if you have a bunch of friends riding together.
X2
grover738
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grover738 6/17/2011 1:14pm
6/17/2011 1:14pm
Not to hijack the thread, but I've always wanted to disk a track into a soybean field after the soybeans have been harvested, no jumps, just a natural terrain track, and have a one day ride day with a bunch of buddies before the whole field is disked under.

Anyone ever tried this? I live in a naturally hilly area with beautiful black dirt, and seeing farmers tilling in the fall after they harvest makes me want to stop my car, run out into the field, and beg them to carve me out a track for the afternoon.

Something like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pesotum74/5081167485/

only on hilly land....
agency399
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agency399 6/17/2011 1:36pm
6/17/2011 1:36pm
If possible, rent a dozer with joystick controls. If you have at least a foot of soil you can scrape the dirt into jumps. Just back up about 50 to 100 feet from where you want the jump and start pushing, just a few inches at a time across the 50 to 100 feet.

Then smooth it all off when you are done so it does not look like a giant hole.
The first year I built my track about 12 years ago I had a contractor come in and I told him what I wanted. I found out that unless the contractor rides, he won't be able to build what you’re looking for.

Best thing is to try it yourself and you will learn with patience, trial and error. (helps to have some equipment experience as it can be dangerous when you get equipment up on top of a jump.)

Be safe if you do rent anything. Do not get too close to your edges as dirt can give away and the dozer will slide or worse……

Actually the more I think about it, if you have zero equipment experience, you better hire somebody who does. I grew up working on dairy farms and always knew my way around heavy equipment pretty well but would hate to get one on top of a jump without any experience at all.
agency399
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agency399 6/17/2011 1:37pm
6/17/2011 1:37pm
grover738 wrote:
Not to hijack the thread, but I've always wanted to disk a track into a soybean field after the soybeans have been harvested, no jumps, just...
Not to hijack the thread, but I've always wanted to disk a track into a soybean field after the soybeans have been harvested, no jumps, just a natural terrain track, and have a one day ride day with a bunch of buddies before the whole field is disked under.

Anyone ever tried this? I live in a naturally hilly area with beautiful black dirt, and seeing farmers tilling in the fall after they harvest makes me want to stop my car, run out into the field, and beg them to carve me out a track for the afternoon.

Something like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pesotum74/5081167485/

only on hilly land....
We have done that out of a corn field a few times. Traction is unreal!
EZZA 95B 6/17/2011 6:52pm
6/17/2011 6:52pm Edited Date/Time 6/17/2011 8:36pm
Knighty wrote:
hey guys. first post on here, and im looking for some guidance. ive got a bit of a track going at my holiday house, and its...
hey guys.

first post on here, and im looking for some guidance.
ive got a bit of a track going at my holiday house, and its coming along slowly
the layout of it is pretty good, its just a little basic. theres some good straights, loose sections, and good dirt but im keen to get some stuff built.
at the moment its pretty well just a couple of small berms and ruts with a few hand built doubles.
im eager to get more stuff built, but im not really sure how im supposed to get that done without ready access to machinery ofr even a skidsteer. most of it so far has been built by hand, and its getting there VERY slowly. of course becuase its built by hand its pretty small and pathetic, but its better than nothing.

the question is, is there anything i can build on my track that can be built with just shovels, rakes, picks etc? at the moment im just shovelling loose dirt into a trailer connected to my car haha

feedback would be sick guys. bit of a squid question, was just looking for some advice.

here's a little vid of the track. well, parts of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIA04fKOqGQ&feature=player_embedded

cheers guys

james
You can hire these, not sure about cost or if anyone can operate one but it sure would beat a shovel.
Knighty
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Knighty 6/17/2011 8:07pm
6/17/2011 8:07pm Edited Date/Time 6/17/2011 10:17pm
thanks so much for all the replies guys! its a big BIG help.

the track is definately taking shape, so i would never give up on it. with a bit of work, it could genuinelly be a great track. ive also got an extra 50 acres of space to play with, so it wont be a problem.
for the last year ive just been shredding it up on the bike, and doing alot of shovelling and although progress is slow, you can see it getting better.

im super determined to get it all dug, so i'll keep going, i might even show some pictures.

i have had dirt dumped before. a bloke from down the road needed a place to put some fill so he dumped about 50 tonne on my track. so that made 1 small double, a berm and a tiny ass table top, so i understand the dirt doesnt go far.

i will definately look into macinery. those dingo diggers look pretty good. they wont move too much dirt, but it would be much much faster than by hand.

and dont worry about drainage, it doesnt rain too much and when it does it all soaks in and stays there which is awesome

i have got a couple of people down the road who have bocats, and use them as a trade, but getting them upto my place will take a bit of work. theyre both nice blokes, so if i can gently and slowly talk them into helping me out, i'll be set!

does anyone know how much a dingo would be to hire in aus? just for a weekend, i could get a couple of berms done and maybe some small doubles.

thanks again for the feedback, its all helping.
and the whole riding on farmland idea, i have always thought that too. on the way to this track i always drive through miles and miles of farm land with this rich looking soil which has been fresh plowed Tongue

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Knighty
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Knighty 6/17/2011 10:16pm
6/17/2011 10:16pm Edited Date/Time 6/17/2011 10:17pm
here's some short vids of my track.
the first is from about a year ago, so the track has changed alot since then. you also dont see all of it, just parts of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIA04fKOqGQ

here is some go pro footage from a weekend ago. it shows some of the new lines ive just cleared, so most of it is pretty flat at the moment. i think some of the straights are a bit long also, so i will need to change it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-0xD_GHIL8&feature=related
tbanks
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tbanks 6/17/2011 10:26pm
6/17/2011 10:26pm
If you want to build some stuff by hand you could always use logs. Me and my friends build a nice little track in the woods when we were kids. We would stack some nice logs and then cover the whole thing with dirt. To finish it off we would just sculp the faces of the jumps until we had them where we wanted them.

I went back in the woods a few weeks ago (We built the track 7-8 years ago) and the jumps are still there in perfect shape. The only problem for the track is fallen trees since its in the woods, but the jumps are actually still in great condition.

*One piece of advice for this approach is to cover the logs with a good 8 inches of dirt. Over the years we had to repack the faces when we dug down to the wood. But fixing the faces of jumps is necessary for every track so it is nothing new.

The log approach definitely saves dirt and time, but make sure you do it right and pack it tight.
Knighty
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Knighty 6/17/2011 10:34pm
6/17/2011 10:34pm
tbanks wrote:
If you want to build some stuff by hand you could always use logs. Me and my friends build a nice little track in the woods...
If you want to build some stuff by hand you could always use logs. Me and my friends build a nice little track in the woods when we were kids. We would stack some nice logs and then cover the whole thing with dirt. To finish it off we would just sculp the faces of the jumps until we had them where we wanted them.

I went back in the woods a few weeks ago (We built the track 7-8 years ago) and the jumps are still there in perfect shape. The only problem for the track is fallen trees since its in the woods, but the jumps are actually still in great condition.

*One piece of advice for this approach is to cover the logs with a good 8 inches of dirt. Over the years we had to repack the faces when we dug down to the wood. But fixing the faces of jumps is necessary for every track so it is nothing new.

The log approach definitely saves dirt and time, but make sure you do it right and pack it tight.
thanks mate, i hadn't thought of that actually! the dirt in spots where i am is fairly loose, so i would need a fair bit covering the logs, so they didnt get worn down. the dirt still shapes really well, and logs would save a heap of time.

thanks heaps mate, i will definately be filling my jumps etc with fill before the dirt. carefully of course, i have done that once before where i didnt put enough dirt on top, and the rocks underneath exposed real quick.
tbanks
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tbanks 6/17/2011 10:35pm
6/17/2011 10:35pm
tbanks wrote:
If you want to build some stuff by hand you could always use logs. Me and my friends build a nice little track in the woods...
If you want to build some stuff by hand you could always use logs. Me and my friends build a nice little track in the woods when we were kids. We would stack some nice logs and then cover the whole thing with dirt. To finish it off we would just sculp the faces of the jumps until we had them where we wanted them.

I went back in the woods a few weeks ago (We built the track 7-8 years ago) and the jumps are still there in perfect shape. The only problem for the track is fallen trees since its in the woods, but the jumps are actually still in great condition.

*One piece of advice for this approach is to cover the logs with a good 8 inches of dirt. Over the years we had to repack the faces when we dug down to the wood. But fixing the faces of jumps is necessary for every track so it is nothing new.

The log approach definitely saves dirt and time, but make sure you do it right and pack it tight.
Knighty wrote:
thanks mate, i hadn't thought of that actually! the dirt in spots where i am is fairly loose, so i would need a fair bit covering...
thanks mate, i hadn't thought of that actually! the dirt in spots where i am is fairly loose, so i would need a fair bit covering the logs, so they didnt get worn down. the dirt still shapes really well, and logs would save a heap of time.

thanks heaps mate, i will definately be filling my jumps etc with fill before the dirt. carefully of course, i have done that once before where i didnt put enough dirt on top, and the rocks underneath exposed real quick.
Cool no problem, sounds like you got a nice track shaping up
Knighty
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Knighty 6/18/2011 6:14pm
6/18/2011 6:14pm
one more question....

i have a short-ish line of whoops that i want to make. i know they are hard to make them 'good' by hand, but i might as well try.
what kind of spacing do most whoops have, from crest to crest? 6ft? 8ft? not really sure how to space them.

im going to put them after a corner so how much spacing will i need between the end of the berm and the first whoop?
jasonv43
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jasonv43 6/18/2011 6:18pm
6/18/2011 6:18pm
Is the guy with the red plate the points leader?Wink

Just kidding man, wish I had the kind of land you do.
Knighty
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Knighty 6/18/2011 7:47pm
6/18/2011 7:47pm
woahaha go easy

yeah i love it, its so fun to be able to get up and go ride whenever you want. you just get bored of your track easy!
Ewan
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Ewan 6/18/2011 8:10pm
6/18/2011 8:10pm
grover738 wrote:
Not to hijack the thread, but I've always wanted to disk a track into a soybean field after the soybeans have been harvested, no jumps, just...
Not to hijack the thread, but I've always wanted to disk a track into a soybean field after the soybeans have been harvested, no jumps, just a natural terrain track, and have a one day ride day with a bunch of buddies before the whole field is disked under.

Anyone ever tried this? I live in a naturally hilly area with beautiful black dirt, and seeing farmers tilling in the fall after they harvest makes me want to stop my car, run out into the field, and beg them to carve me out a track for the afternoon.

Something like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pesotum74/5081167485/

only on hilly land....
Yeah, here in Scotland we have the Scottish Twinshock club which races on circuits that are generally roped out on farmers fields, same with the Melville MCC Winter motocross races.

Generally, the races from September through to Feb are held on stubble fields, utilising elevation rather than man made jumps. Definitely some good, old fun "scrambling". I've raced pre-65 on my dads old BSAs, and the mono-shock class on both my restored '91 KX 125 & current day KXF's. Jumps are cool, but racing flat out, on a track that flows, man that is a thing of beauty!
tobz
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tobz 6/18/2011 8:13pm
6/18/2011 8:13pm
Morgan eyy?

There's no point trying to build a good track if you have quads riding on it. They're just going to ruin your shit.
Knighty
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Knighty 6/18/2011 8:39pm
6/18/2011 8:39pm
tobz wrote:
Morgan eyy?

There's no point trying to build a good track if you have quads riding on it. They're just going to ruin your shit.
the quad doesnt get ridden that much around the track and it doesnt destroy it as much as you would think. if anything, it can flatten ruts and smooth shit over.

your toby lewis right? i think i have you added on fb haha
tobz
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tobz 6/19/2011 4:32am
6/19/2011 4:32am
Sorry, not me.

We get quads at our local practicing area, and smoothing ruts out and leaving nothing but a hard base is why they ruin shit. Hehe
Knighty
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Knighty 6/27/2011 5:17am
6/27/2011 5:17am
UPDATE.
managed to get some dirt dumped quickly via bobcat while i was getting another job done. the bloke dumped about 6 full buckets on the jump, so its a little bigger now. its not very big, but it looks smaller in the photo. definitely much better than anything i could have built by hand. very happy! he also said he can bring his bobcat back soon to build more. updates will be coming soon.



I also re-shaped my existing berm, which was lacking in 'bermness' it was pretty well just a pile of dirt.

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