Practice track construction
- Thread starter tnrider
- Start date
I know there is some stuff on the web for SX and with 7 Acres I would put your jumps enuf distance apart that you don't get worn out quickly but also don't get bored because you are travelling long distances to get to the next jump. Build your first one and then try and lay the track out without jumps. After taking the first jump ride your course and determine the best distance for your fun factor to have the next jump. For MX I would have all your ramps about 12 feet wide and at an angle of 15 degrees. The ramp should be long enough for 1.5 times the distance of your bike. Make the transition from ground to ramp a gradual one not 0 to 15 degrees. But don't make the ramp completly curved only the first couple of feet from the ground. I would avoid doubles too. Just land on the flat for a while and then when you have figured out a good landing area you can throw some dirt down for a 2-3 degree landing ramp. How is that for a start.
- Jan 8, 2000
- 3,331
- 1
7 acres is more than enough space for a nice practice track. I have 5 1/2 acres and I'm using about 4 of those for my track. In all I have about a 1-mile loop, just enough so I don't get bored. Additionally, with the 1-mile loop, the track can accommodate up to 8 riders without being too crowded.
Ted has given very good advice. I would add the following. Over build your jumps and berms (make them larger than you want) and then don’t ride the track until you get a few very hard rains. When I built my track I had all of the jumps “just right” until they all settled. Now they’re only 75% of their original size. Moreover, if you ride ‘em to early they’ll get rutted.
Finally, heavy equipment is nice to have, but the quality of the track comes down to the person with the rake in his (or her!) hands. So while it looks like fun to operate the Bobcat, you might want to control the raking project yourself.
Ted has given very good advice. I would add the following. Over build your jumps and berms (make them larger than you want) and then don’t ride the track until you get a few very hard rains. When I built my track I had all of the jumps “just right” until they all settled. Now they’re only 75% of their original size. Moreover, if you ride ‘em to early they’ll get rutted.
Finally, heavy equipment is nice to have, but the quality of the track comes down to the person with the rake in his (or her!) hands. So while it looks like fun to operate the Bobcat, you might want to control the raking project yourself.
Here's a web site that has great points:
http://www.racingsmarter.com/building_a_practice_track.htm
As all ready stated you have plenty of room. I grew up on a farm, my Dad let me build a track on about 3 acres. It was small, but I thought it was great. A few pointers I can give you from my experience with my own pratice tracks and promoting races. First, don't try to cram to many jumps into every straight. Second, plan the track out on paper first and try to use any features of the land if there are any. Third, lay out the track and mark jumps and turns, then ride it before putting in any obstacles. This gives you a idea if what you put on paper will work. As Ted said put the doubles after you have rode the track a few times to help determine distances. No since coming up short and getting hurt when you are doing this for fun! When building the jumps pack them down with the tractor wheels, bobcat, dozer or what ever you are using. This helps keep ruts down and will help with the problem that RV6junkie had. Ive even used my pickup! If you have water availabe, use it on the jumps as RV6junkie stated. Also, sometimes it's easier to do the final prep work by hand with a shovel and rack to grade out what you want. A little foot stomping can also go a long way to packing the dirt down. Its a lot of work, but you will be one of the fortunate ones to have their own track. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress and post some pictures of your progress and end result!
http://www.racingsmarter.com/building_a_practice_track.htm
As all ready stated you have plenty of room. I grew up on a farm, my Dad let me build a track on about 3 acres. It was small, but I thought it was great. A few pointers I can give you from my experience with my own pratice tracks and promoting races. First, don't try to cram to many jumps into every straight. Second, plan the track out on paper first and try to use any features of the land if there are any. Third, lay out the track and mark jumps and turns, then ride it before putting in any obstacles. This gives you a idea if what you put on paper will work. As Ted said put the doubles after you have rode the track a few times to help determine distances. No since coming up short and getting hurt when you are doing this for fun! When building the jumps pack them down with the tractor wheels, bobcat, dozer or what ever you are using. This helps keep ruts down and will help with the problem that RV6junkie had. Ive even used my pickup! If you have water availabe, use it on the jumps as RV6junkie stated. Also, sometimes it's easier to do the final prep work by hand with a shovel and rack to grade out what you want. A little foot stomping can also go a long way to packing the dirt down. Its a lot of work, but you will be one of the fortunate ones to have their own track. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress and post some pictures of your progress and end result!
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,788
- 35
Some great suggestions here! :thumb:
I would add that you should be careful where you get the dirt to build the jumps. If you're dealing with relatively flat ground and create a low spot to push up dirt for a jump, you may regret it when it rains.
Another drainage related thing to consider is that berms will hold water, too.
- Thread starter
- #7
ok, i looked at
http://www.racingsmarter.com/building_a_practice_track.htm
looks like a lot of dirt will be required. has anyone tried framing in the jumps (wood structures) and then covering with a foot or so of dirt? looks like the x-games ramps are simply wood w/o dirt covering????
for a private practice track - will only have to handle a single bike at a time and i could build them much more narrow (bobcat size rather than tractor width) also packing would be easier as only have to pack that final foot. could even build them on a "skidder" base so that they are somewhat portable.
any thoughts on this???
http://www.racingsmarter.com/building_a_practice_track.htm
looks like a lot of dirt will be required. has anyone tried framing in the jumps (wood structures) and then covering with a foot or so of dirt? looks like the x-games ramps are simply wood w/o dirt covering????
for a private practice track - will only have to handle a single bike at a time and i could build them much more narrow (bobcat size rather than tractor width) also packing would be easier as only have to pack that final foot. could even build them on a "skidder" base so that they are somewhat portable.
any thoughts on this???
tnrider,
As a kid growing up on a farm I had access to large farm equipment, plus the 3 acres I used had been farmed over 40 years so the dirt was not as compacted from being tilled. My point is you can get the same effect with smaller equipment, it just takes more time and patience's. I would thing that with a 3 point hitch disk with weights you could be down to 4 - 6 inch's. Plenty of dirt to work with. Also, High Lord Gomer makes a great point about drainage. There's almost nothing worse then having a mostly moist tacky track, only to discover the turns are setting water.
I'm not sure about using wood to frame out the jumps. You wouldn't be able to ride the track backwards if you did. As for the width, even for a private track wider is better. The width of a bobcat is maybe 48", I'm not sure. Not much room for even you and a buddy to try passing each other back and forth. I would suggest to start with 10', but I think you will find at least 15' would be better.
One last thing. If you do use a bobcat, you can fill the bucket with dirt and use it to help pack the dirt down, then use the wheels of the bobcat. I know a guy that use's a bobcat on his track. Its amazing what he can do with it in 30 minutes.
dkortje,
The lighter/sander the soil the more re-work you will have to do as you have found out. Why not use the dirt you have on your land and use the ligher fill dirt to mix in on the straights and in the turns?
As a kid growing up on a farm I had access to large farm equipment, plus the 3 acres I used had been farmed over 40 years so the dirt was not as compacted from being tilled. My point is you can get the same effect with smaller equipment, it just takes more time and patience's. I would thing that with a 3 point hitch disk with weights you could be down to 4 - 6 inch's. Plenty of dirt to work with. Also, High Lord Gomer makes a great point about drainage. There's almost nothing worse then having a mostly moist tacky track, only to discover the turns are setting water.
I'm not sure about using wood to frame out the jumps. You wouldn't be able to ride the track backwards if you did. As for the width, even for a private track wider is better. The width of a bobcat is maybe 48", I'm not sure. Not much room for even you and a buddy to try passing each other back and forth. I would suggest to start with 10', but I think you will find at least 15' would be better.
One last thing. If you do use a bobcat, you can fill the bucket with dirt and use it to help pack the dirt down, then use the wheels of the bobcat. I know a guy that use's a bobcat on his track. Its amazing what he can do with it in 30 minutes.
dkortje,
The lighter/sander the soil the more re-work you will have to do as you have found out. Why not use the dirt you have on your land and use the ligher fill dirt to mix in on the straights and in the turns?
Great ideas sawblade. As for width, my track is only about 5 ft wide. It makes a nice practice track and was much less labor and cost intensive then a wider track, but I agree, it is only a single line track with virtually no passing. A couple of other things I did which I like is I made an s-shape slolom (I never can spell that word :silly: ) section and a figure of 8 section (both ideas from gary semmics). These are great places to practice turns. Another great idea a friend of mine did, is he had the local tree schreader people leave mulch at his place (normally, they have to pay a land fill to get rid of this stuff, so they were glad to give it to him for free). He tilled this into his track which makes it much more loamy and also absorbs water well when it rains.
YZFR1 Maniac
Member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 7
- 0
In relation to having to use heaps of dirt on the jumps, why not try using old wrecked cars or trees or anything really. Then just pile the dirt over the top of them and start fine tuning and shaping from there.
Cheers :)
At my motocross club track we used big round bales about 6 feet in diameter for the base of many jumps. We also used a bunch to make a big berm. The bales were made with a hard core baler and were flax straw so they will last a long time and they won't attract rodents. They worked great, we piled dirt on top, mostly clay and packed the jumps with a bobcat and had no sinking. This saved our club a ton of time.
I think the FMX ramps are metal, not wood. If you try to pack dirt on top of wood, it will rot the wood out. I used to have a small step down jump that had a wooden flat top, then dropped down with dirt. It was dirt on the face, then wood (a box), then dirt on the down slope and second flat part and landing face. The sides that contacted the dirt rotted out.
Wider is better. My little practice track is 15' wide in most areas. If you hit a rock, rut, etc., it may throw you off line and into a tree or other obstacle. It may be better to have room for correction.
Hope this helps,
JasonWho
Wider is better. My little practice track is 15' wide in most areas. If you hit a rock, rut, etc., it may throw you off line and into a tree or other obstacle. It may be better to have room for correction.
Hope this helps,
JasonWho
I built my own track with a buddies skidsteer. I have like 5 acres of sloped pasture so I spread my track out. It goes along the fence line (staying 10-15 feet away from it). I only have a singe, 30' table top, and a 20' double, and 4 berms. 2 of my berms hold water which I think is fine because it makes things interesting. I bring out my XR 600 when things get muddy. I also put a log in there, and have it weaving through some trees. I dug a big trench to get my dirt and I use it as a practice mud bog when it rains. We also built a small, straight, down hill track for small childrens bikes that we mess around with. Its a lot of fun!
Ben
Ben
Winkler and the crew over at Dirt Wurx (the company that builds SX tracks) has a website with track building info on it. It gives some basics on how to build safe, fun jumps. We built our track 2 years ago and it's about a mile long using only a skidsteer. We've got a long table, a long double, a semi-ski jump, whoops sections, and several huge berm turns. If I would have looked at the web site it would have been a much better track from the start.
Just another thought, we built the track with obstacles that we liked at first. That was fun and all, but it didn't really challenge us to learn anything new. Think about what you have the most trouble on and add a few of those sections. I have definitley become faster and a better rider since we started doing that.
http://dirtwurx.com/main.cfm?mc=track_build.cfm&article=track_building_4.html
Just another thought, we built the track with obstacles that we liked at first. That was fun and all, but it didn't really challenge us to learn anything new. Think about what you have the most trouble on and add a few of those sections. I have definitley become faster and a better rider since we started doing that.
http://dirtwurx.com/main.cfm?mc=track_build.cfm&article=track_building_4.html
