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All else being equal, I'd always pick riding on some nice dirt trails or at the skatepark over riding in the backyard (regardless of surface).

Other than sidewalks and a 1/3 mile paved trail across the street, though, there's not much interesting around us where we can just get out and ride. By the time we can get kids & bikes loaded up & then unloaded, it's at least 30-40 minutes before we're riding (plus the time to pack back up and head home).

With a few features in the backyard, I can roll my bike out after work, goof off for 20 minutes with the kids on the ramps and then head back in for dinner.

On the building & maintenance side of things I enjoy working with wood more than I like working with dirt, so that's another aspect of fun to balance.
I get wanting to have something in the yard - we did a pumptrack and jumps and wooden 'skatepark' style ramps in mine when my son was younger also. It's nice to have something in the yard to mess with, but I also don't see much advantage of building a short wooden backyard sidewalk over the paved one you've already got across the street.

IME, besides decent quarter/half pipes, wooden structures lose their draw really, really quickly. Yes, they probably tick the 'instant gratification' box better than building from dirt (particularly if you don't have experience working with dirt), but they tend to get boring very quickly and don't take well to modification. They also fall apart pretty quickly unless you overbuild.

We used to do a fair amount of them and after dealing with them in real life for some years, I try to avoid them if at all possible now; a truckload or two of screened loam can be reshaped over and over into all sorts of fun things, and requires little upkeep over time. Think modelling clay vs popsicle sticks. Plus kids love dirt. :thumbsup:

Anyway, still very cool that you're getting something going in the yard; just wanted to share my experience. Luckily for me, my town asked me to build a public track at our local recreation area and they gave me a choice spot to work with and buy me all the dirt I want. Now everybody has a close-by spot to get get a little ripping in, with or without the rug-rats!
;)
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
I get wanting to have something in the yard - we did a pumptrack and jumps and wooden 'skatepark' style ramps in mine when my son was younger also. It's nice to have something in the yard to mess with, but I also don't see much advantage of building a short wooden backyard sidewalk over the paved one you've already got across the street.
The one thing building in the backyard has going for it vs. the paved trail across the street is potential for change in elevation and more interesting features. Thinking about building a skinny alongside the longer straight section I started on over the weekend, a sloped berm in the corner leading into it, and a gradual incline leading up to / down from the opposite corner.

Might just be my inexperience working with dirt, but it seems like it'd be harder to build up with dirt and get as close to some of the trees in the yard.

IME, besides decent quarter/half pipes, wooden structures lose their draw really, really quickly. Yes, they probably tick the 'instant gratification' box better than building from dirt (particularly if you don't have experience working with dirt), but they tend to get boring very quickly and don't take well to modification. They also fall apart pretty quickly unless you overbuild.
I'll wholeheartedly admit to falling for "instant gratification" -- part of what's made it fun has been seeing when small wood features get built on local trails & trying to build our own versions to session at home.

I'm trying to walk the line between overbuilding vs. what people tend to do with homemade ramps and underbuilding vs. what people do on public trails. Most things are 4' wide for a combination of making it feel safer and to make the base wide enough that the structures are self-supporting without anchoring them down to the ground via posts.

We used to do a fair amount of them and after dealing with them in real life for some years, I try to avoid them if at all possible now; a truckload or two of screened loam can be reshaped over and over into all sorts of fun things, and requires little upkeep over time. Think modelling clay vs popsicle sticks. Plus kids love dirt. :thumbsup:
For the lower-lying area I'm building in right now, I'd need a LOT more than one or two truckloads just to fill it in to keep things from getting water-logged in the spring.

I'm well aware of just how much the kids love dirt -- once they get old enough that they're able to help with maintenance and not just destroy things we might try it out.

Anyway, still very cool that you're getting something going in the yard; just wanted to share my experience. Luckily for me, my town asked me to build a public track at our local recreation area and they gave me a choice spot to work with and buy me all the dirt I want. Now everybody has a close-by spot to get get a little ripping in, with or without the rug-rats!
;)
Always good to hear others' experiences -- I'm sure my view will probably shift after a few more years, but for the short-term this seems like the right path for us.
 
Thinking about building a skinny alongside the longer straight section I started on over the weekend, a sloped berm in the corner leading into it, and a gradual incline leading up to / down from the opposite corner.
Having a fairly decent sized wooded back yard, about half acre, I thought it would fun to build and ride a trail through it. The reality was it got boring really quick. There wasn't enough downhill to be satisfying and the uphill became a chore. If I had a perfectly flat lot, maybe a pump track would be fun. But the trials furniture, ramps, boxes and skinny's that I can easily change and move around, never seems to get old.
 
Discussion starter · #24 · (Edited)
Some updates -- here's the astroturf down:
Grass Property Landscape Land lot Leaf


Shot of the end where I need to trim a little after my wife ran it over with the lawnmower:
Nature Grass Green Property Landscape


Made some progress on the wood path over the long weekend:
Grass Property Garden Landscape Land lot

Nature Grass Land lot Garden Woody plant


Here's the current plan:
  • Ramping going up leading towards the spruce at the right
  • Elevated platform continuing around the spruce
  • Slope downward toward the left corner to gain speed
  • Banked turn on the left corner
  • Semi-skinny jutting off the longer path and then connecting back in
  • Small drop at the end of the skinny if you keep going straight
Nature Garden Aqua Shade Lawn


Waiting on more wood chips to start the turn at the left -- we put in a request for another load from Chip Drop, so we'll see how long that takes (first request took about 1 week).

For those who haven't heard of it, you can sign up to get free wood chips from arborists in your area with the caveats that you don't get any say in when they come or how much they leave:
https://getchipdrop.com/
 
Pretty cool really. I would just "ride it in" and maybe add a base with small chips and/or pebbles. The lawn is toast anyway so why not make a "trail" through it.
Mowing under it will be a pain...
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
Continuing to make progress -- framing for the elevated deck is coming into place and I hauled another 1,100 lbs of deck blocks into the backyard last night.

Since the kids play out back during the day while I'm at work, one of the challenges is figuring out how to divide work into chunks so that whatever I start is left in a "safe" condition at the end of the night.

Nature Grass Property Landscape Garden


Wood Nature Garden Lumber Landscaping


Leaf Leisure Cap Land lot Garden


Nature Grass Wood Property Leaf
 
So.... I just happened to look at Craigslist this morning and a local tent rental / event company was getting rid of a bunch of rolls used for a single event:
View attachment 1249331

For free, I figured it's worth a try.
There is a mtb trail in Myrtle Beach, SC that as you can imagine is difficult to maintain due to high traffic (big tourist area) and very sandy soil. They use this type of carpet on a lot of the hills and other areas that are just too sandy. Works well and no one complains.
 
Discussion starter · #29 ·
Made more progress over the weekend -- really starting to look like a ramp now:

Grass Tree Land lot Soil Garden


Grass Land lot Woody plant Home fencing Trunk


Nature Grass Property Land lot Real estate


Nature Property Tree Land lot Landscape


Nature Wood Tree Soil Evergreen


For those curious on the process for putting things together, this is roughly how it went to put the sections together:
  • Run a line of string from beginning to end for the stringers
  • Run a line from beginning to end along the tops of the deck blocks
  • Use 2x4's as a template to space out the deck blocks along the bottom line
  • Put 4x4's in each deck block
  • Use clamps to attach horizontal 2x6 support between each set of 4x4s
  • Level the 4x4's from left / right
  • Pre-drill & screw in the 2x6 support to the 4x4's
  • Place the 2x6 stringers onto the horizontal supports
  • Level the 4x4's and clamp down the stringers
  • Predrill & screw to attach the stringer to the 4x4's at each end
  • Use rafter ties at each end to attach the stringers to the horizontal supports
Wood Land lot Soil Slope Composite material


Still needs a 3rd row of stringers in the middle connected by blocking to the other 2, decking, & railing.
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
Work still in progress -- looking for some feedback on some future ideas I'm kicking around:

Here's what we'll have when we're done with the current project:
Yellow Text Orange White Red


These are some of the ideas that are kicking around in my head for future add-ons:
Yellow Text Orange White Slope


Adding in the banking around the turn is pretty much for sure at this point, since I'm not sure how safe the corner is going to be without it.

Does putting a small rock garden in between the main path and the skinnies make sense? I don't think I've seen it done before, but it seems like it might allow for a slightly safer bailout than a normal drop-off and allow fitting an extra technical section into a small amount of space.
 
Personally, I'd want the skinnies to have only soft grass to either side, moving the rock garden to the opposite side of the main highway. Not that 8" is particularly skinny, but falling onto rocks from any height is not good.
 
Discussion starter · #32 ·
The challenge with soft grass on the in between area is that like the main path, I'd likely be building with puncheons underneath to keep it above the wet ground.

24" is probably OK for that type of construction, but getting down to 8" seems like it'd be in danger of tipping.

The easiest way I can think of to support it would be to connect to the main path, which would mean a series of landscape timbers perpendicular to the skinny - without something like rocks inserted to even it out, I'm afraid that anyone who deviated that would be instantly OTB.

I'd also like to put in some sort of rock garden section somewhere in the project, so I figured it might kill 2 birds with one stone to use it as a separator.

Still a lot of work and loads of wood chips before we're at the point where that gets built out, though, which is why I figured I'd be good to start getting feedback on the more complicated parts.
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
Here's an overhead / side view of the idea for the rock garden / skinnies to better depict how it would work with the puncheon construction.

Note that moving the rock garden off to the right of the boardwalk isn't really an option since it run near the fence and what little space is in there has already been promised to my wife for trees & other plants.
Yellow Text Slope Red White
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
Phase 1 complete! Had some fun riding it with kids last night.

Initial assessment is that a banked turn is probably needed around the curve -- tried it out with the kids last night and the turn was a bit much for the 2 year old.

Thinking it might even be a good idea to attach vertical netting like this to the supports around the edge of the curve just in case -- otherwise I'm imagining someone going into the downhill with a bit too much speed and winding up going over the fence into the neighbor's yard:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/40-x-3-Saf...n-Netting-2-48-Twine-480-lb-test/331854650674

Grass Land lot Woody plant Garden Trunk


Grass Tree Land lot Home fencing Garden


Grass Land lot Garden Shrub Grassland


Wood Tree Walkway Bridge Hardwood


Wood Hardwood Property Land lot Wood stain


Wood Hardwood Shrub Deck Garden
 
Discussion starter · #35 ·
Had some delays in a side project (literally attaching a traverse wall to the side of the ramps):
Home fencing Fence Yard


Now getting started on the next phase -- putting in a wood berm around the corner:
Shrub Landscape Garden Leaf Woody plant


I'm a little worried about the possibility of someone just going straight and winding up jumping over the fence into the yard next door, though. Debating on making it 3-tier instead of 2 and having the 3rd slope be a wall ride, but that leaves me with a few questions:
  • Is 48" or so enough height for the steep section on a wall ride?
  • Would adding a few ground anchors on every other support through the middle be enough to handle the extra horizontal force?
Yellow Slope Text Line Font
 
I think 48" height is more than enough. At least one anchor mid turn might be good idea, but increasing the 2nd tier angle a bit would make the entire structure stronger and really hard to move.
 
Discussion starter · #37 ·
Have been making some progress over the last week on the turn.

Ultimately I decided that making the 2nd and 3rd tiers each a bit shorter would bring down the 3rd tier angle a bit and make it more likely to get used.

These past threads / write-ups helped with figuring out approach:
http://qcforc.org/users/vibrato/WoodenBerms.pdf
https://forums.mtbr.com/trail-build...ved-wooden-features-1046964.html#post13212535

Here's some in progress pics:

1st tier -- all set to 6° from horizontal (via a bubble level app on my phone):
Wood Property Soil Garden Land lot


2nd tier -- Starting at 40" from the end, goes from 16°, 20°, 24°, 26°, 28°, 26°, 24°, 20°, 16° (will be a 12° set on each end by the time I'm done):
Soil Garden Shrub Yard Stairs


3rd tier -- Starts 32" in from the 2nd tier, with the exception of the ends where it starts a little sooner:
Nature Soil Botany Shrub Garden


Starting to add in the supports for the surface:
Wood Hardwood Tree Soil Lumber
 
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