dynamite
Trail Maint. equipment.
- Thread starter stosh
- Start date
We've used one of these to move some bigass logs:stosh said:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/cvfsupplyco-store/hanpowpulcom.html
Works pretty good as long as theres a tree or something to hook on to.
stosh said:
Do you have permission to do this ?
also You need a Stomper!
It's hard enough to find people to ride, let alone repair the trails.Jozz said:
Also I don't know how kindly the NYS DEC views un-organized trail maint. like I would be doing.
The DEC owns the land and is fairly strict on what can and can't be done on it.
The problem is nobody is doing anything right now and the 4wheelers and dirt bikes which are in it illegally are destroying it.
In your situation I would limit your maintenance to cutting back limbs and vegetation and cleaning up mudholes (the book is good for learning how). If you can't move something by hand figure out a way to build it up so that you can get over it but don't make it too easy. Its doubtful that anyone is going to get too bent out of shape by that.stosh said:
Pry bars and a thing called a "grip hoist" can move some seriously big rocks and logs. A 20" Stihl chainsaw can make large logs into smaller ones in short order.stosh said:
Mike
FInd the Ranger or who ever is in charge for that land. Tell them what you'd like to do ! Just maintaing the Trails , Not cutting new trails , not making stunts , but doing maintance to existing trails , repairing damage, fixing erosion , etc , etc AT NO COST to them. Most of these Guys will be skeptical , but usually welcome the help. since usually there is not enought of them and no bugdget for the work, they like the words FREE!stosh said:
I don't know who exactly manages the buffer zone. Who ever does doesn't do a great job!splat said:
When they did the darkhorse 40 there they had about 10 cops on quads and everything else. That has been the ONLY time I have ever seen a cop or ranger in there. The place is getting destroyed by the 4 wheelers this year and NOBODY is doing anything about it.
I'll bet darkhorse cycles knowsstosh said:
stosh said:
I haven't read this entire thread, but if you are involved in a club you can "Adopt a Resource" through the DEC and this enables you as a club to do trail maintenence on DEC Land. We (Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club, which I used to be VP of) did this with the Pittstown State Forest. You do some paperwork, submit some names, SS #'s then wait (and wait and wait) for it to be processed by the head honchos. Basically this Adopt A Resource thing covers the DEC's ass for insurance, otherwise you have to come up with your own insurance to work on state lands, as lame as that is...Once it's all done, you just need to inform the ranger/forester when you'll be doing work, what you'l be doing and give them a list of who helped out on that trail day after the fact.
Well, contact the DEC Forester for that area and see what she/he says! You never know - you might get someone who says just do it. We had a Forester in Pittstown who was like that - he let us put in trails without formal reviews because he hated the bureaucracy, but the new guy is "by the books".
You might be able to go thru Darkhorse Cycles as well? Don't they sponsor a race there? Maybe trail maintenence could be done under that guise.
This would be handy for pulling too:Dartman said:
J
JRB
Guest
All of what??? It looks like your efforts thus far are posting on RM. Not baggin' on you, but if you think this has been a lot of effort thinking about it, you might need a new plan.stosh said:
I see why people get discouraged dumbass.loco said:
Did I for once say I wasn't going to do anything because it was overwhelming?
I can't even get people to who are coming to my wedding to send back a stamped envelope, I can see why average lazy American's wouldn't want to go thru all the "trouble" of dealing with the DEC only to go out and pee in the ocean of trail abuse.
If they don't send it back, how do you know they're coming?stosh said:
J
JRB
Guest
I'm still not seeing the trouble is my point.stosh said:
MMike said:
Thanks for that novel idea.
Maybe it's because I live and attempt to thrive in the heart of NY State's bureaucracy, but I think it takes time to get all your ducks lined up to do it right. Be prepared to wait and be patient.stosh said:
The other thing you can do is to work on building a personal relationship with the DEC Forester. Don't just e mail, set up a time to meet the person and describe what you see on the land that you can help with, what you'd like to do and let them know how you're going to organize it. If you can get together a group ride there, you "should" be able to get a group together to do trail repairs. I say "should" because it's always been my experience that the # of people who show up for trail work will always be less than the # who just want to ride.
When we met with the Forester, we impressed the hell out of him because we had GPS'ed the area, had a plan and talked to him about rampant ATV use that was ruining the area. We then came up with trail plans that would keep ATV's off by basically running the trail through every rock squeeze, etc. as a disincentive for trail poaching. He said no one else has ever proposed these ideas to him (building 8 miles of dry ridgeline trails that are gnarly enough to keep ATV's off) that he totally welcomed us.
The other end of the story was that the Pittstown SF was (and still is to some extent) a bit of a 'no man's land' where people went to dump/burn cars, target shoot at anything, fvck like rabbits in the woods and burn heaps of trash. He was excited that we would be creating a trail system that would "mix up the forest use" a bit! I guess this is a bit different from Stewart, but maybe you can sell them on the ATV issue. Once we built the trails, he got the burnt cars out of there, made kiosks and expanded the parking area. Yeah, people still shoot at anything but it worked out because now there's more people out there riding, etc. and as a result there's a bit less illegal activity (but I still got shot at the day after deer season ended!)
Also: remember that you can't do it alone. You need other people to help you out!
Thanks man!!Jim Mac said:
Once I actually get to sit down with the DEC I'll try to decide what to do then.
I'll have to go thru and take pictures of the distruction as well. There are pleanty of locations where all they need to do is repair fences where the 4wheelers cut thru.
J
JRB
Guest
Let me see if I can find my trail building guide. It's not the most recent, but has enough to show you what to do to fix erosion spots. I understand the pains of setting things up. I likely have the most painful processes that I had to follow and I finally just gave up. Local govt is a pain, but you should try federal govt for it.stosh said:
J
JRB
Guest
I'll try to look around tonight. I think all of that is together. I'll let you know tomorrow. I don't follow the rules anyway, so I won't need it.stosh said:
you can accomplish a lot just be communicating and having a plan. What has really worked for our tiny group is to go in and fix erosion problems and clean up trash to establish a relationship with a land manager. Then, after you've shown them what you can do, for them, you start to go down the road of asking to put in new things.
gg
ps, really glad to hear some trail work passion here on the monkey!!
gg
ps, really glad to hear some trail work passion here on the monkey!!
Here's some erosion work I helped with recently:
Braided corner:
We went in, tilled out the excess lines, regraded the existing lines above and below the corner so that water wasnt' funneling down it
and then blocked off the excess lines. We'll be reseeding with native seed as soon as we get some rain.
Braided corner:
We went in, tilled out the excess lines, regraded the existing lines above and below the corner so that water wasnt' funneling down it
and then blocked off the excess lines. We'll be reseeding with native seed as soon as we get some rain.
I usually end up walking in with a Pulaski (on my shoulder), Machete (on the hip), and or a gas powered weed wacker (with the circular blade attachment.
If we are clearing "clear cut" we have used a Brush Hog. It is like a huge industrial lawnmower that will destroy stumps, small logs etc. But watch out for the flying debris. 
If we are clearing "clear cut" we have used a Brush Hog. It is like a huge industrial lawnmower that will destroy stumps, small logs etc.
But watch out for the flying debris.
Tuesday Night is trail Maintance Night !
We do trail Work every tuesday Night.
some of our work ( from a couple weekes ago )
From this :
Me :d working
to this !! Butter smooth tranny
also this weekend I'm taking IMBA trail school
We do trail Work every tuesday Night.
some of our work ( from a couple weekes ago )
From this :
Me :d working
to this !! Butter smooth tranny
also this weekend I'm taking IMBA trail school
Sunday , right in Vietnamstosh said:
Nope , NEMBA Bought us a bunch of tools that we keep up in the Woods. ( Since NEMBA does own the land were we are working , and storing the tools ), Shovels , McLeods , Pulaskis , Rock bars , Picks , stompers , etc ,etc