Track Building Tips

[BEHEMOTH]

I am planning on making a track in the backyard for the mighty monster and have been looking for some tips. Not interested in extreme jumps; tabletops, doubles, step-ups/downs are enough for now. I have been to DirtWorx....Still looking for other ideas. Anyone know of other sites?

[fksktk]

I found some info on jump building awhile back, but the links are at work. I'll send them to you on Monday if I still have them.

What part of IL are you from? I'm in the NE part.

[Datasponge]

Think about drainage so you can ride it without huge puddles or lakes forming in the corners and jumps... and a method for watering it during the dusty season so you can invite buddies over and ride it without getting dusted out... Those were 2 things I forgot about when building my track... Now I'm starting over with that in mind so I can maximize the ride time and reduce the maint work.

[jason_kent]

Dirtwurx is pretty good .....they give you the distances. I don't know what the site is like but if you don't have a rolling terrain site it takes a lot of dirt to make a decent track. I biult a track with another guy four years ago and we ended up with a track that was basically a one line practice track. It was okay as far as the jumps were concerned but very narrow. The following spring we wanted to make the whole track wider jumps and everything. Let me tell you it takes a lot of dirt. Weeds are also a problem in our part of the country. I took one of the worst crashes of my riding career riding on a track full of weeds. There was a large rain rut on the face of one of our jumps that was obscured by weeds. It kicked me totally sideways in the air and I had to bail out from about twenty feet up. I hit the ground on my right side, cracked a Shoei helmet (thank god for good helmets) My buddy said the sound of my helmet hitting the ground was like someone dropping a 4*8 sheet of plywood. I am getting off the subject.....a home track requires maintenace.....you need a bobcat or a tractor all the time to keep it up or it will turn hard as a rock or grow weeds like crazy. Just some things to think about.

[BEHEMOTH]

What part of IL are you from? I'm in the NE part.

I hail from Bigneck...I Know...I Know. On the map it is close to where the Iowa - Missouri border meets IL. All my riding buddies are woods riders so we don't get to tracks very much and when we do most of the jumps are bigger than any of us want to attempt. We still like to jump just not the 50' gaps with 15' of height! To better prepare and practice I want to build a nationals type layout. I have plenty of room and am planning on buying a Kubota tractor / loader combo when I find a good deal. Now I just need a plan!

[BEHEMOTH]

It was okay as far as the jumps were concerned but very narrow.

How wide did you make the first track and how wide are you going to make the makeover? The most riders I expect at any one time would be myself plus two or three others.

[llbrownwheel]

Some grassy uphill turns and downhill turns are fun, but take your cat and build a nice bermed turn on a down hill turn or two. Jumps are not the only place to have fun. Running hard into a nicely bermed turn after a downhill jump is a lot of fun. Sliding around an uphill turn on grass (without the berm) is still fun. You should consider safety, too. For example, you can see better on the other side of down hill jumps than you can big doubles or uphill(over the hill) jumps.(so you dont land on your kids or each other). Layout the track so that you minimize the possibility of someone overrunning a jump, and entering into another part of the track and into oncoming traffic. Also, a table top that slopes downward toward the landing area is much more fun for all riders if some come up short. I am lucky enough to be in the process of helping a friend build a track on a rolling, 10 acre triangle of his farm. Fence on one side, creek on two sides. It is a lot of fun coming up with an idea, taking the cat and building it, then riding on it. We are also carving out a hare scrambles course around the other 900 acres. It starts from behind the MX track, and will end at the campgound that he has also built. Too much fun! ?