Ballinonabudget

I'm going to be building a track and would like to know of those who have. Or even raced tracks and what are things that I should do and things to stay away from. The area I'm putting the track is mainly flat. There is a section that has a slow steady down grade. I have 2 acres but putting the track at the very back. I have a set of train tracks that run behind my property, they are built up roughly ten feet from the natural layout of the land. There are some trees, bushes and brush from where my land starts and the trains line property ends. I would say 10-15 feet deep worth and they run the length of the rear of my property. From where the tree line starts to the railroad property is the down grade is. I will be using all of that area for the track as well as about 30 foot into the yard of flat land. I know this is a very long post, but I just wanted to try to give everyone a visual so you all could help me out with do's and don'ts. I've been scouring YouTube watching videos of people who have built tracks, other competitive venues to get ideas but I've never actually raced or been to a track. Thanks for reading this long drawn out post lol. Now go with the ideas.

RustyUs

You will want 8' minimum width for each lane to be comfortable. This is especially important if others will be joining in . Track design is anything you can dream up. I've been to tracks inside huge shed running over/under off-road figure 8; 180 wall climbs, to off-road course used with/inside dirt ovals.

Ballinonabudget

Thanks RustyUs, I wasn't sure about width so that helps a lot. That over/under sounds neat. I've been messing around with some drawings, but it seems every time I get done I thing of something else that would be neat. And now I have the over/under in my head I'm going to have to switch it up again. How about banked turns? How high of a bank do I need? Should all the turns be banked or just a few coming into a straight away for more speed at exit? So far it's just me into the hobby but I think once I get a track built I will be able to recruit more enthusiasts.

EXT2Rob

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Google "backyard RC tracks" you'll get a ton of ideas. One thing I can suggest if you're going to have any hard things, like trees, near the track that you could possibly hit, make a safety barrier.... I've done this on my track since we're going around trees. Get one (or more) of those blue foam camp mats and cut it length wise into 8-10in strips six feet long. Then get some 10in orange safety cones and place a few cones around the tree. Then take a strip of the foam and ring the cones and tree with it and secure the ends together with duct tape. Viola! Safety barrier. They work.

Ballinonabudget

Thanks EXT2Rob, I didn't even think about barriers! Do you think hay bails would work the same? I've got access to those easily. I'm hoping to entice some people around me to pick up the hobby once the track is built, but for know it's just me. But I think I will go ahead and build it 8' wide in hopes that more will join. Like the famous movie line goes "if you build it, they will come" lol

EXT2Rob

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Ha ha! 😉 Do it man!

Hay bales...too heavy. My barrier directs impact energy up and away safely.

Ballinonabudget

Check on the hay bails. The mats you are referring to, like those yoga mat things or those mats that are about 2 inches of foam?

EXT2Rob

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This is the stuff...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Stansport...ng-Pad/9856753

We used to get the safety cones from Sports Authority, but they went bankrupt. Additionally, shortly before they closed, we found their supplier changed the plastic formula. They were no longer pliable, they'd shatter. Buggers. Big 5 has cones, but they're too soft. You'd have to at least double them up. Still looking for a good substitute. Hello, Amazon?

But if you can find them, these barriers work. Saved our car's butts many times.

RustyUs

It's all up to you. I've run on track with off camber turns...that'll slow anyone down. If you want fast paced track, banked turns will do it. There's no rules to track building.

Plow discs thrown in middle of a straight/corner exit/corner entrance give drivers, and RC's suspension a workout.

Ballinonabudget

Thanks for that link, that will take the guesswork out of it haha.

Very true about no rules to building a track. To bad it's so dang cold, I'm ready to get to work.

Ballinonabudget

Update: weather has broke freezing the last 2 days so I've started clearing the brush/weeds/leaves/broken limbs from the back side of where my track will be. I've gotten a start on one banked turn and a jump. I know the normal lane width is 8 foot, but that back stretch is going to have two choke points of 5 foot due to two large trees and the natural bank where the train tracks are. Although I will be able to use the natural bank but it's kinda steep...once I get the entire length of that back stretch clear I will be able to run the truck up and down it to see how good or bad it is. I may have to dig some of the bank out but just from the looks of it I think it will work out pretty good. And if any other people join in on the hobby and run on the track with me it will make it an interesting part of the track.

Ballinonabudget

Another update: I cut roughly 20 smaller trees and some big lilac bushes down...other than racking all the leaves and sticks out the brush/tree area will be all cleared and I can work on figuring out a good layout. It's going back to being cold Friday so I have tonight to try and get everything racked out so I can start envisioning what a good layout will be.

EXT2Rob

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Have you looked at the layout of any of the full scale short course tracks? Might be a good place to get some ideas flowing.

Ballinonabudget

Yea, I've got tons of ideas just not sure exactly how I should lay it out. I know I want to put an over/under in somewhere, I just don't want to have any wasted space. I'm going to draw some things up tonight and play around with different layouts and once I get how I want to route everything I will add in the jumps and whoops.

4NJBOYS

Great advice here I am in The process of getting my Township Recreation Dept. interested in Building a Track with the involvement of The local PD involved as a youth program and a Councilman and Hobby shops as Sponsors.
As for some tips, I have seen is using Pool Noodles as bumpers around obstacles Amazon has the traffic cones of many sizes for RC tracks. Very Cheap. The surfaces are one thing from dirt. Blue Stone dust sand we R talking about, It has to be pretty much maintenance free but for the racing surface. But most importantly have to gain interest in it to make it a worthwhile project. keep the Ideas and suggestions coming

4NJBOYS

Pool Noodles ??????????????

RustyUs

Build it and they will come. Local gov't zoning issues?....

Why doesn't a person publicize they have a track? It's not well groomed; bumpiest track ever driven on; slickest track anyone should have to attempt to drive on (using softest compound tires doesn't help ), and possibly doesn't want to entertain people when not in the mood. Number one reason maybe...liability. It's sad, I know. One almost has to setup some type of formal contract for people to sign. If a person starts inviting friends over, or even tell them they can come over whenever they want, eventually booze will/could be evolved...someone is gonna get hurt, and will be on personal property.

4NJBOYS

[QUOTE=RustyUs;12296766]Build it and they will come. Local gov't zoning issues?.

My apologies to you but I do not understand all the negativity in your reply. As I said the planned track will be built and maintained by The Township Recreation Dept. And The residents who get involved with it. It is no different than any other Recreation Field that is maintained and insured by the Township. There are codes of conduct and Rules that are a part of any recreation program.
So as I said the issue of exploring interest is first once that is gained the funds can come forth to develop the track and infrastructure.
So how you spin it into your description of a Hillbilly Track is beyond me.

Ballinonabudget

Update: I spray painted the layout of the track today. I'm hoping to "break ground" tomorrow. I had to make some changes to the location. My back straight stretch won't be where I thought I was going to put it. The tree's and train tracks made it to narrow in most of the stretch, and we had a lot of rain the past couple of days and had a bunch of standing water. So I just move everything up away from all the trees. I'm hoping I can make a lot of headway tomorrow.

Thanks for everyone's advice and for those following this thread.

The Saylors

One thing that a ton of track builders forget to do is to remember to consider driver stand pov. Because you need to be able to see the car pretty much all the time you should pick a good drivers box position and continuously check the vantage point as you build. No sense having an awesome obstacle if you can't see the darn thing lol. The best thing you can do for yourself is to make your driver box have elevation. If you have access to an old shipping container that seems to be the best as you can stand on top for the drivers box and store all you track maintenance gear inside to keep things simple and on hand. Also keep your slowest car that you will want to use on the track as well as the fastest car that you will be using so that you can check your jump gaps. I use the slowest truck to check my double jumps and my fastest to check my triples. Having a track that feels really fluid and that cars of different power can enjoy is the trick to keeping people coming back and to keep you interested as the owner. Just out of curiosity were in the country are you building this (weather is important) and what type of dirt do you have at your disposal? There is a ton more to consider but these were the ones i wish i knew before i got into it. Be prepared for some trial and error, hope you have a small kubota at least to save your back lol Good luck with your endeavor and don't forget to post some pics! oh and another thing i forgot to mention is to remember to think about drainage. I saw that you said that you had standing water which means that the ground doesn't drain very well so you may wanna get some cheap piping to allow so water run off. Standing water can really damage some tracks, nothing is worse than seeing all your hard work get literally washed away!!

EXT2Rob

My Feedback: (1)

Rusty has a point, if you and your recreation department are doing it, but especially if it's on your personal property, liability is an issue, and you better cover your ass. I think that's all he was trying to say. Otherwise, bully for you guys! 😀

Ballinonabudget

The saylors, yea I've taken into consideration on the drivers box. It's a flat part of the yard and the obstacles won't be drastic.

Ext2rob, it is on my land, it's not going to be open to the public, simply a track for me and my friends (if they choose to get into the hobby, right now it's just me)

4NJBOYS

[QUOTE=EXT2Rob;12298059]Rusty has a point, if you and your recreation department are doing it, but especially if it's on your personal property, liability is an issue, and you better cover your ass. I think that's all he was trying to say. Otherwise, bully for you guys! [/QUOTE I
Thought it was very clear the township REC. DEPT. is the Builder maintainer, Insurer as far as my post went. Rusty has helped me many times was surprised of his reply on this one.

The Saylors

[QUOTE=4NJBOYS;12298074]Rusty has always been a really nice guy, i don't think he meant to be negative. Sometimes typing will give a negative impression when it isn't meant at all, my grandma for example is super nice in person but writes like biggest jerk in the world lol

4NJBOYS

I rest my Case compared to the reply