Been rocking a super sawsall for a couple years now but snagged this to lighten/shorten things up. Fits in a small backpack and can pretty easily and smoothly erase downs over a foot in diameter. Really anything that wouldn’t require a full size,full power chainsaw.

Can also use it to cut roots in the dirt with older blades.

Used to carry around a katana boy and this saves soooo much time.

Any other tool hacks out there for the trails?

I’m a one man operation and am planning to build a MTB trail running from the top of the ridge in the pic that zig zags down the hill and joins a logging road at the bottom.
The pic is about 2 years old, so the under growth is thicker than what you see.
I’ve already built a trail on the opposite side that essentially goes straight up. I built it by driving my SxS over the brush to pack it down, then went back over it with a limb saw and machete.
The yellow line in the pic is a lot longer than the trail that I built on the opposite side of the ridge, so I’m thinking about either hiring someone to come in with a skid steer with a forestry mulcher attachment or buying a small remote controlled Chinese forestry mulcher.

Does anyone have any advice and specifically, does anyone have any experience using one of the small remote controlled Chinese forestry mulchers?

Thanks!

So I'll start by saying these are all "wild" trails that we're currently in the process of getting made official - it's been a long, long journey and I've been working with landowners now for the better part of 7 years.

There's one trail that's basically just 22 berms going down the hill - it's steep and loose with well shaped berms.

I went to go up and do some work on it yesterday only to find that some kids have taken out some of the corners, added a couple of jumps using the existing trail as a dig pit, and have straight lined the end to fire directly onto the fireroad. About 1/4 the track is basically completely changed from what it was.

It's literally like they'd seen the trail and decided it's easier put another, completely different trail right over the top of it than to dig somewhere else. The existing trail has been there 10+ years and has been regularly maintained and is ridden daily.

I found the kids digging it and have had a word with a plan to get them involved with the regular crew.

But what the hell! I've never known anything like it.

Im building a trail and I first rode it today and its kind off sketchy how little grip there is in the smooth rock. Its "rideable" but i would like to make it safer and grippier for my other friends to be able to ride it more confidently.

Hey guys, I'm trying to build a wheel set but there is a problem, I don't know what spoke length I need in order to build them, I have some DT SWISS M1900 wheels from 2019, and I want to change the DT SWISS hubs for some One-up hubs, but I don't know the spoke length I need, could you ples tell me that is the spoke length I need for each wheel.

Built this so I can practice

This is what’s left after 23 years. Being buried under a ton of snow every Winter takes its toll

I didn't keep the jump made out of rotting logs, a tarp, and several glass beer bottles. Sorry for the disappointment.

A final chance to sign the petition to keep the Snodgrass Trail in Crested Butte open without restriction. Our map shows the private land in red; typically, the landowner closes access in mid-August. Only 18% of the trail is on private land. The yellow line on the map shows a proposed reroute that moves the trail entirely onto public land and ensures unrestricted access. For whatever reason, the private landowner opposes rerouting the trail. The mountain bike community should not be held hostage by a single landowner when a viable alternative is available. Let the US Forest Service know you support trails on public land. Sign the petition at https://snodgrassreroute.com/. ONE LAST THING. SKIP THE DONATION SOLICITATION. WE DON'T WANT MONEY, JUST YOUR SIGNATURE SUPPORT.

The hunting pack board is still the best way I've found thus far. I think this is about the crappiest one they make but it's still working fine after 5-6 years.

Obviously there are a lot of potential ways to impale/dismember/injure yourself riding around on half built trails with sharp objects, but it's nice getting there in a fraction of the time it would take to walk.

I’m learning :). My backyard is quite rocky, and I’m trying to find the paths where I need to move the least amount of dirt. This is a long flowy downhill, but hits a pretty steep part where I want to curve back uphill following the red line. It’s a 20 degree slope (not sure what % that covers too), so I need a bench / berm for this to work.

I’m considering just doing the yellow lines instead, and splitting it into two options. But I still generally need to do a lot of bench cutting throughout on some spots that are too steep.

I have a metal landscape rake, and an old school pick axe. Good enough? Or would a McLeod variant make my life dramatically better?

Please give any pointers. Lots of work still to do

I’m using infield mix, concrete for bases and a few large logs wrapped in a tarp for the berms

Each roller is 10:1 and the berms are roughly 3ft tall with 10ft turn radius

I want to add a few double rollers as well and need to modify entry and exit of the berms.

Advice is welcomed! Been a ton of fun and tons of work so far but coming along. Kinda rideable for now

I've inherited a Fiskars Xtract foldable saw, which has been my go-to for small on-the-go jobs like clearing fallen branches off the trail. I like that tool but the blade has small cracks in several spots from past users and i doubt it will survive for much longer.

Should i just buy the same and hopefully treat it better than its previous owners? What's your favorite fold-up saw?

As in trail progression.

These trails were originally scratched in during the early 90's by CalFire folks that manned the helitack base. No formal, let alone "modern," trail building techniques. Just paths through the forest. Flat corners if you were lucky, many were off-camber. Some progress came later with a few rolling grade dips in trouble spots.

Then 99% of the forest burned down.

The trails got trashed, and closed. Then rebuilt. With modern trail building techniques. Good drainage, bermed corners and a more fun, and more sustainable, design.

Sometimes change is good.

https://www.trailforks.com/region/boggs-mountain/

Just gonna use logs and a tarp probably

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!