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QUESTION:a bunch of my friends and I would like to build a track for our ATV's.
> Nothing radical, but something fairly challenging. Is there anywhere that
I
> could see plans or layouts, or perhaps instructions on how to build one?
ANSWER: I have built a few tracks over the last 3 years, [ 5 or 6] , but for
mx not ATVs, but the basic idea is the same, I would assume you just do not
want the killer big jumps which in your case is good, as they use alot of
dirt to build.
The last track I did this year used well over 200 tandem loads to build it,
but we got lucky , the local excavators needed to get rid of top soil [
free ], we also had a D6 sized dozer to move it all .
You do not need to have dirt brought in [ but it helps as they drop it where
you want your jumps to be ], you can just scrape the whole area about 6
inches down so it keeps its original shape , you would be amazed at how much
dirt can be scraped up that way.
By the way , do not scrap dirt along the track route, scrape either side and
push it up to where your ramps go, that way water will not sit in the track
area making it a swamp.. unless you like swamps .
As others have said, go for the dozer, try to find someone that has a
machine [ at least a D3 or bigger, 6 way blade ] localy available that can
float it over to your site themselves on a friday night to be ready to go
Sat morning early, count on two solid days minimum to scrape up a half
decent play track.
Try to do as much pre planning as you can, have all the problems worked out
such as drainage "before" you start, basically have everything there way
before the dozer gets their as he is the most expensive , and time [$] ticks
whether he is pushing it or waiting for you to decide what to do next.
I have used a bobcat [ skid steer ] when a dozer was not available, but
never for a whole track, just smaller jumps and track maintenance, but they
can get expensive for the amount of work they do compared to a dozer, a
dozer is always best , it will also pre pack everything nicely as you are
shaping the ramps tables and landings.
You can get a skid steer in once and a while to do clean up, they are pretty
good for that , or if you have a good relationship with the dozer operator,
you can ask him to go in on his way by when he has time to clean things up
ocasionally.
Forget about the Ford tractor or even the back hoe, unless it is one big
mother of a machine it will take forever to move a small amount of dirt [
bin their , tried that ] and even harder to shape it properly.
If you pay 500.00 to 600.00 a day for the dozer and operator that is only a
grand or two if you have him for 3 or 4 days, split up between some of your
"good" friends that is basically didly to have a place of your own to ride .
It is worth spending the money to do it right the first time and enjoy it
for the rest of the year instead of working on it every time you go.
Oh, another thing to do when building the ramps is make sure you use the
grassy/weedy etc stuff for the base of the ramps , then use clean top soil
for the riding surface ,it is a bastard trying to shape ramps with the grass
still in , it will keep rolling over when you work with it.
There was a web site at one time that showed you jump shapes , including the
angles and heights, it was pretty good info , you may be able to do a search
or someone here might have the URL for it if you ask.
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