Small track building advice? What dirt to use?

45ACP
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127
Joined
1/24/2018
Location
Friendswood, TX US
Edited Date/Time 11/18/2022 6:19pm
We recently moved onto 8 acres and my son and his buddies have some pit bikes. They've been riding and slowly creating a little track. They have a few decent rutted corners and a couple tiny jumps but I want to build them something better.

My question is, what kind of dirt should I bring in to build a few decent jumps and berms? When we built the house pad they used "select fill", which has some clay in it for compacting. Would this be good? I don't want to use dirt from the property. I'd rather bring in what I need.

Any tips for what I'm doing? All I have at the moment is a 38 HP tractor with front end loader and some teenage boys muscles with rakes and shovels. I could probably borrow some implements from a buddy down the road. This is not a large scale project. The entire track/trail they have now probably takes up 2 acres at most although you never know what it could turn into. Thanks in advance for any advice.
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dinger212
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237
Joined
1/21/2022
Location
Minneapolis, MN US
11/18/2022 11:08am
I grew up with something similar. We ripped the grass where the track would go. Then scraped the grassy top soil & mounded where the jumps & berms would go. After compacting them, it created our base.

Huge saver on amount of dirt needed if you can get some lower quality dirt as the base.
AngryBear
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765
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4/1/2008
Location
Asheville, NC US
11/18/2022 5:33pm
clay is a must for faces unless you want to be constantly prepping or have it just rutted into natural giant whoop style jumps.
2
OleTex
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659
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7/16/2016
Location
Central, TX US
11/18/2022 5:36pm
AngryBear wrote:
clay is a must for faces unless you want to be constantly prepping or have it just rutted into natural giant whoop style jumps.
Never built a track, but that sounds right for a base. Gut feeling.
1
AngryBear
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765
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4/1/2008
Location
Asheville, NC US
11/18/2022 5:49pm
additionally, not to be negative, but anything you build is going to need prep. how much? more than you think.

1

The Shop

Mudd801
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29
Joined
7/13/2020
Location
Reno, NV US
11/18/2022 5:58pm
+1 on the clay for your jump lips. I have a small pit bike track in the yard and clay lips are a must. as I've gotten older I hate shoveling so I use really mellow tires also. scooter tires for the front and a Golden boy on the rear. I know your teenagers will want to roost but me personally, I don't like shoveling every time i ride !

And, if you really want to not shovel at all.... put a strip of old carpet on your lips....not very appealing to the eyes, but my old back says thanks ! oh and steep berms really help your lips hold up too... more momentum ! Its a long haul but I have a ton of dirt-clay-sand you can have !

1
JustMX
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4621
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
TN US
11/18/2022 6:04pm
It takes a lot more dirt than most have any idea it will take.

An example would be....

If you are wanting to build a set of whoops, it will take at least a tandem dump truck load of dirt for each whoop.

Not sure why you wouldn't scrape the sod off and use it in the corners and then cut other dirt out between the lanes to build obstacles.

It is your money though, so haul in 10 loads and build a couple jumps.

You will find you have to build each jump a minimum of 10' - 12' wide, depending on the width of your machine l.

You jump.minimum width will be determined by packing the jump until your tire marks meet in the center.
2
Moto88
Posts
328
Joined
12/6/2015
Location
TX US
11/18/2022 6:12pm
Jumps take more dirt than you think. I buried a couple old jacuzzi shells, old washers dryers any large items I wanted gone. Looking at my track you’d never know they are there.
LLOYD22
Posts
504
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Scranton , IA US
11/18/2022 6:19pm
I got lucky with clay sandy soil at my track.

2

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