[thebutcherVIFK]

@#% i'm building some new jumps in my backyard~ gonna try for a good set~ ive started diggin from a different spot in the yard to get dirt to use~ but its got lots of rocks~ n roots~ n i'm tired of pickin them all out~ lol~~ so ive been lookin in the paper to find where i can get a few loads~ should i just use straight top soil? or what?? what would work best? please help~ would appreciate it much~!!:biggrin:

 

[sixgun_sound]

The cool thing about searching, or even scrolling and reading the threads on the first page, is you can get instant information, instead of waiting for a reply.

With that said, "topsoil" depends on where you live. You want something with some clay in it. 1 spot where I ride is this red dirt that is actually crushed brick. It's what they make softball fields out of. With that stuff, it's like concrete when you pack it. I think it's called simplex or something like that.

 

[Windowlicker]

dirt from California.

 

[organizedrage]

dirt from California.

true true


but you can use what they call loam. it packs well and holds from what i have seen. real easy to work with.

 

[kidwoo]

dirt from California.

I live in california and I'd kill for some east coast dirt at some of our spots.



California just has more people that are willing to move the stuff. Rocks, roots........the shovel is stronger. Some of the best dirt in the country is in kentucky. Show those roots who's boss. Move some of that wierd blue grass out of the way

 

[Cru Jones]

I live in california and I'd kill for some east coast dirt at some of our spots.



California just has more people that are willing to move the stuff. Rocks, roots........the shovel is stronger. Some of the best dirt in the country is in kentucky. Show those roots who's boss. Move some of that wierd blue grass out of the way

Tru dat. And it's even worse in so cal. It's hard to believe that there are so many trail spots in the middle of what is basically a desert. But, it's really hit or miss everywhere. There might be sh!t dirt in one spot, but perfect dirt two miles down the road.

Oh, and as for your spot. If you really want to bring in dirt, just look online on craigslist or something. There are always contractors trying to get rid of some dirt. Once you see it, you should know if it will be good to work with or not.

 

[cmc]

sometimes the type of trees will give you a good idea what kind of soil you'll have. west austin has scrubby bush, cedar, rocks, cactus etc. and no good clay. but central/south/east austin has big oaks and awesome black clay.

you gotta have dirt with a clay mixture. pure clay is tough to work with.

...amazing what you can find with google ....

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/589288/Texas/79029/Soils

Physical and human geography » The land » Soils
There is immense variation in the types of Texas soil. The Piney Woods region of East Texas has a gray and tan topsoil that covers the red subsoil usually within a foot or two of the surface. The soil along the upper and middle Texas coast is black clay or loam, with lighter-coloured sandy soil on the coastal islands, bars, and spits. The soil of the southern Texas coast and inland to the Rio Grande is sandy, like that of East Texas, but is less eroded and leached.

The Blackland Prairie, a belt of fertile black clay to the west of the Piney Woods, extends southwesterly from the Red River to San Antonio. The soil of the Grand Prairie region, just to the west of the Blackland Prairie, is more rocky and resistant to erosion.

The Cross Timbers, a forest region with light-coloured, slightly acid, sandy loam soil, stretches across the prairies of northern Texas, enclosing part of the Grand Prairie. Red sandy and dark clay soils are found in the Llano Basin, in the centre of the state. The Edwards Plateau has thin, stony soil with a limestone bedrock.

Most of the soils of the western North Central Plains are red or tan-coloured and sandy, but some black clay is found in the region. The High Plains, just to the west, has dark brown to reddish clay loams, sandy loams, and sands. In the Trans-Pecos region are found reddish brown sandy soil in the mountains and grayish brown to reddish brown clay soil in the basins.

The rich fertility of the soils first attracted settlers to Texas. Much of the soil was lost through wasteful practices in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but since the 1930s efforts by federal and state governments have done much to promote soil conservation in the state.

Physical and human geography » The land » Climate
Generalizations about the weather in Texas are almost meaningless. The Gulf Coast area around Houston has an average annual temperature of about 70° F (21° C) and rainfall of 45 inches (1,145 millimetres), whereas the Panhandle averages about 60° F (16° C) and less than 20 inches of rain. The driest region is the Trans-Pecos country, and the wettest is the southeast. Southern areas have freezing weather only rarely. In Brownsville, the southernmost city, no measurable snow has fallen in the 20th century, but the northwestern corner averages 23 inches annually.

 

[thebutcherVIFK]

thanx guys~ ima call the dirt doctor tomorrow morning~ to see what kinda choices i have~ i'll take pics of my project~ n let you all tell me what you think~ i'm going to tell him i need clean dirt~ tell him i'm building jumps~ and i need it to pack well~ and have been told a nice loamy dirt clay mixture would be good~ sound alright?

 

[thebutcherVIFK]

p.s. anyone have any tips at building my first double? i'm thining of making it a table top~ just because some of the guys that want to ride with me aren't nearly as good as me and my cousin~ and i don't want them ramping in the gap~ lmao~ i was thinking of cutting some nice strong logs and burying them in the dirt to make the tabletop more solid~ but making the landing and lip straight dirt~ think if i buried say 5 logs laying on the ground and packed dirt on them good~ that i could lay another 4 on to p of that kinda like a pyramid? but burying them good? or should i just use one layer of logs? or none at all?

 

[cmc]

p.s. anyone have any tips at building my first double? i'm thining of making it a table top~ just because some of the guys that want to ride with me aren't nearly as good as me and my cousin~ and i don't want them ramping in the gap~ lmao~ i was thinking of cutting some nice strong logs and burying them in the dirt to make the tabletop more solid~ but making the landing and lip straight dirt~ think if i buried say 5 logs laying on the ground and packed dirt on them good~ that i could lay another 4 on to p of that kinda like a pyramid? but burying them good? or should i just use one layer of logs? or none at all?

i suggest 4 feet tall and 10 feet lip to lip (meaning lip of launch to lip of landing). make it mellow to start out with, then steeper later.

use a LOT of logs. most people give up before it's even decent. if the top of your landing is gonna be 3 or 4 feet wide then the bottom of that same landing mound is gonna be a lot wider than that--jumps tend to become mountain shaped. so cut them at 6 or 8 feet wide then it'll get narrower at the top....

 

[WaveDude]

i suggest 4 feet tall and 10 feet lip to lip (meaning lip of launch to lip of landing). make it mellow to start out with, then steeper later.

You could get by with 3' tall and 10' lip to lip (we've got some beginner stuff less than 2' tall and 8-10' "gaps"). Don't make a full table. Just add a small 3-4' extension to your landing. That's plenty if you come up short and will keep people from rolling the takeoff.

Or, make a camel-back jump. Basically it's like a table but it dips down in the middle so you can roll it, manual it, or jump it. Problem with that is the takeoff lip won't give as much "pop" as a true double would.