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Misterp180

Mini Garden Track Project

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So after the M-05 hit quite a big stone causing it to jump onto two wheels the other day (see M-05 video towards the end) I decided to check for surface stones.

Turns out there were loads and what looked like an old shed foundation under cherry tree corner which is likely going to cause ongoing maintenance issues!
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 My daughter enjoyed sifting the soil extracting all the stones. After about an hour we had cleared a small section but had created quite a mess. The roller has been out and we have the forming of a new feature on the bend with another small ramp. 
Little one has asked if we can test it after lunch…. Most excellent idea! 🙌🏻

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Weather has got in the way of further track progress this last two weeks. I ran the Kyosho Raider through my low tech timing system and it posted a 6.9s. Most of the laps were over 7.5s and the last two dipped to 6.9 as I was warming up!

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The new dip in the track means I will need to have a new set of times moving forward. I am picking up some land pipe to edge off the circuit which will be taking up most of my free time on dry days.

For rainy days I have picked up another Kyosho Raider to rebuild with modern electronics saving my original 80s car as stock for nostalgia. I am going to try and document the project as I feel I know enough to be dangerous now! Below are the first parts to arrive from RC Bearings. Some rubber bearings and some red body clips. There will be a few more parts arriving this week along with the car. 

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Been a while since I got the time to get out and maintain the track let alone blast a car round it for a few laps!

I had far to many garden jobs this weekend but now the patio is cleaned up and sealed I was able to spend some time mowing and edging the track.

The dip I put in round the cherry tree was a mistake and all the cars hate it. It also prevents the track being used both ways. I am going to use some soil and fill it next weekend. I am still waiting to find some land pipe at a sensible price to mark out the track properly. I think this will help with maintenance! 

Had a quick half an hour with the TT-02b and DT-03 this afternoon. I put the stock wheels and tyres back on the DT-03 and it handled like a dog! The right wheels makes such a huge difference to performance. Any recommendations for the TT-02b??

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I'm surprised the stock tires on the 02B didn't work TBH!

Maybe some Schumacher Mini Spikes or some Ballistic Buggy tyres (https://www.ballisticbuggy.com/product-page/2wd-4wd-mini-spike-rear)?

I use Ballistic Buggy blues with a medium insert for my buggys if on grass as they are cheap and wear well (competition use would normally see a schumacher yellow compound minispike with a harder foam insert).

Make sure you have some holes in the wheel to let air escape if you don't already

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With regard to track markers - contract you local fire station and see if they have any old hose they want rid of! Its a great track marker and really tough!

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@BuggyGuy Thanks for the idea on the fire hose. I will look into that.

The stock tyres are good but given the performance increase in the DT-03 I was wondering if there were better tyres for the TT-02b. I will check out your recommendations once the stock tyres are worn out! 
 

thanks for reading and replying chap

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21 hours ago, Misterp180 said:

Any recommendations for the TT-02b??

Fastrax Turf Rippers on medium inserts and 2.2" wheels work very well on short grass, even when it is wet enough to clog up other tyres with smaller, denser pins.

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On 8/16/2021 at 3:35 PM, TurnipJF said:

Fastrax Turf Rippers on medium inserts and 2.2" wheels work very well on short grass, even when it is wet enough to clog up other tyres with smaller, denser pins.

Im actually thinking about using some foam inserts on my NIB TT02/wip RX Memorial. Any pros ?

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3 hours ago, Goudar said:

Im actually thinking about using some foam inserts on my NIB TT02/wip RX Memorial. Any pros ?

Depends on your tyre choice. Which tyres will you be using on them?

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38 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

Depends on your tyre choice. Which tyres will you be using on them?

Stock tires and Louise Rocket for tarmac. Here is my first pick.

Im asking cause the major weight comes from the rear ? I may be wrong or incorrectly undestood foam inserts. :)

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4 hours ago, Goudar said:

Im actually thinking about using some foam inserts on my NIB TT02/wip RX Memorial. Any pros ?

Might be better posting in a TT02 tread bud. Not sure there will be too many tarmac runners looking in my dusty mini garden bowl track!! 😂

Tyres are a dark art and most of my advice have come from the Facebook groups for specific models. Some of the DT-02/03 boys really helped me dial in my DT-03. When I reverted to the stock wheels and tyres the other day it was night and day! 
 

Good luck on the tyre hunt!

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Yep I will continue my research, jumped on the point cause you asking for tires advise. :)

 

Your tracks seems pretty cool, good luck for your futur imrovements. One day I will build my track too.

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8 hours ago, Goudar said:

Yep I will continue my research, jumped on the point cause you asking for tires advise. :)

 

Your tracks seems pretty cool, good luck for your futur imrovements. One day I will build my track too.

Your cool dude. I joined a really good TT-02 group on FB that gave me some good advice but I went up to the TT-02b as I prefer running off road. 

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Just spent an hour moving some topsoil up to the track to fill in the dip at cherry tree turn. It was not working out after removing all the stones so I am planning to level it out over the next week.

I have also levelled off the run up to the plums bump as it was a higher kicker one side to the other. I am starting to wonder if a top layer of soil packed would help with track maintenance. It is a learning curve at the moment which I am sure will get better through the winter into next season!

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Bank holiday funday! Going to be on the track this afternoon after some tidying and a little maintenance.

I know it isn’t much but having space in the garden to blast every weekend has been great fun. I am looking for ideas to improve my track so I welcome any suggestions?


I have some land pipe arriving next weekend to edge the track ready for next year. My autumn project is clearing the space in front of the shed where I could put another section of track but it will take most of the winter to tidy and clear. 

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Time to stop cutting corners!

I have had too many tree related incidents in the last few weeks and I decided it was time to protect them and the cars. I have been lucky to date and only had a few dampers pop loose. It is only a matter of time before something terminal happens.

While doing this I am also going to try and remove as many rocks from the surface as possible. For those that watched the       M-05ra going round the track you will have seen the impact of rocks on the surface. 6B95F808-4802-46FB-8D77-C54CF1474C0E.jpeg.5c05101815c656f043ac24da65145df0.jpeg

My last attempt at doing this created a huge dip past cherry tree turn which I am going to try and avoid this time. 
 

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I am also going to experiment with a chicane leading up past the bug house. I have quite a few knackered tyres which sprayed up red and white could make it look quite interesting. Hopefully this adds a little challenge to my lap as I am noticing my skills at controlling the car are getting better and more of the track can be taken at full throttle.

I also want to amp up the dirt kicker a little for some more air time without risking too many broken cars! 

Thanks for reading.

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This is great! Specially in a time with lockdowns and what not a home track is perfect. I have the space in the backyard, but not sure if all of my neighbours in the flat would let me build a track :D

Looking forward to seeing the improved version with the pipes and chicane!

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I like those mini tracks in the garden which allows running the cars after a long day of work...

While having a lot more space to do with than you have, my own terrain has its own cause of complexity: the terrain is on a slope, which is not making the thing easy... After few tries, I finally have something that works well...

 

I'm still considering doing something else, as I'm not sure my wife will accept I wipe the grass out within the top of the area I'm using right now (as well, ramps and bump are no go if not something I can move easily in this area)... I still have a part of the terrain which is unusable right now, that I need to make flat that could give quite a good way to work out a track (It is smaller than what I play on currently but that will require quite a lot of work)...

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1 hour ago, Tizer said:

This is great! Specially in a time with lockdowns and what not a home track is perfect. I have the space in the backyard, but not sure if all of my neighbours in the flat would let me build a track :D

Looking forward to seeing the improved version with the pipes and chicane!

@Tizer It has been a fun project and has saved the lawn! The lockdowns gave me the time to rediscover the RC hobby and I wanted to make sure there was space to have fun with the various cars etc I am building. 
We have a tarmac drive so I was keen on setting up a road track at some point also but realised very quickly that for it to work the tarmac surface needs to be very clean otherwise the cars seemed to slip about far too much! Maybe I will try a TT-02 chassis at some point and see if that is any better.

Thanks for replying!

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17 minutes ago, silvertriple said:

I like those mini tracks in the garden which allows running the cars after a long day of work...

While having a lot more space to do with than you have, my own terrain has its own cause of complexity: the terrain is on a slope, which is not making the thing easy... After few tries, I finally have something that works well...

 

I'm still considering doing something else, as I'm not sure my wife will accept I wipe the grass out within the top of the area I'm using right now (as well, ramps and bump are no go if not something I can move easily in this area)... I still have a part of the terrain which is unusable right now, that I need to make flat that could give quite a good way to work out a track (It is smaller than what I play on currently but that will require quite a lot of work)...

@silvertriple I would love to have that sort of space but don’t envy the maintenance on a track that size! 
My track had to work in the small space available but also needed to be easy enough to turn back to garden should the time come to sell up and move on. I am considering a project to extend the track as I have about 2x3m of waste in front of my shed.
I am considering some moveable jumps which can be put out ready for racing. Check out this YouTube channel for more ideas as Vintage Backyard R/C has been my inspiration so far!

 

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Well the fact is that garden maintenance is already too much to handle, which is why I have a waste area (it is about 25*5 meters), and the most of what we do is only cutting the grass (with a John Deere small tractor - as anything else smaller would make the cutting task last forever): I do understand your stuff...

The waste area has been there for few years now, and I need to do something with it, and I don't want to extend the area where I need to cut things: a track maybe a good opportunity to fill that up. But I will need to mechanical machine to flat this part of terrain first, in a proper and efficient way... Then I'll need to think about a way of building a track which will be nice to run and nice to see, and easy to maintain (vegetal has its constraint : it grows, but its advantage : it ease the drain of the rain)... Another project to plan and do which is going to use my brain :-)

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Made these this evening. Going to build some moveable tyre wall chicanes out of them. I need to find a way of tying the together and I want to paint the stacks red and white.

I have some white paint left over from previous builds but I need to get some red over the weekend. If this works I’ll be needed many more knackered tyres for the  outside of the turns!

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