Backyard Track Build

[Derk]

I'm just stating the initial planning of my back yard track. About two thirds of the planned area is "pasture" at the moment. I'm really wanting to do some landscaping and make it look nice. Right now I'm kartless and only have a preliminary sketch of what I want to do. But I have a few leads on a "yard" kart for initial testing and fine tuning of the track and I plan on doing some bush hogging this weekend as long as it doesn't rain.

The five year plan is to possibly have it paved/concrete...but I'm not completely sold on that yet. But for now, here is my initial rough draft.

Edit: I should note, the pink dashed line is my property line. The green hatched area is were the woods start...followed by a steep drop off. The orange hatched areas are low trees that I would have to avoid the limbs. The three bigger solid orange circles are tree trunks and the smaller orange circle is a utility poll. The green dashed line is a "steep" drop off. And last but not least, the blue line is pitroad.

 

[jandj]

My two cents worth -
I would be nervous as **** running a kart at speed anywhere there are trees close to the track.
If however you run the track as drawn, if it were me I'd alter the bit to the right side to incorporate an oval , that way you'd have the best of both worlds.
I don't mean to come across as a wet blanket but running through the woods reminds me of the old Nurburgring GP circuit. There wasn't much room for error

 

[Derk]

My two cents worth -
I would be nervous as **** running a kart at speed anywhere there are trees close to the track.
If however you run the track as drawn, if it were me I'd alter the bit to the right side to incorporate an oval , that way you'd have the best of both worlds.
I don't mean to come across as a wet blanket but running through the woods reminds me of the old Nurburgring GP circuit. There wasn't much room for error

All input is appreciated! Like I said it's a rough draft and once I actually get a cart and get it laid out and actual "at speed" feel things may change. Running clock wise and on dirt I'm not too worried about any of the areas except one and I do plan on putting a tire "wall" in place. But that's there more to stop me from being in the road incase of a failure.

In the event of running counterclockwise on the northern most section of the track, I plan on putting a barrier going into the straight. But again coming off the sudden elevation change in the middle of the dip in the northern most part of the track, I don't know how much speed will be able to be carried into the turn leading into the straight.

But agai, I appreciate the input. It may very well change drastically when I get up to speed out there.

 

[JMINDY]

Having a track in your backyard is great fun for the kids and their friends, we run ours about every other weekend... occasionally have friends over with their karts!

You are going to need to keep an open mind regarding your layout. Need to get your kart first... figure out how tight the turns can be and still run the speeds you want, etc....
I think some of those turns are going to be too tight or unrealistic for the amount of space you have, like especially near the trees and house area.

Plus as J&J mention, keep safety in mind with the trees...

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=26701&highlight=building+track
Here is a thread I did last year in laying out our track. I only have two tight tuns on our track (turn 2 & the u-turn of turn 4/5), turn 3 is not as tight as the map shows. Turn 2 I can still drift around, but if I over run it I can get up to the road real quick! The u-turn in 4 & 5 is almost to sharp for our yard kart... take it with any speed, turn the wheel and kart just keeps going straight, so it really kills your momentum!

Oldest son loves the road course, I personally like the oval... so I would also suggest a combo of both worlds! Measured them last month, from the middle of the track, OVAL = 490 ft. (about 3/32 mile) and the ROAD = 640 ft (1/8mi.)

Our track is maybe 8-10ft wide in its path and we can't really race on it... it gets too dicey with people running into each other or running off course... in most areas we don't have much run off before hitting a tree, fence or road... Get competing with each other, we take it too far and then safety becomes an issue. We do sometimes run to see who can run the fastest laps, using a lap counter phone app.

If you are wanting to race with other karts, I would suggest making it wider, 15ft.???

Map it out with some flag makers, run some laps, then make adjustments before carving it all out with a tractor. You be surprise how much you may change it.

 

[Derk]

Thanks for the tips. One of the main goals in the "tree area" behind the house is to keep speeds down and make it more technical. Although the tree trunk closest to the house should be down before the track is "finished". That may give me a bit more space to work on an area through there. I'm really tying to find a good way to incorporate technical areas into my largest elevation changes to make areas were if you go in to hot you could end up backwards.

Some areas do seem too tight for dirt but in the event of a stickier surface I don't want it to be too fast. I guess I could always change it a bit if that were to happen.

 

[ghost civic]

as someone who has made backyard tracks for RC trucks, having a layout with 2 or even 3 courses is a very good idea. Just 1 layout will get boring after a while. having a layout that would let you move just 1 or 2 barriers to change the track will keep things exciting.

I added 2 orange lines that would create a inner "short track". This short track would avoid tight spaces between trees. This track might be better for younger ones to drive on as it doesn't involve driving between trees. The full track would be more technical and better for older drivers. And then for kicks (depending on the style kart you have) you can add a short wooden ramp which could be moved around (like 6'' ramp/jump) the track.

You could also get some tires which you could use to make a chicane on the long straight. This could be done on any area of the track you feel too much speed is possible.

rectangular bails of hay are pretty cheap and make good barriers. Can be moved easy and wont hurt anyone if they hit them.

 

[BirdFanatic]

Where are you guys getting these over head views

 

[ghost civic]

Where are you guys getting these over head views

im assuming google maps.

 

[Poboy kartman]

Where are you guys getting these over head views

It's over your head.... JK....GM...no doubt.

What Cam? You've never looked at your house from space? Google maps, satellite view...

 

[Derk]

im assuming google maps.

Yep. Google maps. I plan on busting my drone out after a little work to update progress. Thinking I may spray two lines to get an idea of width and proximity.

 

[ML-TOYS]

I was thinking a long and short track option some how like this.

 

[Derk]

I was thinking a long and short track option some how like this.

I kind of like this idea.

 

[ghost civic]

I was thinking a long and short track option some how like this.

that's not bad, uses the same area but avoids most trees.

Im jealous...cant make much of a track when you
have .07acres

 

[Poboy kartman]

that's not bad, uses the same area but avoids most trees.

Im jealous...cant make much of a track when you
have .07acres

Pffffttt.....I can't even get a kart in my backyard! !!!

 

[ML-TOYS]

I kind of like this idea.

Cool, and if you want to you can also run r/c trucks on the short one

 

[ghost civic]

Cool, and if you want to you can also run r/c trucks on the short one

that would be sweet. When it is done, Ill come down with my Team Associated SC10rs

 

[BirdFanatic]

It's over your head.... JK....GM...no doubt.

What Cam? You've never looked at your house from space? Google maps, satellite view...

No i used to use the google maps function but never like that .ok so i CTL print screen but it wont do a PNg file .

 

[Poboy kartman]

Btw Cameron, but we wont hijack the thread with this.
Theres your house

I'm confused.....is his the black car in the street on the left or on the right?

 

[crazykart]

I GMed my old house one time. Did the satelite view. When I zoomed in I saw what appeared to be an old man sunbathing (nude) on the roof of the neighbors house nextdoor. Weird thing is that house had belonged to a young couple for the 5 years we lived there... and I know it was from when we lived there cause my truck was in my driveway in the satelite view... scariest thing I've ever seen.

 

[BirdFanatic]

Btw Cameron, but we wont hijack the thread with this.
Theres your house

Is this allowed on here .Wouldnt this be called an invasion of privacy to show the public where others live .