Building a track... Finally!

[godale03]

Hey Guys,

I have a piece of land behind my house that I have gotten permission to build a track for myself and my stepson to race and play around with. I need to do this cheaply and realatively quickly if possible. Right not it is just a field. The field is flat, and I need to clear the grass off. My father in law does not want me removing alot of land, and would like me to at least keep the grade of the field the same. My LHS has given me a bunch of used corregated pipping to out line some of the track. I will need to to get a few hundred feet more. I would like to build a dirt oval around the perimeter, and have an arena type track in the center seperate from the oval with jumps for 1/10 and 1/8 scale off road. I am guessing I will need to get some dirt brought in for the jumps. What kind of dirt do you guys recommend? I can't spend alot of money so the dirt I get may not be "the best". Also can you guys give some advice on track design, as well as all the "how too's" on how to build jumps that will last, and so forth. I am completely clueless on how to do this properly. LOL The piece of land is about 3/4 to 1 acre in size. Of course I do not need to use it all.

Thanks in advance guys.

Tom

 

[251southernsmoke]

hey well i would personally use sandy clay maybe or a real coarse dirt so you couls impact it but not bog. i have a design of one I'm making its about the size of an acre.

 

[Lessen]

http://www.freedirt.com/

Who's the man?

(yes, I know, Charliestheman. blah, blah, blah...)

 

[RedNeXx]

No accually me..

 

[digger]

No advice Bro. Just wishing you the best with it.

Had a link in my favorites, but it is dead now. sorry.

 

[godale03]

Thanks for the dirt info guys. This isn't going to be a proffessional looking track. Just something for my stepson, myself, and my father can play around on... and of course any of my RCNT family of course! My wife did make me promise that my driveway would not turn into a parking lot. No organized racing I have been told! LOL So this track does not need to be perfect, or even up to a particular standard. Just something to race around on. I am hoping to be able to build it in a weekend or two. Thanks again guys.

Tom

 

[Lessen]

Make sure you get lots of pics Tom. I can't wait to see your oval sweeet!

 

[godale03]

Make sure you get lots of pics Tom. I can't wait to see your oval sweeet!

Yeah.. I'm looking forward to it. Although I don't think it will be banked... at least not initially. It ought to be a fun project though. My wife has been asking when I could start working on it, so that my stepson and I can do it together. I think it will be fun!

Tom

 

[robmob]

My wife did make me promise that my driveway would not turn into a parking lot. No organized racing I have been told!

No worries.

We will park in front of all your neighbors houses and will look as disorganized as possible while racing on your track.

Have fun working on the track and be sure to post before, during and after pics.

 

[godale03]

No worries.

We will park in front of all your neighbors houses and will look as disorganized as possible while racing on your track.

Have fun working on the track and be sure to post before, during and after pics.

Sounds like a plan to me! She said nothing about disorganized racing! I like the way you think my friend... you must be married!

Will do with the pictures.

 

[hpinitromt]

go dale!!!!! build it and we will come....just not all at once, because of the wife, and because my wife wont let me go to maryland to race...lol

 

[digger]

No worries.

We will park in front of all your neighbors houses and will look as disorganized as possible while racing on your track.

I'm thinking we can park in the back? Just keep the shades closed?

Maybe the first one to show up, bring their 'ol lady. Send both of them off shopping.
If they get back before we leave, it's like
"Sorry babe, didn't think that many would show up. You know how much I've been looking foward to this and some of the guys have drove a long way....."


Man that's an easy one. Just play it out and say what she wants to hear. Make her feel guilty for a change.

Sure beats explaining the matchbook from the local strip joint and no $1 bills in your damn wallet.
I didn't mention the g-string she found in my pocket did I?






J/K

 

[godale03]

LMAO Digger!! You now owe me a keyboard!! LOL :spit:


Hpinitromt.... I'm with ya bro.... It is amazing the stuff my wife thinks she has control over.... or is it amazing how much I think I have control over?... I don't know I get confused. LOL You guys are welcome any time.

We got the field cut down and the straw bailed yesterday. We need to kill the weeds and then till it all under hopefully this weekend. Then I will need to lay the track out and then have the dirt brought in. It is going to be a process for sure. It doesn't help I have no clue how to do this right, but I will give it my best.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

If you're having dirt brought in, when you call the truck driver or dirt man, tell him that you want something with a clay base that will pack fairly hard, yet still have some sandy loam in it so it will break loose on the surface for traction. I was scared my dirt man would think I was crazy for being so picky, but he responded with "No problem, I know just where to get what you're looking for." Sure enough, he did and it was about perfect. My advice is this: Just remember that the bigger you build the track, the more jumps you will need, and the more you will spend on dirt. I wish I would have started with a smaller track and built out as I got my dirt. I built the whole track first with the dirt I had, and only had enough for a few jumps. So now I wil bring in another 6 truckloads of dirt for the elevation changes. However, that's a lot of dirt. I would think you could build the whole track surface up and build quite a few jumps with 4-6 regular size truckloads. I reccomend killing the grass, and using the dirt that's there for as much of the track as you can, and only use the dirt you bring in for the areas that you're wanting to build up.

For the weed killer, I used a brand called "Eraser." I mixed it strong. It said on the bottle to mix it 3:1 for extra strength. I went ahead and mixed it 6:1 to make sure it worked. I gotta tell you, it worked like a charm. It took about a week to die, but when it did, it looked like a wildfire burned up the grass. And I didn't see another sprout for about 6 weeks. I have a 35 gallon sprayer that I put on my 4 wheeler. If you're going to by grass killer, don't go to wal-mart or Lowes. They only sell medium grade stuff around here. Go to a farm supply or feed store, they carry the good stuff. It's a lot cheaper than the crap at Wal-Mart, too.

For the jumps, you're going to want to cut out plywood to put on the ends of each jump. That will keep your jumps from washing away, and will save a lot of your dirt that you would normally lose in the runoff. I went to Ace hardware and bought several boxes of wooden stakes, and a few rolls of masonary string. Then I measured and staked out where I wanted the track to go, and where the lanes and stuff would be. Once I had it staked out just like the track borders would be layed out, I could see exactly how I wanted it before I ever started on the actual construction. My only advice is don't use green string, it won't show up in the in pictures against the grass.

 

[godale03]

Hey Charles... thank you so much for all that great advice. I will definitely take my time and try to think about what you said... getting my layout planned before I start. I will try to use as much of the original dirt as possible. Thanks again for the help and advice guys.

Tom

 

[godale03]

I know you guys have got to be thinking I am full of hot air about this whole track thing, but last night we finally made some progress albeit, small, it was progress none the less. Between the harvest, which made the equipment unavailable, and raising a couple of kids, time just has not lent itself to actually getting this off the ground. Well two weeks ago we sprayed the field with Roundup and killed all the remaining weeds and grass.... this piece of land was a wheat field not to long ago. Then last night we got the bush hog out and cut everything flush to the ground. Since my Father in law is a Civil Engineer by day, he wants to do this track layout like a project at work so I was trying to come up with some designs last night.... which brings me to my next question....

When building a layout, how to you know what type of obstical to put in, and where to you put them?

I want to have a smooth flowing track with obsticals, and speed zones so that I have a "well rounded track". Is there a formula for this?


The piece of land is pretty flat and crowns in the center so that water rolls away nicely. I don't want to dig up much of land so that I keep the general grade of the land.

This will be for 1/10 and 1/8 scale rides so I have to plan accordingly so that I don't have a track that is too big for 1/10 and too small for 1/8. If that is possible of course.

I will take some pictures tonight so that you guys get a feel for what I am working with.

Tom

 

[Lessen]

I'm sure nobody thinks you're full of hot air Tom. I myself always have a lot going on project-wise and they seem to see very little progress. We all understand that other things come first. Between my wifes truck, my funny car, my backyard track, and now upgrading my truck it seems like nothing ever gets done, but rest assured everything is still working.. just very slowly.

As far as your track is concerned... what I did when I designed my backyard track is to first decide what type of elements you want to have, then figure out how to incorporate them into your space. For instance, when I designed my backyard track I decided I wanted a track that offered not only decent top speed but would demand high speed handling as well, so both of the longer sections in my track have either a dogleg or a chicane in them. I also wanted a track that demanded precision in the driving line so the width is only 3ft (for 1/18 scale). My track will be very difficult to pass at, however, my track also is designed with no obstacles in mind because I wanted an off-road track than focuses more on handling and line precision rather than jumping distances. So I say decide what type of obstacles you want first, then incorporate them into your space. You really have to keep a drivers perspective ya know..

 

[godale03]

I'm sure nobody thinks you're full of hot air Tom. I myself always have a lot going on project-wise and they seem to see very little progress. We all understand that other things come first. Between my wifes truck, my funny car, my backyard track, and now upgrading my truck it seems like nothing ever gets done, but rest assured everything is still working.. just very slowly.

As far as your track is concerned... what I did when I designed my backyard track is to first decide what type of elements you want to have, then figure out how to incorporate them into your space. For instance, when I designed my backyard track I decided I wanted a track that offered not only decent top speed but would demand high speed handling as well, so both of the longer sections in my track have either a dogleg or a chicane in them. I also wanted a track that demanded precision in the driving line so the width is only 3ft (for 1/18 scale). My track will be very difficult to pass at, however, my track also is designed with no obstacles in mind because I wanted an off-road track than focuses more on handling and line precision rather than jumping distances. So I say decide what type of obstacles you want first, then incorporate them into your space. You really have to keep a drivers perspective ya know..

That's exactly how I am thinking about this... you hit the nail on the head... and maybe that is why this is so hard for me.... I am trying to "drive" the track as I am designing it. Maybe that is the wrong way to go about this. I also have every XRC mag that I still have and am studying the tracks that they have pictured under their race coverage pages. Of course those tracks are friken huge compared to what I am trying to build. I was trying to mock some of their layouts... but most of those tracks have alot of elevation changes which I am not going to try to copy. This is a bit more involved than I had anticipated, but it should prove to be a really fun and rewarding project.

 

[godale03]

Here are a few pics of the piece of property that the track is going on. I hope you are able to get an idea of the size of it by the pics. Any ideas on layouts are welcome. Hopefully this weekend I can get some of the rest of the straw off the top. Take care guys.

Tom

 

[MrClean]

From the looks of it Tom, that has the making for an awesome track. Unless my perception is off, that appears to be a pretty good chunk of space for a track. I'd eventually like to do something like that, I have the room for one but it would be a entire spring/summer project.