[Beast]

Trail builders and bosses - any tips on building jumps in a way that minimizes unnecessary maintenance?

I know to build good drainage, but what other things do you think about when putting a line together that help keep work time down (aside from the required water, sweeping, and patching)? Our spot is publicly known, so it gets a lot of traffic, and a very wide variety of skill levels come to ride.

MT - I bet you got a lot of hacks (such as myself a few years ago) at lake arbor. Did you do anything special as a result? For example - after watching lots of people bail out of one the right line (below) only to ride across the left lip and eff it up, I dug a trench between the two (they used to be connected), making it much harder for them to do so...

 

[jerseydirt]

your jumps look sweet in that kinda way that they arent the perfect cookie cutter jumps but you have a really awesome set to ride everyday.

But anyway, my trails are right on the edge of this ridiculously steep hill, ever year there is a huge rainstorm and the sandy **** dirt runs off on fills the pits of all of the jumps and it makes absurd ruts. I found that if you dig (river ruts)- a rut that converges all of the water that drains into every pit goes into the one main rut). The water wants to run into the little mote. Also I recommend you use PVC pipes to use as drainage into the main rut.

But to keep your jumps from deforming from riders, you need to add a lot of dirt to the back of the lips so that they hold together better.

 

[aeffertz]

True about the cookie cutter jumps. If they're ridden by a lot of people everyday, you're best bet is to just build the sides and backs of the jumps up burley as fack to help with constant fixes. Your jumps you have pictured look awesome, but I would pack more dirt up on the back and sides. Dig on.

 

[joelalamo45]

I love that place... We should get some dig days going with a bunch of locals to pimp that place out.

 

[Beast]

I love that place... We should get some dig days going with a bunch of locals to pimp that place out.

We've been digging like crazy for the past week. A lot has changed. A lot more will change.

 

[dexter]

man that place went from when i rode there in middle school an absolute meca of huge jumps, sketchy ramps, and a hood foam pit (not to mention the high likelyhood of getting robbed or shanked) to a respectable littel dj spot. ill dig with ya when im town brand

 

[joelalamo45]

We've been digging like crazy for the past week. A lot has changed. A lot more will change.

Harry told me you moved over to that side of town and were doing the digging. Good stuff.

 

[crkt]

like flatrls said smear smear smacking minimizes alot of rain damage because it offers alot less surface area for rain to catch and erode. my only other suggestion would be to cover everything up with blankets when it rains, (at least for the amount of rain we get here) there is zero jump damage, the dirt gets nice and watered, and wet blankets are not going ANYWHERE no matter how windy it gets (versus plastic tarps) after the rain ride with the blankets on for a bit and when they come off sht is butttttery smooth

 

[flatrls]

Yeah stacking more dirt on the backs and sides will help but only if your trying to make the sides almost vertical and square, this will help deter people from riding/standing on anything but the riding surfaces and also make them solid, I.E. this pic. Its looks impossible, but once you learn the technique, youll wonder why you never did it before. When stacking and packing on a lip or landing start at the bottom around the perimeter and work your way up like you are laying bricks, if the angle of the dirt changes above where you are packing and doesnt meet the rest of your angle where you just packed, you know you need to add more dirt there. Slapping the dirt on the spots that need it requires a flat shovel, pretty much your best friend for this job

 

[ballr]

Sad to admit Brandon, but the best way to prevent your jumps from getting messed up and minimizing maintenance is to make them so gnarly that the punters go elsewhere to ride. Not sure if this is an option for you as you are taking over an existing spot. There are lots of peeps who claim to "dig" there lately. If you start destroying punter lines that others dig on, there is bound to be conflict.

You guys hauling water from the creek I take it? When Steve and I rode there in Oct, it looked like all the lips and landings needed massive fortification and stepening. Saturate that soil and KEEP IT WET - all the time. It will be hard with the soil there to totally square off everything, but it sure looks purty when you do. I highly doubt the neighbors will tolerate tarps and carpet on all those lips, but you could try it.

Basically make it look scary as hell. I used to dig pits on the side of the jumps so if people tried to bail mid line, they would get murdered. (Did I just admit to that on the internet?) Threats of physical harm do good too. A couple arrests and assaults should get the point across well-enough.

You may be fighting an uphill battle at that spot. Good luck.

 

[crkt]

oh yeah thats another thing i forgot to mention, dry jumps = no good

but it looks like you already know that from the bucket rules

 

[Dirty Maestro]

Hey Dude,
I would suggest some tarps and carpet. Any cracks or craters that rain finds will just eat away at the dirt. This will keep the refacing and patch work down.

You can also use the carpet on any landings that seem to get beat up allot. Riding a landing in with a carpet can help solidfy the dirt where you'll be able to leave the rug off for awhile(months). It just takes some rain/water, packing and like a month of riding on it. Oh yeah and some sun to bake it =)

I've also baked my jumps with a propane blowtorch which works well. You just have to bake it out for like a half hour total(15 min a time) depending on how big the jump is. Let the jump dry out for the day if you can resist. You'll see it smoke/sweat out the moisture. It smells like art class in 4th grade(baking clay). I found my torch(500,000 btu) in my local Home Depot. 50 bucks...

I would also add more dirt to the backs of the lips and landings. Make the lips and landings a foot thick at the top. This will keep the dirt from crumpling when people stop at the top of the lip(for whateva reason), case the landings, and when they walk all over it for whateva reason.

There are a few other things you can try but the last one i'll mention is to maybe setup a day every month to do a work party. Post it up on your bucket =)


Good Luck Dude! You got a nice setup!

Jim

 

[Cru Jones]

Is that sunset? That place used to be dope. Does it still have the big kicker ramp and the wall ride?

Like the others have said, making things thick helps a lot. Keeping the lips smoothly coated is something I like to do, as well. Usually the best way to do this is to wet the top and surface of the lip, then sweep up dry dirt on it, then smear pack it.