Changing soil to be more workable?

[CanCer]

Recently some land's opened up at my mates house (all the sheep died so now we've got a nice big empty padock), and we've convinced his parents to let us turn it into a jump/4x/random stuff track.

However we're faced with a big problem. The dirt thats in the area is just crappy sand, with almost no clay or anything to build with. Does anyone know of ways to make the soil more workable and solid? I've had ideas like somehow putting a little concrete in the dirt, but as I've never worked with concrete like that i don't know if it would work...

 

[tim_69]

you could try get some free land fill?

 

[chris_mtb]

or you could dig out coffins

 

[Mr jesus]

Contact pool and landscaping companies and they will most likely dump the soil they get on your land, this will get you lots of dirt easily.

 

[Big_Al]

I found that after we digged a bit under the dirt we cam across clay. This was very stiff. There was a river near by so we got some water and wet the clay which turned it mushy and made it like concreat. Clay is the best part of dirt to put on the Lips of jumps and the face. When it drys it goes rock solid and doesnt break or move..

Its a good idea to contact a compay who digs stuff could get dirt for free or cheap. mite do it sometime

Cheers Al

 

[Oliver.]

I don't think the concrete idea would work very well, I've heard about some negative consequences, but can't recall them sorry. if the top layer of dirt is fairly sandy, then the only thing that I could think of is to dig deeper.

But if the top layer of dirt is sandy, its for a reason. When you dig up or acquire good dirt, it will eventually turn sandy like the existing stuff because it simply recieves too little moisture, and isn't protected from the sun well. So maybe consider digging somewhere else

 

[Arete]

for small amounts, you can mix kitty litter in with the dirt and wet it. Makes it go nice and hard.

 

[demo9pro]

Yeah, Great idea, contact ure local cat pound and get them to dump all of the cat shit where you want to biuld!!

 

[Arete]

You... really don't know what kitty litter is do you dude?

 

[fattyandthepiemakers]

Yeah, Great idea, contact ure local cat pound and get them to dump all of the cat shit where you want to biuld!!

You... really don't know what kitty litter is do you dude?

Ohh dear... That is the funniest thing I've heard all day. Thank you.

In response to the question if it's all sandy try compacting it like you have never compacted before. Failing that... north shore? Otherwise I have no idea.

 

[demo9pro]

Yeah i know what kitty litter is! But why not go to the cat pound and get it for free, it might have shit in it, but ohwell!

 

[JDB]

Ha ha my area of expertise (geotech engineer) If its sandy material then stabilising with concrete is about the only thing you can do, but your probably better off digging a bit deeper to get the clay and then mixing with the sand to make a sandy clay material. This will hold up better in wet weather, and won't go as greasy as straight clay when it gets wet. If you find the clay erodes really easily, then adding a bit of agricultural lime (1-3%) and giving it a good mix and a little water will really held make it a lot more solid.

The real key to making it all work and stay around for a long time is to keep the material moist, but not really wet when your working with it, and compact it as much as you can, (cars and farm equipment can come in handy here)

 

[julianwisbey]

Contact pool and landscaping companies and they will most likely dump the soil they get on your land, this will get you lots of dirt easily.

look in the freebies misolaneous section in the trading post for free clean fill sometimes you will have to get it hope this helps

 

[fleshbone]

um,maybe get sum bags of soil from garden place,then get a mechanical hoe and that shood help alot.

 

[volcanoman]

hole diggin

i had the same problem at my house with crappy soil. i tried a number of things and these are the ones that work
dirt+concrete+water works really really well....i put it on a section of a lip on one of my main jumps and it set rock hard while not losing much shape

one day i ran out of dirt so i got a mate and we dug a hole in my backyard....parents loved it..... but we came across some really good clay.

if that doesnt work build a wooden kicker

hope that helps

 

[mjdonaldson]

Yeah, I've found that digging deeper or using a bit of lumber is the best and easiest. Another tip; plant some trees where you dont plan to dig- stabilises the soil, gets some shade and in a couple of years you might have some nice obstacles.

 

[DH_Freak]

i had the same problem at my house with crappy soil. i tried a number of things and these are the ones that work
dirt+concrete+water works really really well....i put it on a section of a lip on one of my main jumps and it set rock hard while not losing much shape

one day i ran out of dirt so i got a mate and we dug a hole in my backyard....parents loved it..... but we came across some really good clay.

if that doesnt work build a wooden kicker

hope that helps

YEP....... i can see why your parents loved that hole in your back yard.
i told and showed my parents and got threatened that if i dug a hole that siz in my back yard, my bike would be buried in it
as said a tonne of times before, get some land fill, we got a pile dumped in my mates back yard and made a wooden kicker and turned out fine. but also if you do use clay for hte jumps make sure you let them set nice and hard before jumping, very hard to fight the urge! but please try! you will have a huge rut in the up and down ramp.
REece.

 

[spicer_spicer]

come on guys, any other ideas, this is my property, and we'v started the track, but the jumps arnt holding 2gether very well, any other sugestions, we'r only 16, so reasonable things we could do
cheers all

 

[Rexy]

Im the Useless Crews (based in Rockingham) head trail builder, and from years of experience building in similarly poor soil, i suggest:

- Build wooden kickers, dont mess around trying to improve your soil.
- Carpet is your friend, carpet all your landings, non wooden lips and run-ins. (note: conveyor belt rubber and similar also works excellently)
- Build smart. Dont try and build kicky dirtjumps with poor soil, instead try and create a flowy 4x track, some northshore and maybe even be creative with things like multiline funboxes, seesaws, wallrides and grindboxes.

Concreting lips may work, though the concrete would have to be thick enough not to crack. Experiment a bit and see what works, id be keen to know as thats something ive never personally tried.

Good luck!
Rex