Help with a track design

[RC Chick]

Ok guys I just aquired a house with a nice backyard for me to make a track and I need some ideas of how to set it up. The area is 38ft x 36 ft. I know some of you have some drafting and design experience so I was hoping for some drawings or something. I was going to make it an oval but thought it might be cool to have a course like the real race tracks just smaller.

[civilguy]

Here's a template 36' x 38'. Since it's just a backyard track I did approx. 6' wide lanes (dashed lines)-- our local track runs 7'-10' lanes but you probably won't have 8 buggies going at once.
You can print this out and try different layouts on your own. I drew up a quick example to give you some ideas. BTW if you can't print this PM me and I'll email you the file (jpg).
Also 4" corrugated pipe works great for edging if you want to get fancy-- you can get it at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc for about $45 per 100ft. My layout is about 150' of pipe if you just do the inside lanes (not the outer perimeter).
Good luck and keep us posted.

[RC Chick]

Yes!!! That's good info. I like that design. At the most it would ever have is 4.

House is supposed to close escrow on the 27th. I have to do it all by hand so it might take a while especially since its sand. I planed on using something for the outline of the track I was thinking along the lines of what you suggested. How does it anchor down though

[a01butal]

you've got a pm

[civilguy]

Our track is loam / clay mix and we just used long galvanized spikes (8-10" long) stuck thru the middle of the corrigated pipes. Sand may require longer stakes-- I've never had to deal with that. East coast - west coast thang.

[jwscab]

at the home improvement store, you might be able to get some rebar or threaded rod (either in the concrete section, or the drop ceiling section), or maybe even in the garden section, for plant supports, just long metal rods to do the same thing those galvanized spikes would do.

[Halgar]

Go to the gutter section at the local big box store and look for gutter spikes, they are nails that are 8" to 10" long. If you need something longer, a cheap alternative is to make your own from heavy gauge wire such as that used to support grape vines OR similarly, you can get 10' long pieces of wire used to support T-bar ceilings. The T-bar wire can be easily cut with side cutters, the grape wire will need bolt cutters or larger cutters that give you plenty of leverage. If your soil is too sandy to hold the spikes well, use two spikes in opposite angles. You can also backfill the sides of the corrugated pipe to help stabilize it or fill the tubing with soil to keep it from moving. Also, if you use the perforated drain pipe, the slits in it will facilitate getting your spikes through with minimal effort. The drainage tubing is made of a lightweight ABS that easily cuts with a utility knife

[wts873]

I am about to start on my own track as the LHS has been draging their feet on building one, but I live in the high dessert and we have fine sandy soil (volcanic ash) that gets really dusty. Is there a recomended soil mix that will give me a nice high bite , low dust surface? I was thinking of adding some Quickcrete and some type of clay to the top layer and giving it a good soaking.

[civilguy]

One of the local tracks uses "blue clay", but I believe this is a northeast material-- like red clay is to the southern states. A few phone calls to local materials or landscape suppliers should get you info on what is available in your neck of the woods.

[Halgar]

The outdoor track near me also uses some sort of top dressing, though I don't know what it is. Even with that, they wet the track with a hose periodically throughout the day to keep the dust down. The big thing with the top dressing is that it minimizes track wear and increases bite.

[RC Chick]

thanks for the info guys. Ill keep you posted on how things progress. Its going to about 2 weeks until I can move in to the place, escrow closes then. Im going to start on the track shortly after. Its getting hotter and hotter out here and I m not about to shovel sand in 120 degree weather when summer comes, may is when the heat starts up into the 90's.