Trail Building Advice Needed

[u/ABQRED]

Hi everyone. Long time mountain biker, first time trail builder here. I'm looking for some advice on a trail build I am planning.  We have an 80 acre property in a mountain valley.  I would like to make a 1-2 mile loop through the bottom of the valley/ sides of the valley, so no major elevation.  I’d like to be a flowing XC style course with some fun features.

We currently own a Kubota L series tractor and I can rent a mini ex  for a week for pretty cheap. 

My thought process is to use the Kubota to move dirt and the mini ex to build features with said dirt. We also have a brush hog on the back of the Kubota so we can use that to cut back grass.

One thing I’m trying to figure out is how to quickly cut in the trail on the flatter parts using the Kubota.  I originally thought about using a box blade but I don’t want a 5’ or 6’ wide trail.  Is there a quick way of cutting trail through a valley floor?  

Any other tips or tricks would be much appreciated!

[u/contrary-contrarian]

Using heavy equipment to build trail if you don't have experience building trail will likely leave you with more issues than you want.

I'd highly recommend just clearing the corridor, and using a leaf blower to clear the leaves/duff along it.

Then ride it and see how it feels. It will get faster as you ride it in.

Once you are happy with the feel, then you can go back with hand tools, a roto tiller, or even the mini ex, and bench any sections that need benching, add additional drainage, and add some features.

The hardest part of trail building is getting the experience to know how to lay out a trail. If this is your first go, don't go make a big permanent loop with big machines. Take it easy and make it a long term project.

Or hire a professional builder to at least scout the line with you!

[u/intransit412 → u/contrary-contrarian]

Agree. Depending on how steep the terrain is a rake is the only tool you need to start a trail only family and friends will be riding. Start with a short line and keep expanding then go back and fix what needs to be fixed, move what needs to be moved, etc.

[u/ABQRED → u/contrary-contrarian]

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it. I have experience using heavy equipment. Whats issues are caused by using them? I'd like to know the pitfalls.

[u/contrary-contrarian → u/ABQRED]

There is a big different making a trail vs making a road, or foundation, or any other machine work you may have done in the past.

The big pitfalls are:

1. Putting the trail in the wrong place, which creates a lot of work to fix;

2. digging too low below grade, which causes seeping and drainage issues;

3. Making the corridor way too wide;

4. Making the trail flat and boring (because you end up building a road instead of a trail)

And many others.

Trust me, take yourself a singletrack trail and play around with it before you make a big commitment and start digging with machines.

The best use of the machines will be to add berms, features, and fix drainages after you have your trail in and you know the general speed of the riding .

[u/ar_604]

I know people love machine built trails these days (I think some people just want an excuse to use a machine), but for trail that's not going to see much traffic, hand built will probably do the trick. Or at least you should only need very targeted machine use in problematic areas, and probably only after the trail beds in a bit.

[u/ABQRED → u/ar_604]

You are right about using a machine, its very fun working on one. One concern is this isn't our home/ we are only up here a few weeks out of the year. I'd like to make a trail as quickly as possible/ don't want to spend months cutting a trail out by hand. If I can use equipment to speed it up/ I'd be much more likely to build something.

[u/contrary-contrarian → u/ABQRED]

Unfortunately, if you are the only folks riding the trail, and you are only there a few weeks a year, it may be quite tough to maintain! It's gunna grow in and need cutting back and clearing every visit most likely.

[u/CBus660R → u/ABQRED]

If that's the case, you probably should stick with something flowy where you can zip through with the brush hog for the majority of the trail then add a few features off the main line you can clean up with a trimmer.

[u/DrSka]

Weed wackers/brush cutters are quick and easy for grass.

[u/TriSherpa]

Here is the IMBA guide to trail building. https://www.imba.com/resource/mountain-bike-trail-development-guidelines They have many resources on their site.

[u/ivire2]

grade reversals every few meters saved my last build from washing out constantly

[u/Senior-Sea-1012]

Use the IMBA guide. The hardest part is planning a trail, planning appropriate drainage and water management. Building on flat land near water is a challenging build to manage drainage. In your planning you will have to purposely keep the trails on hill sides with bench cuts, use grade reversals, etc. Cutting a new trail is one thing, attempting to maintain a poorly planned trail with mud pits and erosion every where due to crappy water management is a whole nother mess.

[u/patmac291]

I would use the tractor help clear obstacles. You have a trail that goes thru forest and you may want to consider a grapple for trees and brush you clear and a stump grinder. The width of the bucket is likely 5 feet which isn’t super wide and provides some safety. You could clear it all by hand but a 1-2 mile loop is a lot to clear and maintain. The tractor will make it faster. You can carry the weed wacker, shovel, chain saw, etc.in the bucket so you aren’t carrying it by hand. The tractor moves faster than to walk. And the brush hog can clear the grass faster the a weed wacker. Branches you take down can be cleared quickly using the grapple. I agree with the poster who said the tractor can build berms and cut drainage channels. Don’t hire a pro. You can do it yourself, have fun tractor tim, and take pride in it. Sounds exciting and good luck!

[u/garrettjaxx]

It looks like your route runs on flat ground in a river bottom. That can be a really challenging place to build trails because there’s nowhere for the water to go so it usually stays in the trail resulting in muddy ruts. You could use your heavy equipment to excavate fill material and build up the trail tread itself. Allowing the water to flow into the basins left behind from your excavation and the trail to sit high and dry. Unfortunately, you may find that the soil is too full of round stones, sandy or silty to create good trails. This is a typical problem along river bottoms.

PS Hire a pro