Fee for pump track designers

Cypher

Likes Dirt
I find that I have managed to aquire a large backyard (~250-300m2) which I detest mowing the grass for; the yard slopes steeply. I'd like to give my partner (and myself!) a present of a pump track. Yay!*

How much would it cost to get someone in to design a pump track? Who are the companies or people who do this?

Does anyone have examples of pump tracks on slopy land?



* I was going to put a granny flat in, but it will never work. The backyard is a bit inaccessible and steep. Oh well, silver linings and all that.
 

Cypher

Likes Dirt
Surely some Rotorburners could help you out for this, paid by cartons of beer.
Well, that would be lovely. However a professional adds a level of ...hmmm...professionalism. Plus I have NFI how to go about making one (which didn't stop me from building a deck large enough to see from space).

I also want to incorporate features like being able to turn part of the track into a water slide (hey, my land is slopey and pond liner is a fantastic material) and I have some boulders that could be interesting

Here is an early view of my backyard - I now have a chicken coop and a small vege garden and an almighty deck off the house (it is about 4m high and covers 50m2)
Backyard view 3.jpg
 
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scblack

Leucocholic
Cypher - Knuckles, Calvin and Moorey are right.

A pump track is generally flat, and use the pumping of the bike to maintain momentum around/over jumps and berms around a loop.

Yours is gravity fuelled. I would love to see a Slopestyle type track in there. You'd have to be a bit careful though, if you put too big a jump off one of those rocks I reckon you might land in the next suburb.

Northshore style sounds good - put some of your woodworking skills from making the deck to good use.
 

mitchy_

Llama calmer
Drop off the roof with a kicker built over the rocks for stability and strength.
How friendly are your neighbours?
 

Cypher

Likes Dirt
I would love to see a Slopestyle type track in there.
err. I just Googled some pictures. My backyard is not that big! Although I do like the idea. Still need someone to design it though. I have no idea how you could fit these things in a small space and make it flow
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
I revise my vote to a trials course. That big juicy rock is just begging for it. Very good for skills development I hear...I have no skills :(
 

GeurieMTB

Likes Dirt
if not for the slope you might have room for a pump track, but itd be small and tight. With that slope...nahhhh!

Roundup the lawn, mulch the lot and plant native grasses and shrubs (and maybe even a tree), the birds and butterflies will thank you. Ride elsewhere
 

Cronar

Likes Dirt
Rich didn't inform me of this potential development!! I'm available for consultation, have previous pump track and dirt jump building experience :D
 

poita

Likes Dirt
I vote getting a few tonnes of dirt dumped in there and start digging. Don't bother with the pro's
 

si618

Likes Dirt
First and foremost, what's your dirt like? If it's shit, site access is going to be key if you need to haul dirt in. If your dirt has a reasonable amount of clay in it, and isn't too rocky, or you're willing to scree the rocks out, then you can use the slope to your advantage, i.e. dig away the face to make it level, then use this dirt for rollers and berms. The downside is if the berm(s) are a 180º or close to it (and chances are they will be), you're going to need a heap of dirt to build up the other sides, or use rocks or make it from wood.

How wide is the yard? With a sloping yard, you're probably better going off with a skinny track to avoid large elevation changes.

Here's some photos and info on our pump track, which is also on a sloping block and at the bottom of our garden. It's quite narrow, but uses almost all of the width of our yard.

I bought the LeeLikesBikes pump track book, which has some good tips on roller spacing, berm radius, drainage, etc. I don't think you need a pro to design one, but you will need a lot of manpower to build one, especially if the dirt isn't good and site access is poor.

Ours is holding up well, although I've still got one extra line I'd like to put in (a hip jump) and add a wall ride above the shorter berm, but like any dirt trails, the berms take maintenance, so once we've got the track dialled, I'm looking to add a ~80-100mm layer of crushed fines (rock) on top, which packs down like concrete, but still provides drainage in winter.
 
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Cypher

Likes Dirt
Update on trail

So it is looking a little scrappy at the moment, but I am slowly working on finalising my backyard gravity trail (it takes a lot of time to acquire and shovel that much dirt!). There are two drops (one off the water tank), one big berm that took about 2 cubic metres of road base, some other berms and I am making some movable drops and jumps for a straight stretch into the big berm.

I have to make it in such a way that it is fun for me and my partner, but also wont kill my small kids (one of them already tried rolling off the drop! - he got wedged between the tank and the rock)

I'm thinking I could extend with a grass based crit track out the back park :) Can't build anything in there though. The dog people would go crazy (dog people are generally crazy)
 

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Knuckles

Lives under a bridge
So it is looking a little scrappy at the moment, but I am slowly working on finalising my backyard gravity trail (it takes a lot of time to acquire and shovel that much dirt!). There are two drops (one off the water tank), one big berm that took about 2 cubic metres of road base, some other berms and I am making some movable drops and jumps for a straight stretch into the big berm.

I have to make it in such a way that it is fun for me and my partner, but also wont kill my small kids (one of them already tried rolling off the drop! - he got wedged between the tank and the rock)

I'm thinking I could extend with a grass based crit track out the back park :) Can't build anything in there though. The dog people would go crazy (dog people are generally crazy)
Is that plastic trike the rig they tried rolling the drop with? Kudos to your kids' cojones :thumb:

#knucklesisachunt
 
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