backyard tracks
 

want to see everyone backyard tracks to get some ideas on re-doing mine.

RE: backyard tracks
 

That's a nice track. I'm wanting to do one in my backyard, but I have more space. I just gotta call and see how much clay is by the truck. How hard was it to spread and make the jumps and all?

RE: backyard tracks
 

not really hard at all, just a lot of manual labor. shovel and rake work. clay is the best. had it mad of dirt first but you have to keep reworking jumps all the time. when you clay it the jumps harden and stay there. with clay there is alot less work for track up keep. i have a little more room to work with so i think my track might end up looking somewhat like a L or boot shape.

RE: backyard tracks
 

Cool deal, I was planning on going clay as well. Don't know where to call though. Any suggestions LOL

RE: backyard tracks
 

For clay you have 2 picks, come to thousand oaks and take ALL the clay soil you want (:D;)) OR you can go find a building supply place and beg and plead and see if they got any :D. As for track designs, ooh boy leme call up some old pics (BTW not my pictures..... for everyones information), the designs are varied, someone (TechHead) had a great method of designing using circles..... half of the fun is designing and then the other quarters are building and RUNNING :D If you want (im not the fastest but....) I can draw up a few designs if you want on graph paper and scan the images in if I know what your specifications are like:
Lane Width
Distance between lanes (i say about 1' or so to allow for piping.......)
How much area you have to goof around with
And lastly what kind of track do you want, a "bumpy one," a smooth one...... ya it helps :D

As for jump building:
Compactors + Water + Good dirt (no sticks.......) = good jumps if well taken care of [8D] Just make sure there are no watering restrictions for your area so you don't get slapped with a huge fine/may get on the page of your paper for bad reasons [>:]

RE: backyard tracks
 

I called around and what I can get they call fill dirt or fill soil. It's sand/clay mixed and it's what they use to build up the land before they build a house on it. Does that seem like something that would work?

RE: backyard tracks
 

It should, i would just make sure to have a sifter to take out any big rocks.... they are a PAIN [:@]

RE: backyard tracks
 

Cool deal, now I just gotta convince the wife of it LOL

RE: backyard tracks
 

Another good way if clay is not there is to use a mix of concrete on the face of the jump so it always stays smooth and clean. Seen this done on several tracks and everyone seems to agree that its a good way to go. I havent tried it yet but plan to as soon as I move to our new house and I start to work out my track.. One thing I dont like about clay is that when it rains it make a mess..lol Could just be me up in Montana but I think I'm going to go with soil dirt and make the face with a thin layer of concrete.
Also found that if you put a level of river rock down then dirt and use a plate wacker to pack it seems to hold up more. The river rock is free and makes an nice under surface so your dirt dont settle and shift as much from natural causes.. Works good to with building up burms and jumps. Makes a solid layer under the dirt/clay that dont shift if packed good.