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View Full Version : ME AND TECH 25 ARE BUILDING OUR OWN TRACK and have a few questions



leapingbug
04-04-2006, 04:31 PM
Yup thats right me and tech 25 are buildering our own 1/16 scale track we are currently done laying down banked turn 5 and turn 1 and a section of the straight well have pic up in no time.

Question: what would be the best surface to lay down (whay and what is it called) We are thinking to lay down a clay/sand mix like the infeild of a baseball feild. What do you guys think???

Any tips and advice would be helpfull thanks :D :D

gutter
04-04-2006, 08:10 PM
Nothing beats pure dirt. Rocks and pebbles are bad for the cars, so stick with soft dirt.

Check out craigslist to see if anyone in your area is giving away free clean dirt. Sounds silly, but that's what I did...

leapingbug
04-04-2006, 09:39 PM
Nothing beats pure dirt. Rocks and pebbles are bad for the cars, so stick with soft dirt.

Check out craigslist to see if anyone in your area is giving away free clean dirt. Sounds silly, but that's what I did...
Whats craigslist :D

leapingbug
04-04-2006, 09:41 PM
Allso whats the best way to pack the dirt and jumps? :D

scottb
04-04-2006, 10:12 PM
SOIL

I would stear you towards a "hardpan" type of soil (usually includes a fair amount of sand). Craigslist.com is a great place to get free fill dirt (it is a free bulletin board service). What is good for growing may not be good for driving - hence don't get soil with too much organic matter in it.

FORMING THE SOIL

Soil is best formed when it is wet. When dry, the particles do not compact together. I would recomending making a rough track (just a small portion) and then put a sprinkler on it. After an hour, use your shove to smooth and form. Then you can stomp on the more convex shapes (jumps, burms) to get them to stay put.

DRAINAGE

Always make your track w a small slope. This way you can race sooner after any rain.

DESIGN

Make a flexible design - you will want to change it from time to time.

HAVE FUN

I've made so many mistakes in my track design - but over time, it's gotten better. But all along it has been fun. Here's a pic of my track.

BitHed
04-04-2006, 10:22 PM
...Gees Scott!! Your track is bigger than my hose!! lol...Man that looks really nice...even room for a BBQ!! :D

leapingbug
04-05-2006, 12:02 AM
...Gees Scott!! Your track is bigger than my hose!! lol...Man that looks really nice...even room for a BBQ!! :D
Ya this guy must live in a manson LOL
did you get the live in gardner to do that for ya LOL :p
really nice landscapeing tho

P.S. hardpan is the technicall term right. I meen if i go to my local landscapeing provider they will know what im talking about right

gutter
04-05-2006, 05:16 AM
Awesome track! Mine is not so elaborate...just some channels dug out of the dirt with some bumps and jumps...

Awesome though...

PS: You live anywhere near Hayward California??? LOL.

scottb
04-05-2006, 06:01 PM
I submitted these photos to Losi and won a Mini-T a while back. I've now changed a large portion of it - had to fence the back yard for the little one.

It's nice to have this much room - although by "suburb" standards, my backyard isn't that big (that is a mini-t pictured on the track). My wife doesn't mind - it keeps me home so I can watch our 3-year-old - and if you do it right, you can make it look professional. The rockery is the trickiest part.

As far as soil - hardpan is typically a term used for the soil found 2' or deeper. It is a sand/clay mix that absorbs water quickly (this is my best guess based on conversations). So if I was to "order" it, I would ask for a clay/sand mix. My backyard was "leveled" 10-20 years ago, and the organic topsoil was removed. This gave me access to the hardpan underneath. Hence, the nice surface (it drains quickly and packs hard).

Gutter: I'll trade you 10' of track for some sun...
Leapingbug, BitHed: My track is bigger than my house...the way it should be :)

leapingbug
04-10-2006, 03:42 AM
We have worked on it alot today. We are allmost finished the table top.We are both extremly happy thus far :D :D .The only probleme is we cant find where to get the clay from which leads me to a question do you guys think a sand and dirt mix will work and smoothen out??? :confused:

leapingbug
04-10-2006, 03:46 AM
Allso im not getting much luck with craidslist (every time i do a search it comes up with some political crap lol

bermbuster
04-10-2006, 09:55 AM
ask your local park commission or dpw where they get the clay for there baseball fields.

leapingbug
04-10-2006, 06:45 PM
hmm that could be one rout thanks :D

leapingbug
04-20-2006, 01:48 AM
Well me and tech 25 are 80% done with the track :eek:
I was going to take pictures today but we were haveing way to much fun driving on it :D :D