Building a Pump Track in our back yard: tips, comments, advice and ideas needed

[wifflebat]

Hi all
We have a large, unused and overgrown gravel-based horse paddock (no desire to get any gee-gees either thankyouverymuch either, I don't care what my daughter says).
We live in the middle of nowhere and I think it would be great to build a pump track in it so the *ahem* kids and their mates can rake about on it. Not something the kids get everyday due to our location.
I know there are backyard pumptrack vids on YouTube but they are short on precise dimensions on sizes of humps and bumps and corners and all that (I'm more of a road dweller, can you tell?). Has anyone made their own one? My eldest is only 7 so I'm not looking anything enormous/dangerous but something I can scoot about on would also be preferable so not completely tame!

Tips/comments/advice/ideas all welcome!
I have access to a minidigger and have been promised some willing slave labour by some friends under my 'no dig, no ride' mantra

 

[ChrisEyles]

I talked to a guy who designed a lot of trails a while ago and he said that a minidigger is absolutely ideal for making berms. Apparently the phyiscs of cornering is such that a berm works best when the circumference of the turn is constant throughout (rather than getting progressively sharper or shallower) - so with a minidigger you can set the arm to a given length and pivot around the tracks to get a perfect arc.

I've done quite a few trail repairs (it was part of my job last year) and it's a good idea to hire a decent weight whacker plate in to do the surfacing, if your budget allows. You *can* do it with a shovel or a good tamper, but it won't last very well or hold up to the weather for as long. Depending on the grade of gravel in your paddock it might be worth getting a tonne of crushed slate or similar to top the track with, again, if your budget allows.

Also think about drainage when you're building it. It's probably best to have the whole thing raised a tiny bit above ground level if you can - digging into the ground for a dip means it will spend a lot of time underwater, which isn't great for riding or long-term surface quality.

Can't help on dimensions I'm afraid, probably best to go to a trail centre, have a go, and measure what you like.

If you do give it a go it would be great to see some pics!

 

[wifflebat]

Cheer Chris, some top tips there!

 

[fossyant]

Lucky sod !!! Enjoy making it.