Tips on making a dirt bike track?

Tips on making a dirt bike track?

I got the bikes, I got the land, I need dirt and a machine to move it.

I want to make a small track at the in-laws. They have 27 acres – 5 of which are field. It is mowed a few times a year, but pretty coarse grass growing on it. What is the best way to turn that into a track? I want to make it smooth and flat so that my young kids can play on their 50cc bikes. I also want to put a few table top jumps and berms for me and the wife to play on (the kids can go over or around the jumps).

I would like it to not turn into a flooded mess when it rains. The area that I plan to put the track is OK now, but not far from it gets to be a mess with the rain..

I have seen ads for fill dirt on Craigs. Any advice on buying this? I have not bought anything other than gravel, top soil or mulch. No clue how much to order, what I should expect to pay or what I should look for. Obviously I don’t want cement or asphalt in it, I don’t want something from an old gas station or chemical plant, but how do you buy clean dirt? Is clay good or bad for what I am looking to do? (I am in Ohio).

When I was a kid, a friends dad got a bunch of dirt for a BMX track that was awesome, we built great jumps and berms that really held up well without much maintenance for years.

I don’t have a dump truck and the track is so far from the drive that a loaded truck would probably get stuck anyways. So that means a bobcat of some sorts. The only build thread I have seen for a track was from the dirtworx guys that built the AMA supercross tracks. They had all the equipment. Do I need a tracked bobcat? A bucket, blade or what?

Anyone ever do this? Anyone have any links they came across on this?

I seem to be having issues finding quality dirt bike forums that are not geared towards motocross racing.

Thanks.

Here. Reference the Back 40 Thread.

Clem did a lot of work on that track just by driving and dragging E36 M3 around. Now, I know you want a dirt bike style track, but you'll probably be best driving a car around in the pattern you want to make the track. It'll get that dirt pounded down and give you a good canvas to work with.

Then there's the hard part. A Komatsu or John Deer with a bucket can move dirt around pretty good. I don't think you'll need more than that As you pack that dirt, on five acres, you'll really be compressing that fill dirt. Do you need a mud pit?

When it rains, the track is going to get messy. The Back 40 on a really rainy day is a mess that a dirt bike couldn't handle with the best riders. Takes a lot of water to get there, but It'll happen.

Also when you look at the satellite view of the Back 40, keep in mind, that's quite a bit of space being taken up by track.

Good luck.

EDIT: Added the picture of the Back 40 for you. Once again, I know it's not what you want, but some hard work went just into this track alone. You're looking to add bumps, and banks, and other crazy E36 M3, and I'm sure the track will be at a much lower scale. You'll be taking some more steps than these artists.

This sounds deserving of a build thread.

Have you tried googling "Backyard MX track"? I just did and found multiple pages of hits that could be relevant.

That back 40 looks fun. I wish I still had a pick up because that would be fun to blaze the track with.

Thanks for the search term "Backyard MX track" that helped a lot. I read a bunch the last few days and it looks like I will be renting a tracked skid steer. I found some Craig's list posting for dirt that look promising. I don't want a huge AMA quality track, just something to blast on while being able to introduce my kids to motorcycles.

I bought my 2 year old son a TTR50 that we are going to give him as a early 3rd birthday present. My daughter, who said she didn't want a dirt bike because she doesn't want to get dirty, sits on it every chance she gets. Looks like she will get one soon.

Watch your legals. Several in this multi-state area have been attempted, and shut down under various legal pretexes. Environmental impact, improper zoning, disturbing the peace, improper grading, unaproved roadway, illegal hunting, etc.

Bigger ones have been shut down similarly, though you can add insurance and lawsuits to the list.

I know the neighbors will complain. They have something against the inlaws because they are off the boat foreigners and can be difficult to understand. I don't care, it is private property and personal use. I already put the loud pipe on my bike up for sale and am putting the stock one back on. The dirt bikes can't be as annoying as the gun shots that you here all day from the gun club down the street.

Rusnak_322 wrote: I don't care, it is private property and personal use.

So were most of the ones I was talking about above. Cost them each thousands of dollars to lose. A few were bankrupted, and lost it all.

Not saying not to do it, but go in with eyes open, and understand the can of worms you could be creating for not only yourself, but your family.

In reply to foxtrapper:

Yep. Be careful. I pass by a few back yard tracks here in NJ. My old co-worker had one next door - he hated it. Whenever his neighbor's kids decided to play between the dust and noise it made his back yard unuseable.

Liability-wise, it may be considered like having a pool, meaning you may need to fence in the entire track or property to prevent unauthorized use.

So what are my options? Have an environmental impact study done? I know the neighbors would not give permission if asked. The land was used for years for riding atvs and hunting (by the same neighbors) before the inlaws bought the land and built a house. If you can't ride a dirtbike on 27+ private acres, then this country truly sucks.

I plan to chance it.

Rusnak_322 wrote: So what are my options? Have an environmental impact study done? I know the neighbors would not give permission if asked. The land was used for years for riding atvs and hunting (by the same neighbors) before the inlaws bought the land and built a house. If you can't ride a dirtbike on 27+ private acres, then this country truly sucks. I plan to chance it.

Invite the neighbors to ride?

Every rallycross event we had last year, we changed the layout at a family's farm. Usually started as grass, by the end of the day it was very carved out loose dirt. (I mostly blame the Subaru's.)

pilotbraden wrote:

Rusnak_322 wrote: So what are my options? Have an environmental impact study done? I know the neighbors would not give permission if asked. The land was used for years for riding atvs and hunting (by the same neighbors) before the inlaws bought the land and built a house. If you can't ride a dirtbike on 27+ private acres, then this country truly sucks. I plan to chance it.

Invite the neighbors to ride?

I would, but their kids have grown and moved out in the fifteen years since they built the house. Plus it not being my property I don't want to risk someone getting hurt who might sue the inlaws.

Yes, some shiny happy person can shut you down unfortunately. Welcome to Amerika.

Anyway, as a long time dirt biker with some trail building experience, first thing you want is to mark low/boggy areas and stay away from them, they will only get worse.

Erosion is going to be your biggest long term problem, try to pick areas so that you cross erosion prone hillside spots at an angle rather than straight up. If that's not possible, do the hill in a series of rolling 'bumps' with a drainage channel at one side of each low point, that way water won't rush down the center of your trail. The channels will allow pooled water to run to one side in a controlled fashion. Saves you a lot of work later.

Sand clay is the longest lasting fill material and with a high sand percentage is not really slick in the wet.

If you have a stream crossing, those concrete parking lot 'stoppers' are great for hardening the stream bed. Scrape it out about 6" deep, lay the stoppers perpendicular to travel direction, then scrape the dirt back on top. It'll last forever.

That's one of the great things about living where I do. The local government let's people do pretty much whatever they want with their own land. When I had my track, a neighbour told me (after the track was gone) that he had called the town dozens of time to complain. I never heard anything about it. A local pro track owner tried last year to get a bunch of private tracks shut down, and they pretty much told him to go berkeley his hat.

Don't pay for fill. Ever. Once to word gets out to excavators that you're looking for clean clay fill, you'll have more than you'll know what to do with. You may even be able to work out a deal that you'll accept all the fill their willing to give you if they'll build a few ramps with their Bobcat.

Well, the kids are ready.

Picked up a PW50 last night for $250 with a title! Got the TTR50 for $600

We are all set, just need a track now.

A PW50 for $250? That's a a score!

OK - I have a bobcat and 20 yards of fill dirt being delivered tomorrow.

We have already mapped out out nice little track. I was just waiting for time and the area to dry out.

I may not need the training wheels on the PW50 - my 2 year old is riding his pedal bicycle without training wheels like a champ now.

I will update with pictures when done.

OK, Bobcats are fun to run, but the 8 hours of run time I had went fast. 20 yards of dirt is expensive and doesn't make many jumps. Bobcats make a big mess in mud and it is near impossible for a novice operator to get rid of the ruts.

I ended up with a wheeled Bobcat vs the tracked one. It was significantly cheaper and more importantly, available. I got the Bobcat on Friday AM and was allowed to keep it until Tuesday AM as long as I didn't go over the hours.

I spent most of the time with the rake attachment clearing the tall weeds and getting the ground flat. There were 12" deep rain ruts under the weeds all over the place. that was most important as I wanted to get it ready for the kids bikes.

I took some video with the GoPro so I could share the layout but unfortunately all it shows is the front fender and handle bars. Need to work on my aiming.

here is what the area started like -

Building the big jump -

...

CALL THIS DUDE IMMEDIATELY! 100-200yds of dirt. Will deliver. Free?

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/zip/3819007472.html

OK, 1 1/2 months have passed and no-one has ridden on the track. Too wet. I had no idea that this summer would be such a wash-out (just got over 16 days in a row with rain). I am not sure if the area the track is on has bad drainage or if it is just the weather. I didn't want to run in the mud and rut it up before the kids got to try it out.

I did get them out in the side yard - it was grass and a little bumpy, but Grandma didn't care that they tore up the yard some.

What an awesome project. I am outside of cleveland, richmond heights. Had no idea you were so close