Need help design and build jump and skill features

thanniel

New Member
I am looking to hire someone to design and build wooden features in my backyard in Bridgewater NJ. Thinking of a few table tops, rollers, berms etc.
I have about 0.25 acres of space for this.
Some pictures for idea below.
Any recommendations?
Thanks

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Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
@thanniel we have put some stuff in our backyard, not far from you in Warren. You've got a few things to consider with this. .25 acres is a pretty limited space, so you need to be creative. Also - are you sure you want to go all-in on the wood? If you have a questionable neighbor this could end up with the town and you being forced to tear it all down. It's actually something we worry about.

To me your biggest start point is going to be getting speed. We built a huge ramp to get you about 5' off the ground, then everything starts there. Gravity is awesome but you need to get yourself up there to use it. If you can start on your roof, all the better. This is where you'll burn a lot of your money on the wood.

I would consider dirt for some of your features. If you use wood you get 1 chance, then if it sucks you need to tear it apart & restart. Dirt gives you more room to tweak things. It also erodes so there is a tradeoff. We use a combination. Later this year we expect to add a wall ride. But we have some work to do before we get there yet.
 

Ian F

Well-Known Member
Is your yard fenced? There may be legal liability concerns with building stuff in your back yard. I forget the exact term, but it's similar to having a pool.
 

goldsbar

Well-Known Member
First, make sure you invite me over when you're done. Maybe start with some really simple stuff like this


Just a couple of features and you won't trash your entire lawn. You could always re-do them to link together and/or repair your yard. You can easily go down a Google rabbit hole with this stuff. A shocking number of people seem to have no trouble transforming their backyard into a BMX park with an excavator. Don't think this would fly in New Jersey where you need a permit for everything and your neighbors will notice everything no matter how big your yard is.
 

gmb3

JORBA: Sourlands
JORBA.ORG
Here is a pro builder friend of mine. He's based on Long Island but comes to NJ. No idea on pricing but give him a call/email.
info@getdirtydesigns.com
 
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thanniel

New Member
Thank you for all your responses. Some more background and thoughts on this...
I already have some features built by myself last year during the COVID shutdown but would like to add/replace them with bigger features/ramps (below are pictures of my set up currently). I have reached the limit of my carpentry/design skills and the time that I would like to spend on building and hence looking for helping hands to build this further.

I am really close to Chimney Rock. My backyard back against hill/mountain top with open wooden area that nobody access. My neighbors on both sides and I have over an acre lot each (but I want to dedicate ~0.25 acres for this) so we are not that close to each other and so far, they seem to be cool with what I have as their kids also come over to play.

Any additional thoughts on how I can take a step further on this and who can support?
Thanks.
 

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thanniel

New Member
@thanniel we have put some stuff in our backyard, not far from you in Warren. You've got a few things to consider with this. .25 acres is a pretty limited space, so you need to be creative. Also - are you sure you want to go all-in on the wood? If you have a questionable neighbor this could end up with the town and you being forced to tear it all down. It's actually something we worry about.

To me your biggest start point is going to be getting speed. We built a huge ramp to get you about 5' off the ground, then everything starts there. Gravity is awesome but you need to get yourself up there to use it. If you can start on your roof, all the better. This is where you'll burn a lot of your money on the wood.

I would consider dirt for some of your features. If you use wood you get 1 chance, then if it sucks you need to tear it apart & restart. Dirt gives you more room to tweak things. It also erodes so there is a tradeoff. We use a combination. Later this year we expect to add a wall ride. But we have some work to do before we get there yet.
@Norm, thanks for the advice. Will take your points in to consideration.
My backyard is long and slopes down (see pictures in my other reply above) so depending on where the jumps will be, I might not need a starting ramp. Did you build the features in your backyard youself or have someone else do it?
I prefer woods because I thought it would be easier to reconfigure and I don’t like to disturb the lawn so much but I am open for a combination as well.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I built everything myself.

With that real estate I’d have a few dump trucks of dirt dropped in but I agree that would sort of kill your lawn.
 

thanniel

New Member
Is your yard fenced? There may be legal liability concerns with building stuff in your back yard. I forget the exact term, but it's similar to having a pool.
Not fenced on all the sides. I will research more on this. Thanks for bringing up. As my backyard is next to open woods, I actually get more deers/animals coming to my backyard than people so having more obstacles might actually be a good thing :)
 

thanniel

New Member
Here is a pro builder friend of mine. He's based on Long Island but comes to NJ. No idea on pricing but give him a call/email.
info@getdirtydesigns.com
Thanks. I will reach out to them.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
OK maybe I will add bits in here. I saw a sign the other day for screened topsoil. It was $20 a cubic yard which can add up. But after having dug in my yard for the better part of a year, it saves my back countless hours of pain. We live 4 miles from CR so that gives you an idea of the dirt-to-rock ratio.

Had this dropped today. Behind it you can see what my whale tail has turned into - a sort of tabletop-ish like thing. The wood to the left behind it is the second line, which goes to the left of the main line. Behind the tree slightly to the right of the dirt pile peak is the landing of a gap jump on the alternate line. You can also see a wooden ramp back there which is on the shelf for now as we only use it for scoping.

This pile will go into building up the 2nd & 3rd table-tops and the exit to the berm. More than likely that will tap all of this out.

The whale tail landing will also get widened. It's pretty goddamn sturdy so I am going to bring it out 6" each side to make the landing a little more error proof.

I am also thinking that there will be a 3rd line to this side of the whale tail before the end of 2021. My guess is that we will have 3-4 of these loads dropped by then.

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