cost to build home mx track

[Nevada Sixx]

anyone ever build a home track that was about like an arena cross track, but maybe a little easier to ride on and a little longer track.......... how much did you spend on the dirt/track builder? (assuming you already own the land). area is about 300x300 and mostly flat as its a corner of a cotton field.
thanks.

sean
tupelo, ms

 

[nikki]

If you wanna go the cheap route, you can do it for as little as $600 + machine fuel. Check in your area for new development (ie. digging basements, ponds, etc.) and see if the excavating company would be interested in dumping the fill on your property. Sometimes they will do this for free because it saves them from having to go to a far away dump site. Or start calling the local excavating companies and see what they'll offer. You'll need at least 5-10 semi loads to get started, but the more the better. Especially if you want tabletops or berms. Even a longer whoop section takes a load or two. Smaller doubles require the least amount of dirt. When we build a local fair race in the grandstand area at the fairgrounds, it usually takes about 20+ semi loads of dirt, but that includes a few tabletops. We've been lucky with our personal tracks to always score free dirt, although some of it has been pretty nasty with stuff like rocks and concrete which need to be buried in an obstacle like a tabletop. And for track building, check with equipment rental places. Most will rent a Bobcat for the weekend for around $300. Sketch out a track design, get the dirt dumped roughly where you want the jumps, whoops, berms, and have someone skilled with running a Bobcat and building tracks to put it together in two weekends (they have lights - you can work day and night). Of course a small dozer (good for berms or scraping) and a small loader (good for moving dirt/tabletops) would be nice too, but you can do everything for an AX sized track with a Bobcat. A rubber track Bobcat works best (tracks are nice for packing in and can also be used for forming berms), but most rental places will only have wheeled ones available.

Good luck and have fun! :cool:

 

[Patman]

Get some ground marking paint once you have the sketch done and measure off key features and set wood stakes and make paint marks on the ground so you can walk/ride it to get a feel if that's what you really want. Consider drainage isues because you could end up with a mud pit if you trap water. A load of dirt doesn't go too far, consider a large dump truck is about 12 "loose yards" and that 1 yard of dirt in the truck is 3'x3'x3' in size. Once dirt is placed and compacted it becomes a "tight yard" and depending how much it's compacted you could be down to around 7-8 tight yards per truck load. When compacting the dirt you have to do it in "lifts" of 6"-8" to get it to compact reasonably flat and consistantly. It will also take some watering to get it to hold as you spread and compact each lift. I wouldn't suggest using anything organic to take up space like logs because they will decomposed and leave low spots. Same with steel drums, they will rust and collapse. Maybe see about getting some CMP (corrigated metal pipe) or RCP (concrete ppe) from a construction site that is disposing of some if you want stuff to take up space (i.e. volume). The cost of dirt varies from place to place, around here the dirt and haul charge for sandy loam that's been screened is about $180 per truck so that gets expensive when you really might need some where between 2,500 and 4,000 yards of dirt if you do not have it available on site.

 

[Dirtbike'n man]

a perfect thing that alot of old feilds have like mine are rock piles from when it was plowed and they picked them. they take up space and will never rot or rust, and if there like at my cabin totaly free. thats what i use when im building jumps is a base of those

 

[FnIGUY]

Great info,,,,more

Thanks for the tips. A dozer arrived last nite and full work on my track begins saturday. My questions concern safety and design. This track is going to be beginner/intermediate, mainly 40 year old guys and our kids. I need to determine jump angles, length and such. I built a double last nite that looked hard enough for the kids at about 40 feet and both overjumped it the first time. I know tabletops are safest and one or two is in the works, but how about a little more technical stuff? Step ups, Step downs. I want them to learn, not just a jumping contest.

I just dont want to see the kiddos, or the old guys case the backside of a double just because we made it kick you up to high instead of distance.

Any track design books or websites?

Thanks

Cary

 

[ProMed]

http://www.dirtwurx.com/main.cfm

Great Tips on this site!

 

[Nevada Sixx]

talking about making table tops,, im sure that woudl take ALOT OF DIRT,, there is a track close to me that made a big on, but instead of all dirt, he has a big pipe, big enough to ride your bike thru,,covered with dirt,, the take off side is about ten feet tall, then the top is about 30 feet, then the down slope.. do you think that using a pipe like that covered with dirt would save any money?