OSRC
I wanna be Dave
Having a backyard course is great. My closest crawl spot is about 30 minutes away, and while that's not far, packing up all my gear and hauling it over there when you have 2 small kids isn't always feasible. This way, I can run out back, drop the tailgate on my truck as a workbench, and play/wrench away while the kids frolic in the pool.
This is actually V3 of my course... The first version was somewhat small and behind my garage. V2 was a long and narrow course that I ran across the backyard to cover up the stumps of 20 arborvitae trees I had taken down. Being that it bisected the yard and was a major pain in the rectum to mow around, as well as being a bit of an eyesore if I didn't keep up with it, I decided to move the whole thing back to behind my garage. My yard is flat and grassy - no natural terrain here like some of the cooler courses I see in various posts (Wicked Wolf's for example) so I have to make my own terrain.
The course is bordered with old deck lumber that I had laying around from a deck I took down. Makes it much easier to mow around, as well as holds in all the stone. The rocks I picked up from construction sites, and some of them are pretty large. I remember my old '89 F150 was down on the axle bump stops a couple of times when hauling them home - probably not good. But it made it!
I used an old pool cover tarp as a weed barrier, and there's 2 small dump truck loads of gravel as filler. I would have used dirt, but the gravel makes pulling weeds and what not much easier, as well as drains out much better. The only thing I paid for was the gravel, everything else is made from whatever I have laying around.
So, it's not pretty per-se, but it is functional. The 2 previous setups were mostly piling some rock around to make some interesting lines, and I called it good. I went a little more scientific this time. I wanted something consistent where I could test out rigs to see how changes affected their abilities. So I've been keeping in mind having spots where I can test climbing/descending ability, sidehilling, raw grip in various conditions, etc.
So after all that rambling, let's have some pics. It's hard to get scale in pics, but I have about 30 inches of elevation in the rock garden. Not great, but enough to make things interesting. I built some ramps using leftover wood from various projects - some PT, some not. Should make for some interesting weathering as the wood ages. Do plan on a few bridges and a few more obstacles using the old TTC shows as inspiration.
Here's the old course - what's left of it. I had lots of pics on PB, but of course, those are long gone. I moved it all by hand - rocks, gravel and all, and removed all the stumps. Been slowly chipping away at it all summer. as it was ball busting work.
Overview of it now. Much more square with 2 main raised paths that will be connected by bridges. It's not exactly pretty being behind my garage with all my junk, but it's what I got.
Test ramps are done. 3 ramps at 45, 50 and 55 degrees (more or less.) I used my SCX10v2 as a test rig as it's my most capable 1.9 - figured if it can make it, it sets the bar for my other rigs. It is all designed with enough width to accommodate my 2.2 rigs as well. Ignore the trailer and run down garage in the background...lol.
45 degree ramp is no problem for the SCX10. I tested it with my most lowly CC01 and it was able to make it as well.
The top platform is a turning circle test, trucks have to cross over the platform without reversing. My SCX10 can just make it from ramp to ramp, which has kinda set the benchmark for other rigs. Here, it just made the turn and is coming down the 50 degree ramp. I put some "obstacles" made with some 2x4's up to to make it more interesting, though I can move them around. Might move them to the middle as it makes coming down the ramp a bit tricky.
Descending the 55 degree ramp... it's endo city if you're not paying attention.
SCX10 can't make the climb on the 55 degree ramp...lack of traction on the wood I reckon. Even with a running start, it stalls about 1/2 way up. Gives me something to shoot for.
Crossing from ramp to ramp is tricky, especially over the obstacles. Takes a bit of finesse...note the flipped truck, lol. I changed the initial ramp build after a few test runs, and pretty happy with it now. It's more challenging than it looks, but not impossible by any means. At least for my SCX10. We'll see with other trucks.
Ramps are spaced so I can go between them as well if I don't feel like going over. Not sure what to put under there yet.
Coming off the ramps, there are 2 lines to enter the rock area. The SCX is on the "easy path" though there is a tougher path to the left over the parking block. Very easy to high center on that one. Still building from here on, more pics to follow.
I know, I know, plywood is not a great test of grip and what not. I agree, so I used some textured bedliner to give it about the same grip level as rock. Jato had a great idea about using roofing shingles for grip - that might be a bit too grippy, though I'm keeping it in mind. In any case, I'll paint up the rest later for protection as well as looks. I'm not going for anything scale per-se, but it looks like a whole lot of Home Depot going on here.
I have to say, building a course is almost as much fun as building a truck. There's a fine line between too easy and too hard. Getting things just right can be tricky. This has been a fun project so far, and should be even more so now that the hard work of moving the materials is over. Time to get creative.
Next is a bridge of sorts off the platform next to the 50d ramp, then onto the
main bridges and the rest of the obstacles. Kids start school in 12 days, so should have plenty of time to work on it shortly. I'd like to have it complete by winter. "thumbsup"
This is actually V3 of my course... The first version was somewhat small and behind my garage. V2 was a long and narrow course that I ran across the backyard to cover up the stumps of 20 arborvitae trees I had taken down. Being that it bisected the yard and was a major pain in the rectum to mow around, as well as being a bit of an eyesore if I didn't keep up with it, I decided to move the whole thing back to behind my garage. My yard is flat and grassy - no natural terrain here like some of the cooler courses I see in various posts (Wicked Wolf's for example) so I have to make my own terrain.
The course is bordered with old deck lumber that I had laying around from a deck I took down. Makes it much easier to mow around, as well as holds in all the stone. The rocks I picked up from construction sites, and some of them are pretty large. I remember my old '89 F150 was down on the axle bump stops a couple of times when hauling them home - probably not good. But it made it!
I used an old pool cover tarp as a weed barrier, and there's 2 small dump truck loads of gravel as filler. I would have used dirt, but the gravel makes pulling weeds and what not much easier, as well as drains out much better. The only thing I paid for was the gravel, everything else is made from whatever I have laying around. So, it's not pretty per-se, but it is functional. The 2 previous setups were mostly piling some rock around to make some interesting lines, and I called it good. I went a little more scientific this time. I wanted something consistent where I could test out rigs to see how changes affected their abilities. So I've been keeping in mind having spots where I can test climbing/descending ability, sidehilling, raw grip in various conditions, etc.
So after all that rambling, let's have some pics. It's hard to get scale in pics, but I have about 30 inches of elevation in the rock garden. Not great, but enough to make things interesting. I built some ramps using leftover wood from various projects - some PT, some not. Should make for some interesting weathering as the wood ages. Do plan on a few bridges and a few more obstacles using the old TTC shows as inspiration.
Here's the old course - what's left of it. I had lots of pics on PB, but of course, those are long gone. I moved it all by hand - rocks, gravel and all, and removed all the stumps. Been slowly chipping away at it all summer. as it was ball busting work.
Overview of it now. Much more square with 2 main raised paths that will be connected by bridges. It's not exactly pretty being behind my garage with all my junk, but it's what I got.
Test ramps are done. 3 ramps at 45, 50 and 55 degrees (more or less.) I used my SCX10v2 as a test rig as it's my most capable 1.9 - figured if it can make it, it sets the bar for my other rigs. It is all designed with enough width to accommodate my 2.2 rigs as well. Ignore the trailer and run down garage in the background...lol.
45 degree ramp is no problem for the SCX10. I tested it with my most lowly CC01 and it was able to make it as well.
The top platform is a turning circle test, trucks have to cross over the platform without reversing. My SCX10 can just make it from ramp to ramp, which has kinda set the benchmark for other rigs. Here, it just made the turn and is coming down the 50 degree ramp. I put some "obstacles" made with some 2x4's up to to make it more interesting, though I can move them around. Might move them to the middle as it makes coming down the ramp a bit tricky.
Descending the 55 degree ramp... it's endo city if you're not paying attention.
SCX10 can't make the climb on the 55 degree ramp...lack of traction on the wood I reckon. Even with a running start, it stalls about 1/2 way up. Gives me something to shoot for.
Crossing from ramp to ramp is tricky, especially over the obstacles. Takes a bit of finesse...note the flipped truck, lol. I changed the initial ramp build after a few test runs, and pretty happy with it now. It's more challenging than it looks, but not impossible by any means. At least for my SCX10. We'll see with other trucks.
Ramps are spaced so I can go between them as well if I don't feel like going over. Not sure what to put under there yet.
Coming off the ramps, there are 2 lines to enter the rock area. The SCX is on the "easy path" though there is a tougher path to the left over the parking block. Very easy to high center on that one. Still building from here on, more pics to follow.
I know, I know, plywood is not a great test of grip and what not. I agree, so I used some textured bedliner to give it about the same grip level as rock. Jato had a great idea about using roofing shingles for grip - that might be a bit too grippy, though I'm keeping it in mind. In any case, I'll paint up the rest later for protection as well as looks. I'm not going for anything scale per-se, but it looks like a whole lot of Home Depot going on here.
I have to say, building a course is almost as much fun as building a truck. There's a fine line between too easy and too hard. Getting things just right can be tricky. This has been a fun project so far, and should be even more so now that the hard work of moving the materials is over. Time to get creative.
Next is a bridge of sorts off the platform next to the 50d ramp, then onto the
main bridges and the rest of the obstacles. Kids start school in 12 days, so should have plenty of time to work on it shortly. I'd like to have it complete by winter. "thumbsup"
