Anyone have a backyard track in here? (Purchasing a home with 4 acres advice.)

As someone who has worked acoustics property line legal cases for two decades, best of luck. Hope this helps.

Love backyard tracks, had one in Loxahatchee FL in the mid 90's. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but 4 acres is not enough, not even close. It won't be all your neighbors complaining,  it will be one or two of them. After they call police on you, and then they hear or see you riding again, they will call about every noise they hear. I tried being cool and listening to their complaints,  through the police of course, as I never met them face to face. No luck, and finally through sheer bad luck, I had a buddy drop by to test and tune his YZ suspension. Unbeknowns to me, the neighbor was having a birthday party for his daughter, and called the cops to make me stop. I honestly felt bad for upsetting the party, but we were out there for maybe 15 minutes. Thought about it that evening, and called a land clearing company the next day and plowed it into oblivion. Not worth the headache. 

Dont let these guys get you down, just keep in mind the law is not your side. 

I wouldn't get it logged, they'll leave it ugly and with years of work or big money to get it usable again. 

Bring in some dirt to build a few jumps and berms in the woods, make your bike as quiet as possible, ride a couple times a week, go to a real track a few times a month, get a Stark or Surron if it's an issue (lightbee sized bike is better for this size plot), enjoy your little piece of earth with your daughter.

That's not for you to decide, though. It's for the potential reporters. So you want to get real friendly and honest about your intentions up front. 

Everyone’s situation is different as you’re already aware, but here’s my personal experience. My parents own about 5.5 acres in town ( not directly in town, but the “avenues” are directly up the bank from their house). The entire property is surrounded by trees and the bank also helps as a sound and dust barrier. The tracks been there about 20 years now. I only ever used it after 10am and was done before 7pm, and never had more than 3 buddies over at a time. Early on we had 1 or 2 neighbors complain (aka call the cops, never directly to us). Through a friend who’s dad was a cop in our town I found out we were always within the townships noise limits and we always rode during “acceptable” hours so there was nothing they could do but tell the people complaining sorry but they can’t do anything. Eventually the complaints stopped completely, and later on I even got out of mx. about 4 years ago I picked up a bike again, re did the track, and still ride there from time to time with no issues.

That's my thought process. Just a small track for the kids to have fun on with a woods loop to keep it fun for me. We can go to any number of local tracks every weekend and it'll be cheaper and less of a headache than maintaining my own. 

I had a track around my house on 8 acres I would think about maintenance, watering, and erosion. You have plenty of space.  If this is sonething you're going to allow others to ride I would get a waiver (available on the AMA website) and an umbrella policy on your property. Feel free to DM me if you want. I'm in the Memphis area. 

Don't let anybody that's not near by You ruin your idea . I'm sure they are trying to help , and only sharing their experiences. But if you still think its going to be ok, I would still go for it. Sounds like worst case would be You get a ticket and couldn't ride the track again. You can always start out smaller and add on a little at a time. That's what I've been doing.  Get a feel for if its gonna bother anybody.  I'm only on a little over 5 acres.    So it is possible to be on a smaller lot and still ride.  

 I've had my setup for about 5 years and use it about as much as it sounds like you plan on doing. The longest I've been out there at a time is a couple hours  of running laps . I've only run 1 bike or SXS at a time.    I only have 1 house that is as close as the neighbor that you can see in the photo you posted is to you.  I'm in an industrial zoned area with mostly warehouses and woods .  I'm also in a valley at the bottom too though. But its possible with good neighbors , or even decent ones. Its awesome to be able to go out for a few laps quick if you have a little bit of time and do not want to load up to go someplace. Or to try out a new part, work on corners , etc.   

 The Stark Varg  would be perfect for your setup. I want to get one or convert a bike into electric. I think that would be a fun project.  But I was able to ride a Varg on my property and  it was the most fun bike to ride that I've ever ridden.   For what your talking about doing it would be perfect.  You could have a full on track and if you kept 50' of trees between neighbors and the track . And never rode when it was super dusty. Nobody would ever know you were out there. Try riding one before you buy one if you can.   

On that small lot with the neighbor house that close, I would cut as few trees as possible and make a small woods loop with a few little jumps.. and then I would ride nothing louder than a stock CRF110.  And keep it only in short doses and not bounce off the limiter for hours on end.     

I had two Yamaha TTR125Ls that we would race around my backyard track, for 15 years or so.  3 acres in an expensive area in Placer County California.  No one ever complained.  I rode maybe 2 days a month and we would have beatdown races maybe once a year.  It was a blast and the track was simple - just hold the TTRs wide open and flog the shifter.  No need for big bikes to have fun, but I think a tweener bike like a TTR125 is more fun than an actual minibike.  I probably taught 15  women and kids how to ride back there - very, very rewarding.

I say go for it but be respectful and conscientious about your neighbors: time of day, quiet bikes, minimize dust, and invite them over!

You're exactly right. 

My property is 11 acres and I have a 'scrambling track' around it that I can go have a hoot doing 20-30 minute motos after work, zipping around the track I've bedded in. I have two electric Altas (the wife's, and mine) and they are absolutely perfect for a backyard track. Basically zero upkeep required, for the track and the Altas!

When I want to get sendy, I head 30 minutes to Cahuilla to ride my TC250 two stroke.

The backyard:

I haven’t read everything in this thread but who’s to say your neighbors will be a problem. I have a full size track on my property that I ride 1-2 days a week and on most weekends have about 10-15 bikes here. I own 18 acres and my two neighbors own 60 and 28 each, but all three of our houses are pretty close to each other. Neither of them are into anything even close to moto, one is a cpa and the other is a wildlife professor at our local state college. However they are both absolutely awesome and when I did have grading violations with my county(due to people that live 5 miles away being upset by my use of my property) both neighbors wrote the county in support of me and their letters were a huge determining factor in my getting the grading violations dropped and full use of my property. I’m also in one of the most liberal regions of coastal California. Just be a good neighbor, have open communication with them and if they are reasonable people, you should have no issues! 

 

Wow, that track and area looks incredible! 

Our track covers closer to 20 acres with massive hills, so a little different situation.  Having hilly terrain and clay type soil makes it so much easier, but that is hard to find in most places.  We have a ton of fun on it, nice to ride any time, but it probably only actually sees action a few days a week.  Good luck with whatever you end up doing! 

My sons youtube channel has a bunch of videos of him on our track.  Here is a good video of the whole track:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U57hJeTLMk 

This was a 140 foot jump wheels up to wheels down, kind of an up and over.  Toned it down, did not want him hitting it any more, lol

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T6myVwmx7lo

A couple more pretty big sends:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oj4C0A-94eA

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MOyRydQwPc0

Go pro of the whole track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s-cKdhhnTw

That's a cool photo.

This is our frontyard track that is about 1.5 acres. We have had the track since 1990 and also backyard track on the otherside of our property. Until 2024 we always kept it just a few bikes and riding between 12pm and 6pm, but since getting Stark Vargs we can ride whenever not to worry about disturbing anybody. In the summertime when the sun doesn’t go down at all here in Finland we sometimes ride even after 11pm. I seem to keep myself busy, so home track is pretty much only way to keep riding weekly. Stark Vargs have been really great for us since no need to do oil or filter replacement and no need to get gas, so bikes are always ready to rip. If you only ride yourself or with few other people you really don’t need watering and also up keep is minimal. Here is a little clip we filmed for our 2026 MXON team . 

Better hope your neighbours have bikes. 

If it's your dream go for it. I did the same thing when I retired. Took me 50 years to get my personal track on my land. I leave in Middle Georgia. I bought 3 acres. Mostly trees. I thought 3 acres would be enough. Like mentioned it's a bit small for a real track. I made a track that's about 2 minutes to go around but it has a lot of tight second gear corners. No real fast parts. I have 2 sections I can barely get into third for a second or two. It's still fun but nothing like a real track.

I agree on leave as many trees as you can. I found out living in Georgia (and I'm sure Alabama is the same) that anywhere you clear in the summer the weeds take over it seems like overnight. That has been my biggest problem. I have an old 1954 Ford NAA tractor, a brush hog to cut the grass a box blade with rippers to grade and rip it up. Once the grass and weeds grow the box blade doesn't do much. After not riding this summer because the heat and humidity but also the weeds, I finally went out a couple weeks ago and just ran around my track with the brush hog. I now can ride it at least.

I had a guy come out with a skid steer with a mulcher attachment on the front. He charged me $1800 for 8 hours. It took about a day and a half to do my 3 acres. The mulcher will chew up any size tree to saw dust. I was amazed how clean it could cut. If you don't want to use any of the trees for wood I would go this route. If you haven't seen a skid steer with a mulcher work, google it. It's crazy.

So after a year of trying to do the track thing by myself I can tell you it's hard work. It helps if you can afford some good equipment. I'm retired so I can't. I found that after I mowed it this last time that I can ride on the cut grass and it's fine. My dirt is really good and it still will rut up in the corners. But riding on mostly grass keep the dust down to nothing.

I just came from my track about an hour ago. Went out to try and clear the weeds off my four small jumps. They are completely covered. Only got one done before I gave up. 

I do love being able to ride on my own piece of property but it has been a lot more work than I thought. 

How do you load a video? Haven't been able to for awhile now.

Don’t let anyone get you down. As a rider, you have to go for it! Sure, there’s some valid concerns in the thread but if it’s primarily just you riding, and you are able to get a Stark, you will be set. The acreage is plenty big enough to have a great track that will keep you entertained. As others have said, just try the layout before you commit to any major excavation to make sure it flows. When we bought our first house on a 2 acre lot the first thing I did was rent a dozer and get to work. You can make a great track in a small space if you get creative. And yes it’s time consuming to maintain but if you rent equipment to build it you will be able to maintain it easily enough with a compact tractor with a front loader. Riding from your back steps is hard to beat! Have fun and keep us posted. 

OP -My 2cent advice is this....kill'm with kindness. 

Personally knock on their doors ... exchange phone numbers....tell them what your plans are and how its a dream of yours....

Shit - bake them Christmas Cookies .... do whatever it takes to make them fans of usafwx. 

Respect their wishes - if they say "no riding on XXXX" - that's okay..... just say "That's okay - I can adhear to that". 

COMPROMISE  - let them know how you appreciate it. 

Ask them/Keep an eye on their schedule - so maybe you can ride when they are not there.

These are free things - it just takes balls to ask PRIOR to them saying no and calling the fuss.....

Its only a big deal - if you make it a big deal IMO.

Good Luck.

I have a nice little backyard track for my grandkids. It takes up maybe 3 acres of my land. Track is about 1/2 mile long - sort of like a couple arenacross tracks stretched out and strung together. I’ve got a set of rollers, 45 ft. table, 6-pack rhythm section, 30 ft. step-up, 35 ft. double, 65 ft. step-on/step off, and a dragon back.

I built it all with a 35 hp. Kubota tractor with a front loader. The kids ride everything from Stacycs to 450s on it. Upkeep is easy - I have a disc and a rototiller but mostly use the rototiller. Takes me about 20-30 minutes to prep the track. 

Here’s a link to my instagram reel of the jumps. All built with my tractor with hauled in dirt. I pay $225 for a 28-yd. load of red clay.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaFBpmjx69v/?stkn=MTFvZmF4MDZqcHE3ag==

easy during hunting season....those good ol' boys are not gonna appreciate the noise scaring the wildlife