building bridges obstacles

[AGENTGRAPE]

we are thinking of buikding some ramps and bridges on our own land does any one have experience building any whats the best material i have some unused decking planks will 2x3 work break and rot?

[Dawgee]

Ive built a few bridges and teeter totters. 2x3 are good for board walks and short bridges (about 4 ft between supports) but thats about it. I have built a pivoting teeter totter out of steel,2x4's and 3/4 inch thick skid wood.Mostly i used small trees about 4 to 5 inches in diameter.

[CouchingTiger]

When we build the NEMBA boardwalks we always tend to use bid stuff for stringers, 4x6 , and 2x8 decking. My motto in general is ALWAYS OVERBUILD. It's easier to overbuild once than to rebuild a number of times.

I built a mess of stuff in my back yard and used all natural pine logs. I took down a couple HUGE pines so had a lot of material. These trees were like 32" at the stump and branched into multiple main trunks that we 12" -> 18" in diameter.

What I did was to saw 8' sections in half lengthwise and use the big stumps as connecting bases. I just mortised the "plank sections" into the base. I've got about 200' this stuff containing a couple teeters and plankways going from 12" -> about 5' off the ground. Most is 12" -> 16" wide.

This took me forever to do (and like 20 tanks of gas through the saws) but there isn't a nail in it and it's rock solid.

-Couch

[Adam]

I bet we'd all like to see some pics of what these 20 tanks of gas did! How 'bout posting some love?

-Adam

getting "itchy" to get back outside and play. I'll post some stuff periodically that we (my son and i) have constructed in our backyard. Pics were taken in the fall when it was dry. Still pretty muddy back there now but soon wiil dry up and the fun will begin.

another

another

and another

[Jisch]

Yesterday I put together a small loop of obstacles on my property behind the house. It nothing like what Oldman's got there yowee!

In the loop there is the following (this is a very small area):
pile of flat rocks for climbing
teeter-totter (made with two dead trees and scrap wood)
15" log
Pile of round rocks for climbing
Tight corner (track stand necessary to clear the corner)

I'll try and take some pics tonight. Its not much, but it will be good for those after-work times when I only have a few minutes to mess around. I tried to get the kids to ride them, but its too much for them (probably a good thing).

I want to put together a ramp for launching, I definitely need practice with launches.

John

[MMcG]

Yesterday I put together a small loop of obstacles on my property behind the house. It nothing like what Oldman's got there yowee!

In the loop there is the following (this is a very small area):
pile of flat rocks for climbing
teeter-totter (made with two dead trees and scrap wood)
15" log
Pile of round rocks for climbing
Tight corner (track stand necessary to clear the corner)

I'll try and take some pics tonight. Its not much, but it will be good for those after-work times when I only have a few minutes to mess around. I tried to get the kids to ride them, but its too much for them (probably a good thing).

I want to put together a ramp for launching, I definitely need practice with launches.

John


Hey John,

Will guests be invited to this playground of yours? I could use the practice on stuff like that!

Cheers,

Mark

Still very soft out back but hopefully if we don't get to much rain later this week i can get my arse in the saddle again and play. (need the exercise, and there are a couple of stunts i need to conquer) A couple moe pics..

this one is what we call the "Dragon's Tail" I'ts 80 + feet lond about 1/2 ft to 1 1/2 ft off the ground then crosses over a dead tree over a culvert 3 1/2 to 4 ft deep (right now full of water) got 5 or 6 other items also. I'll post every couple of days to tease ya

[Dawgee]

I say we all get together and invade Oldmans backyard!!! Agent grab your Bullit and i'll load up mine and drop in on that fine looking playground. I'll have to take some pics of my playground and post them when i get a chance.

[CouchingTiger]

Here are a few of the junk in my backyard.

-Couch

[CouchingTiger]

Another. This is of the second teeter in a row. This one is scary as there is only 2' of approach after the 1st teeter landing and before the incline. It has claimed victims like none other than Mr. LiveFreeandRide himself. Oh, and maybe me too.

-Couch

:) OK everone come clean with what's in their backyard. I love the stuff at "the couch house", not that iv'e ridden it, but it is tech. Most of all it has "craftmanship" written all over it. It's just plain cool! Bob

[AA]

I have no backyard obstacles however I have seen Couch's up close (I dont ride it but I've seen it) and it is pretty cool construction. Lots of fancy chainsaw work including initials in various places. The fact that it is all carved from large trees makes it blend into the back of the yard nicely.

[AGENTGRAPE]

can we come over to your house and play?

[HarlowJ]

I was looking to build some obstacels in my backyard for me and the kids, but it wont be as extravigant as those ones. :o

[CouchingTiger]

One more for the road.
This one shows one of the tongue drops. It's real close to 5' if you huck it. Pretty EZ except for the 90 degree down-hill -> up-hill stall approach.

-Couch

[Jisch]

I had the kids take a couple of shots of me on stuff I put up behind my house, not the best shots, I'll need to get some in the daylight.

[Jisch]

another shot...

[Jisch]

second to last one

[Jisch]

last pic

[Jisch]

Wheelie out...

see what happens when we have spare time? Oh, that's right, we did it for the kids!

damn those kids

[Phresh]

Jisch, buddy, where's the helmet? You got those soft rocks in your yard? I had a buddy who was just standing over his bike without a helmet on. He somehow lost his balance and fell over while clipped in on one side. He did not crack his head open, but he did bounce it smartly off the ground. It does not take much to scramble your noodle. Be safe my friend.

[Jisch]

Yeah, I know. After posting these, I realized that I wasn't wearing the brain bucket. I suppose its just laziness and the "its just my backyard" comfort. No reason to go without a helmet though. :-[ Very unsafe of me...and not cool to post.

Note that I'm wearing hiking boots (no clipping in), also I only rode the stunts I'm comfortable with. Not an excuse for not wearing a helmet, but certainly a reduced risk over riding clipping in and unknown stunts. Trust me I'm a very conservative rider.

Teeter totters are easy to ride, they look harder than they are.

John

[bike187]

after seeing all the cool stuff in oldman's backyard, once i get my license and start going up to the adirondacks more often, i'm gonna try to build a bunch of stuff. my family owns alot of land that has some loggind trails on it (about 5 years old so they've mostly all grown in) and some awesome terrain. i've been thinking about building some small stunts for a while but have only built a small bridge over a stream so far. it's close to 18 feet long. plenty of trees to use (it's in the middle of the forest) and some old barn timbers to use. i wanna go up there right now.

[Dawgee]

Heres one of 3 teeter totters on my friends land where i built my trail.

:)I like the teeter over the rock wall, i'll have to use that somewhere. I rode out back today, figuring it was going to rain a lot. Can't wait for the rain and snow, yeah right. Well, gotta get to work and build some other stuff... Here's another...

and another: this is a teeter we call the flogging machine, if you don't get knocked off the up ramp by the birch tree on the right, you got it made, unless you go to fast cause the teeter has a counterweighted sloooow drop so if you go to fast it will teeter but you have a drop of two or three feet to deal with at the end...fun

[Mt.A TODD]

Portable mini teeter totter!

[CouchingTiger]

Dude, that thing looks scary ;) Does it fit in your Camelback. hahaha!

-Couch

[Adam]

Here's one from a Back Country Excursions trip late in '01.
That's a fun trip, especially during foliage season.
-Adam

[Dawgee]

Ive rode all the stunts at Back Country i love that place going back the end of August i cant wait

the latest. 60 ft roller coaster, peaks are 6ft off the ground. down a40 ft dirt section, then onto the "wood" for 60 ft...first section...

looking back on last section

mid section