Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
the listing is a diff place, the old jgr track
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Everyone and their dog will have an opinion of how your track should be. Just remember to build it for yourself first and foremost, to your taste and skill level.
People will come and go. Most won't help, ever. Some will be absolutely invaluable. The bulk of the work will always fall to you, so it's important to set it up in a way that keeps you enthusiastic and engaged.
As mentioned by some folks already:
--There is erosion depending on terrain.
--There are weeds that are hard to control and knock down (sides of jumps/berms)
--Dust and dust control. Watering sucks unless you plan/have a good system to do it with minimal help.
--Equipment is cool but you have to maintain it. Shit breaks. Shit needs to get fixed. Almost constantly.
--Not mention where all that equipment sits (barn/building/sheds/lean-to). This goes back up to where I mentioned expectations on appearances. Anywhere your working on this stuff is greasy, oily, messy. Implements everywhere, Chains, brush hogs, cultivators, discs, 3pt attachments, watering trailers, fuel stations, etc . It's all hard to hide and keep maintained enough that it doesn't look like a equipment yard.
--Visitors/friends of friends/riders that maybe you don't necessarily want an intimate look into your personal shit.
I myself used to dream of having a track in my backyard. After operating a track myself (with my buddies) and having friends with tracks in their backyard...I'm now of the opinion that my track needs to be a mile down the road...lol. Or big enough property that it's separated pretty well from the residence.
Go for it tho!!
A home track done right takes a ton of maintenance & $$. It's quite a bit of work to keep it prepped even with the right equipment. I have a Case 450 dozer, a 4wd tractor & an older skiddy. You get more seat time in the equipment than riding if you are main prep guy but I enjoy it.
My personal biggest downside is probably unusual - Since i keep track well-prepped and am a stickler for flow it doesn't end up being a goo "hardcore" training place for racing. Most tracks in the NW have shitty prep, improperly built jumps & little in the way of flow. So anytime my boys go race they have to get used to riding tracks that aren't as well built. I ended up having to make some alternate lines that were purposely jacked up and rougher to emulate what they race on. I can't bring myself to build bad jumps though. It's all for fun anyway so doesn't really matter.........
If I did it again, it would be more of a riding area than a track per se. A place to practice drills and just ride around, versus trying to keep up a legitimate track.
I wouldn't call it "work" because I always enjoyed doing that type of labor, but it does tend to consume a lot of hours if you want a pristine track.
If I had to do it all over again, I would not have messed around with jumps, just kept it a natural terrain track and focused on turns. Unless you have a bulldozer or loader, it takes sooo much time to move dirt around to make even a small size double or table top and then there's the constant upkeep of the faces and landings. With a natural terrain track, all you have to do for prep is pull the disc around and occasionally push back berms as they move outwards.
If you have a water source already available (creek or pond) just buy a trash pump and hoses and focus on watering corners when needed. It's hardly justifiable to dig a pond or well to keep the track watered.
You need at least a mid-size tractor, preferably with a loader, that can pull a 4' disc. 3-point down pressure is huge advantage. A skid steer (tracked) is nice to have. A bull dozer is desirable but usually not a justifiable cost for the average backyard track guy. A water wagon with water pump, that can be pulled with the tractor, would be a step above the trash pump and hand watering with hoses.
If you can't really afford with the equipment to get started, just start with a natural terrain single track. Just keep riding it in and lets ruts and berms form naturally. Low cost, low maintenance, ultra fun. Go to the professional track when you want to jump.
Fast foward 35 years and now have a pretty decent track on it. I have a mid-sized Kubota, a 7500 # mini excavator and an old 5 yd International dump truck. It takes so much time to move dirt and work the track. To the point of I would rather rent a large excavator or front loader when it's time to change the layout as what I currently have. We usually only ride after a good rain but the window from mud to super dusty is very small. I also have a large old disc but the tractor struggles if the ground is a little wet, and doesn't do shit if its dry. Not to mention once disc'd to chocolate cake it dries out super fast and then I'm left with a powdery dust bowl. Last spring I fiddled with rigging up a flatbed trailer with 600 gallons holding tanks then fill those off a 3000 gallon tank I have filled already but its a pain in the ass and takes so much time.
For me at 48, business owner without endless free time, I would, and do, gladly pay to ride a prepped track an hour away than spend DAYS prepping and wearing out my own equipment which costs thousands....but then it will rain, track will be epic for a day and I'm hooked all over again.....
Pit Row
Post a reply to: Downsides of Having a Home Track