Jimmy Avila

iTrader: (81)

I have been thinking about it for a long time and have finally decided to pull the trigger on building my own rc track since the closest track is an hour away. I decided to build a small 1/10th scale track. I sort of have the upper hand on this build concidering I own a landscape company and have access to tons of shovels wheel barrows rakes ect.. also having a crew of helpers and trailer and getting contractor pricing on dirt and drain pipe. Anyway I started off by drawing a track layout on paper and marking off the area with flags. Next I had the guys weedeat the area down to the dirt and rake up all the grass. It helps to have at least 2 good weedeaters and take your time getting as much grass up as possible. Once we raked and blew all the grass off the area I sprayed the area with 2 gallons of round up weed killer (buy the mix concentrate and a hand held weed sprayer) you can get these both at home depot for like $40.00. Then I grabbed a shovel and just ran grooves in the dirt to mark off the lanes so I could see the idea better. This helped alot. Next I went to pick up some dirt at my local landscape supply store. I decided to go with a topsoil mix that will be very soft and loamy. You can also make it out of in-field clay if you want a harder track. to my surprise I couldn't hold much dirt in my trailer because the dirt was sooooo heavy, I got 4 cubic yards to start off and will be having the rest of the dirt delivered on monday because it was too difficult to haul the dirt. I am thinking that I will use around 10-12 cubic yards of soil which will be around $25.00 per yard I also got 200 ft or corregated drain pipe for the borders $50.00 per hundred feet at home depot. I will be posting a few pics up by monday night and hope fully by Tuesday night we will be done with it and I will have some good tips for anyone building their own track. The track is at my Mom's house in Houston, TX close to hwy 6 and west little york in bear creek. So if you live close and run 1/10th scale off road pm me. It should be pretty sweet. Check back soon!

Jimmy Avila

iTrader: (81)

Ok so I worked on it for about 7 hours today and I am so freaking tired! I guess unless you are a master rc track builder the drawing you make is not going to be exact to the finished track, as we layed the dirt out and started building the jumps I was running my slash on it to see if I needed to tweek the jumps or widen the lanes. I also watched some youtube videos of joey christensen showing you how to build your own track and so I did exactly what he did... I sat down on the front of a bobcat skid steer wearing a trucker hat and a bandanna around my neck and watered the dirt on the ground and just like that I had a professional rc track in my backyard!!! anyway as you build the jumps you need to build up 1 layer of dirt at a time and pack it down with a lawn roller then repeat until it is as high as you want it. I will probably extend the track more next month anyway I will try to post some pics tomorrow. check back!!

COLD AS ICE

iTrader: (19)

i did something like this but it was in a small feild in the woods, had a creek running right through it so we made briges and stuff but yours sound much more advanced

cozmogeek

iTrader: (8)

I'm working on building my own track right now too. I spent the day today with a field mower getting the area ready (infested with blackberries). Tomorrow I'm hoping to finish up getting rid of enough vegetation so I can actually figure out what my track layout is going to look like.

I'm planning to just get a tiller and rip up the plants in the area I want to use as the track since the ground is real soft and there's plenty of free dirt right under those plants.

I'm going to have to watch these videos now before I screw anything up. Thanks for the suggestion.

MattP

iTrader: (440)

I built a small backyard track at my house a couple years ago. I rented a backhoe for a day and had no clue what I was doing. I took off about 6 inches of dirt and then banked up the back left corner with all the grass I took off. I ended up sloping the back right side of the track to help it drain.

Here it is as soon as I finished with the backhoe before I had the pipe down.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN4pppBTAio

And after I rolled it some and ran on it a tad bit:






And after I had ran on it for a while(excuse all the leaves..lol):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-7NLkyqWA


Sorry for the thread hijack. I just wanted people to know it's easier than they might think. I have never messed with dirt at all and I did this by myself with only some help from my wife with raking rocks and stuff.

TD-Ent

iTrader: (75)

FYI, drain tile is $25/100 ft at Menards. 3" is all you need, don't get the slotted, it's weak.

Sean Jacobson

These are pictures of my backyard track, made with a weedeater and drain pipe. The jumps are metal framed and skinned with wood, easier to move than dirt and don't lose their shape. Plus I don't have any equipment to move dirt.

Good luck building your track!

wjmiller3

iTrader: (9)

Jimmy, where are you in Houston? I am in the Tomball area and Mikes is about an hour for me also.

Jimmy Avila

iTrader: (81)

Wow! these other tracks are huge. My track is tiny compared to these.
LOL!! anyway... I haven't worked on the track as much as I planned because work is busy and I was running on the track more than shoveling dirt but I think it is going good. I need to build up the berms and throw in a few more jumps. I also am planning on extending the track as much as I can to make it faster. I have gone through the ten cubic yards of dirt and I think i'm going to get six more tomorrow to finish and have a bit left over. You cant tell with the pipes not there but there is 4 lanes. Anyway... keep checking back.

Jimmy Avila

iTrader: (81)

I live near I-10 and addicks hwy6. I think i'm like 45 minutes from tomball. yes sir!

Jimmy Avila

iTrader: (81)

Dude, that track is awesome! you should totally build some good dirt jumps and a table top. just a suggestion.

monkee

iTrader: (15)

sean, how did you make those jumps?

cozmogeek

iTrader: (8)

I'll post some pics of mine too once I have something worth showing. As long as you don't mind Jimmy. I don't want to hijack your thread.

Sean Jacobson

I am a welder/fabricator and old ass skateboarder. I used 3/4 inch square tubing and rolled it into the arc that I wanted. Welded tubing between ends and skinned it with 1/4 inch plywood. One person can move the ramps around easily. I have built a few more since these pics.

Matt Farris

iTrader: (71)

Jimmy, ill post a pic of mine too if you dont mind. It may give you some idea's for your own track.