Hi. I'm just about to buy a 200 acre farm. It comes with an 850B Case (4in1 plus ripper). There is a large undulating area that is suitable for a good size MX track. The ground has basically three slopes all draining to a common low point (roughly in the middle of the square plot). Rainfall is average (for Australia this means - infrequent but heavy when it does). A number of the guys on this forum mention MX tracks and that they like the track loader machines with 4 in 1 bucket...so in general terms I'm off to a good start, but I will need to learn how to drive the sucker. Anyway, that aside I'd really appreciate some advice from the experienced guys here about: 1. How to plan the track (what to think about, consider drainage how to mark it out... etc) 2. Where and how to put to put drainage and sediment control barriers in 3. How to cut the first layer of the track (just flat track over the undulations) 4. Add berms, jumps and so on 5. Refine the basic track by grading, compacting and so on. The ground has very shallow topsoil (inches) with a heavy clay base (small rocks in the clay - say 2" size). No major rock, trees or other issues. (note. there is a baby tractor as well with a small simple grading blade) Anyhelp...lists...comments much appreciated. J
Hi ktmsprocket seeing that you are in Aus you can do a course on how to operate the track loader and that would be the best bet to start with. For drainage all you would have to do is look for where the water has run off before most of the time there would be evidence of past run offs and most likely the water would have run into a drain or creek depending on how the land lays.. For silt control that would always be on the down side of the slops.. The track loader would be ok for building the track but it would take more work to build the berms than if you used a dozer as you cant tilt the bucket on the loader.. For the compaction that’s just a matter of track rolling the track with the loader..
Oh the track location would be determined by how and where the hills and valleys sit on the block as you can form more of a natural looking track and less work to make it..
943 - i just contacted a local trainer, so we will see what they can offer. Its a good idea...thanks. For a low use track, is it necessary to water the track while building it to compact the layers or is that overkill?
If you are building a quick track then watering is not really needed and if it’s left for a wet and dry season then it will compact on its own.. only time watering is needed if you are building a permeant road then of course you would use a pad foot roller…
943....thanks. Think I will do some before, during and after photos to give you guys some amusement! :notworthy
I have built a few mx tracks, and the main things I would suggest are these: Try to ride around in the area you are planning on building in and get a feel for how the terrain flows before you start moving dirt. Typically the best tracks IMO are built to accentuate the natural terrain. Dont pack your corners so they will build good lines, and build your jumps much wider than it seems necessary.
Acivil. Thanks for your comments....what does the above quote mean though (sorry - I'm not an earthmoving guy - yet)
as a professional racer that is sitting out the east coast sx series this year unfortunetly due to injury, the main thing to picking the layout of your outdoor track is to not have to move dirt in and not having to move it far... once you pick the general layout i would suggest using a decent size dozer and to move dirt and build your faces and landings, and then til the rest of the track with a tractor... you can use discs or tine type rippers... go up and over the tops of the hills and try to stay away from the absolute bottom of where a few hills may meet. any questions just ask, i have riden thousands of tracks, and built quite a few of my own.
I have a mx track that has been on my familys land for 30 years . my father originaly built it for me when I was 10 . We used a cat D5 until recently , now we still use the D5 and also a Mustang MTL25 . The mustang is realy good at maintaining the track it has a real good control . Try to follow the natural lay of the land so you do not have to be to invasive a move a lot of dirt.
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That quote means if you want your corners to develop ruts, it will work best not to compact them so the dirt will be loose.
Doh! Thanks...