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Bike trail building

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chuck_testa
Posts: 1469 - Karma: 52
I'm currently building a mtb trail in my backyard (or woods) and I was wondering if anyone's every tried the same thing, or has any tips on building a trail.
Apr 15 2011 9:03PM
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jason...
Posts: 9006 - Karma: 780
build good drainage lines and reinforce everything. if its just gonna be a select number of people riding it you can probably get away with using mainly dirt, otherwise cobble any high pressure areas.

building is tons of fun, almost more fun than riding the actual trail, so have fun with it and get creative with the lines.
Apr 15 2011 9:06PM
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joshua
Posts: 5046 - Karma: 1,280
Its lot of work but really rewarding when the trail starts to get good and lengthy.
Apr 15 2011 9:08PM
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jason...
Posts: 9006 - Karma: 780
oh yeah also, leaving some parts natural and letting subtle berms form from simply riding the trail is a good lazy way of doing things.
Apr 15 2011 9:14PM
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.DIX.
Posts: 212 - Karma: 9
Building bike trails is super fun. Try to get as many friends as you can to help out. Make sure everything will drain, and make sure if you build any jumps you let the lips set and get nice and hard. For ramps and shit use whatever natural wood you can find, makes things a lot easier
Apr 15 2011 9:14PM
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no_steeze
Posts: 23992 - Karma: 4,273
it's hard work and it often takes a lot of riding to break in a trail but it's really fun. i helped build miles of trail up on a ridge by my house and it's so fun to find little drops, spines, rock gardens, and cool little obstacles and make them rideable
Apr 15 2011 9:16PM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
I have built trails before.
my tips:
-map put trail with flagging tape or marking paint
-figure out the features you want
--figure out how to build those features (jumps, board walks, transitions off rock faces, ect)
-get friends together to clear out the rough shape of the trail
-test the fluidity of the run
--build berms where necessary
-build up stunts
- fix any problems
-test ride whole trail (slowly so you can mark any problems)
-- test ride at speed to find any more problems
---fix all problems
- after building let the trail settle for a few days
-ride to find any soft spots
--fix more problems
-let settle again
-ride

I did build mostly DH and FR trails so if you are building for XC you can skip a lot of the stuff about berms/soft spots.

also, dont forget drainage. that way the water wont destroy your trails in winter/spring/fall
Apr 15 2011 9:17PM
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chuck_testa
Posts: 1469 - Karma: 52
yeah ive struggled with drainage for berms. and it is a dh
Apr 15 2011 9:19PM
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Fun_dip
Posts: 2623 - Karma: 913
Try to get more people to help so it goes faster, but not too many because then they will all want to ride since they helped
Apr 15 2011 9:21PM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
well, there are a lot of techniques to help the drainage, one that I have resorted to from time to time is getting that green PVC from construction sites (they throw out a fair bit) drill some holes in one side (and cap that side off). dig the bowl of the berm down so it all falls to one area. in that area burry the PVC with the holes pointing up (keep holes exposed) and have the other side of the pipe feed out the back of the berm at an angle so that you can just let the water drain that way. if you dont have a good slope then dig a small hole on the other side so the water can drain out into that hole.
Apr 15 2011 9:26PM
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potato_man
Posts: 2158 - Karma: 89
give a brotha some info what kind of terrain? where do you live? lots of hills? is it dusty or gravelly soil?
Apr 15 2011 9:29PM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
check his profile, Vermont
Apr 15 2011 9:31PM
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chuck_testa
Posts: 1469 - Karma: 52
vermont, so its always wet and really rolling terrain
Apr 15 2011 9:32PM
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dmc12380
Posts: 3545 - Karma: 792
look in the woods and see if you can find any mounds, dig into them and you will find small sand deposits which are really nice to build banked turns and jumps.
Apr 15 2011 9:35PM
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Dwight_Schrute
Posts: 579 - Karma: 18
ALWAYS build from the beginning to the end. I've built beautiful jumps halfway down a trail just to find the speed just wasn't there, or you had to brake, which disrupts the flow.
Apr 15 2011 9:45PM
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.DIX.
Posts: 212 - Karma: 9
Also for me, build landings before lips. I always build a massive perfect lip then half ass the landing and call it good, much rather the other way around
Apr 15 2011 9:48PM
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SPskier543
Posts: 2413 - Karma: 324
I bought a $60 push mower and use it to rough cut the trails an then i go back with clippers for the rest. I can cut a 3/4 mile trail without features in about an hour. I use all natural stuff for my features, like ladders of branches and branch lined drops. I also have a mini bulldozer that I traded a quad for that's great for buildings and shaping jumps and Berms and whatnot. I'll try to post some vids of the trails I built later
Apr 15 2011 9:53PM
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PurpleDino
Posts: 1513 - Karma: 483
I can't wait to get back out and building.  The ground in NH is still pretty frozen.
Apr 15 2011 9:57PM
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SPskier543
Posts: 2413 - Karma: 324
Also I recommend getting really high quality rakes and shovels. I had gone through a bunch of wood tools breaking and such, then I bought a quality, but expensive set of various shovels, trowels, and rakes and they have lasted me for over 3 years. Also, a backpack leafblower comes in handy a lot too.
Apr 15 2011 10:00PM
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PurpleDino
Posts: 1513 - Karma: 483
McLeods and Pulaskis are super helpful when your going to bench-cut something.  I really need to buy both.  I've had enough of bench-cutting with a straight up flat head shovel
Apr 15 2011 10:02PM
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ChrisSkisChronic
Posts: 1128 - Karma: 230

Get a Mattock:

Click for larger image

Definitely establish your line and familiarize yourself with it before you actually cut it. Work with/encorporate natural pumps and features into the whole trail. These are always interesting and fun to ride. Never build in a low area that will collect and hold water. My best advice is build everything with rocks. Logs rot, collapse, are almost never solid, look like shit and require constant attention. Dont half ass anything, it will be worth it when you're riding it rather than fixing it. 

Apr 15 2011 10:10PM
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chuck_testa
Posts: 1469 - Karma: 52
yeah thanks man. i set with tools. I got rake, shovel, mcleod, chainsaw, pick axe. any other necessary cheap tools?
Apr 15 2011 10:10PM
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.DIX.
Posts: 212 - Karma: 9
I like to have a handsaw sometimes but definitely not necessary
Apr 15 2011 10:11PM
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ORDEAL
Posts: 6386 - Karma: 75
hahaha this
Apr 15 2011 10:15PM
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SPskier543
Posts: 2413 - Karma: 324
Clippers, both the small ones and the giant long handle ones. I would definitly search for a used cheap push mower and a weed wacker though. You can cut miles of trails in a day
Apr 15 2011 10:27PM
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ChrisSkisChronic
Posts: 1128 - Karma: 230
If there are any rocks or undulations in the ground the blade will get raped, possibly sending bits flying into your legs.
Apr 15 2011 10:31PM
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SPskier543
Posts: 2413 - Karma: 324
The one I have has guards all around the base and you push down on the bar, lifting the blade up, and slowly go down to cut stuff up. This way, if there's a rock you will only skimm it and not destroy everything. And usually any rock that would have a chance of affecting the mower or you wouldn't get past the front of the mower because it's pretty low.
Apr 15 2011 10:37PM
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stupendous-man
Posts: 8637 - Karma: 13,293
I've built many trails, and i would have to agree that using rocks to fill in landings and lips is a lot better than wood. if the wood is freshly cut, you can expect it to last for about 2 years in wet conditions. also, cutting fallen trees into planks of wood to build ladders and drops will save you a bunch of money rather than buying 2x4s or something similar. natural wooden planks also make it look badass when its finished. oh, building jumps and berms with wooden sides like this also saves you a lot of dirt:
Click for larger image
Apr 15 2011 11:41PM
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