Ideas on How to Build a Crawler Course

[cubalz]

My son and I have had numerous crawlers over the years and spent most of the time at local parks tackling the terrain. I want to build a small crawler area with elevations, narrow wooden bridge crossings, log sections etc. at my house. Can anyone point me in a resource for ideas on correct way to set something like this up? Frankly I am a little overwhelmed when thinking about it.

Thanks!
John

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by cubalz

My son and I have had numerous crawlers over the years and spent most of the time at local parks tackling the terrain. I want to build a small crawler area with elevations, narrow wooden bridge crossings, log sections etc. at my house. Can anyone point me in a resource for ideas on correct way to set something like this up? Frankly I am a little overwhelmed when thinking about it.

Thanks!
John

There is nothing better than having your very own course right in your backyard. It can definitely be overwhelming thinking about it, but my advice would be to just get started.



Obviously you'll need materials to create elevation, features, etc. If you don't have soil on hand to create artificial elevation, you'll want get some - check Craigslist for people wanting to get rid of fill dirt. Or, most local landscaping / nurseries have bulk soil that they can deliver. (Go with the lowest / cheapest grade they offer). You'll also want a lot of rocks / boulders. These can get expensive if you have to buy them. I've been extremely lucky here in finding them free. New neighborhoods going in often have piles of them set aside from grading. Check with the developer or foreman about getting a truck load. Sometimes a quick $20 in their hand helps! Bridges and wooden features can be readily, easily and cheaply created using old pallets. I've got a buddy who gets me an endless supply. For both the rocks/boulders and pallets, I'd also check Craigslist. I've also found and used chunks of concrete over pour - new neighborhoods are also a good place to find this, and they're more than happy to have you haul it away.



For inspiration - you can search youtube for rc crawler courses. There are some very cool videos that will help give you some ideas. Honestly, you're only limited by your own imagination. The other decision to make is whether you want to just focus on having a basic, feature packed course, or if you want to go with the small, scale town approach. Good examples of the latter are webbersgulch801 and turksandjerps on Instagram. At the moment, my course is more about features and crawling, but I may start adding some scale items as it evolves. Another awesome course to check out is the TEAMKNK Crawl Farm.



I think you'll be surprised how quickly things progress once you get started. Plus, it's not like you can screw anything up, so just dive in and have fun!


(Check out my Insta feed below - Nearly all of the pics are from my backyard course)

[HandSolo1980]

Originally Posted by cubalz

My son and I have had numerous crawlers over the years and spent most of the time at local parks tackling the terrain. I want to build a small crawler area with elevations, narrow wooden bridge crossings, log sections etc. at my house. Can anyone point me in a resource for ideas on correct way to set something like this up? Frankly I am a little overwhelmed when thinking about it.



Thanks!

John

Building your own course, scale or otherwise is so much fun. My son and I started with a wooden bridge made out of stumps and pallets and slowly progressed from there. We mostly run trail rigs so our small course is set up for that. We made obstacles out of wood, dirt, rocks, and concrete. Nothing too fancy at the moment but we use it regularly especially when trying to tune a new build or when adding new parts to our trucks. Here in Washington state you can find most of the materials you would need for free. You are only limited by space and imagination. I would start with a good open location and just build a single obstacle, a pile if used, broken concrete is great and readily available for free on craigslist, offerup etc..Just remember to have fun. You can always dismantle and rebuild. Cheers and good luck!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[cubalz]

mewalsh100: I took a look at your pictures and that is exactly what I had in mind. I am going to take your advice and pick up some pallets this weekend but will check out you tube tonight for ideas. I am definitely going to benchmark off of your course to some degree.

Thanks!

[cubalz]

handsolo1980: I absolutely love how you set up that left hand turn coming off of the bridge, that is certainly something I am going to try to copy. The 1/2 buried logs are a nice touch. Ironically, we do not have any trees in our yard but I will head to the in-laws this weekend to scrounge some thicker limbs. Thanks for your pics and inspiration!

[Phildirt]

Envy you guys that can pull this off. My wife would strangle me if I started piling up dirt and pallets in my back yard

[HandSolo1980]

Originally Posted by Phildirt

Envy you guys that can pull this off. My wife would strangle me if I started piling up dirt and pallets in my back yard

Oh believe me, my wife often comments on what the neighbors must think when they walk/drive by. lmao: ). But my kids, neighbors and friends love it so she cant really complain too much.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[HandSolo1980]

Originally Posted by cubalz

handsolo1980: I absolutely love how you set up that left hand turn coming off of the bridge, that is certainly something I am going to try to copy. The 1/2 buried logs are a nice touch. Ironically, we do not have any trees in our yard but I will head to the in-laws this weekend to scrounge some thicker limbs. Thanks for your pics and inspiration!

cubalz: Thank you. My kids are always playing with our course so the terrain is constantly changing. If you decide to do anything with rocks I would recommend spreading dry cement between the rocks and gently wetting it down with a garden hose. This will keep everything in place and prevent any of the smaller rocks from rolling or shifting under your crawler, especially if you are doing anything on a slope or steep incline.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by cubalz

mewalsh100: I took a look at your pictures and that is exactly what I had in mind. I am going to take your advice and pick up some pallets this weekend but will check out you tube tonight for ideas. I am definitely going to benchmark off of your course to some degree.

Thanks!

Awesome man! Be sure to post up some pics as you go. I think you’ll find that actually thinking of lines and features and building them is almost as much fun as driving them!

Phildirt My course is actually in the woods in my back, backyard, so the wife is cool with it. That said, I still try to keep things “clean” and well executed. Sort of want it to integrate with the landscape. She also enjoys driving it now with her TRX4 Sport!

[Voodoobrew]

Personally I like this course, He uses dirt piles covered in a thin layer of concrete. If you go through their videos he talks about how he did it.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gh7pzdlwQw4

[Merovean]

Originally Posted by Voodoobrew

Personally I like this course, He uses dirt piles covered in a thin layer of concrete. If you go through their videos he talks about how he did it.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gh7pzdlwQw4

This is cool. I've been considering some lightweight concrete mixes, pearlite, styrofoam, I dunno Straw? Dyed, formed in some natural stone shapes, etc...

Making some terrain thats grippy, lightweight, and mounted as we've seen others do on a kind of modular platform. Something that can be mixed and matched, set at angles, with some kind of flexible connections so you can mix it up.

This video is the opposite of what I've been thinking, not ready for that kind of commitment. Though I was thinking I could extend the rock features around the pool, and kinda hide the intended purpose of all my newfound landscaping interest.

Right now though, I've got a knife, hot glue, a heat gun, and some EVA foam matting, see if I can come up with something for when its 110F and crawling out on the rocks seems more like atoning for past transgressions than a fun afternoon crawling or bashing.

But actually doing it properly and integrating some jagged terrain into some benches, a fire pit, bigger water features....

Anyone know roughly what the going rate is for concrete, pumped, per yard? Or is this some nutty "DYI" that involves extra help for home depot?

[Kingmeow]

Originally Posted by Merovean

Anyone know roughly what the going rate is for concrete, pumped, per yard? Or is this some nutty "DYI" that involves extra help for home depot?

You probably won't be able to meet the minimum delivery unless you or your neighbor is pouring a foundation for a house and the concrete truck has some "extra".

Not nutty but probably a DIY Home Depot job.

[Voodoobrew]

I would talk to a stucco guy and not a cement pumper. Dave Henderson has a YouTube ch where he makes rock grottos for pools, but he does it over repar and chicken wire. His rocks look absolutely beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/c/DaveHendersonVideo

__________________________
Handy gearing spreadsheet

[Voodoobrew]

I tried running a mix through my harbor freight texture gun and it just jammed. Imo carve your stuff in dirt and throw cement at it with your hands.

__________________________
Handy gearing spreadsheet

[Egsise]

A Pit has walls just like a hill. If there's a hill next to pit the wall length is doubled.
Dig a L shaped trench, pile the dirt next to it?

[2xDeadbolt]

This is the start to our Scx24 crawler course. It is 5'x16'. I plant to get some dirt to fill it in.

[Vmax]

Some dirt, rocks, and scrap wood and you'll be good to go!

[2xDeadbolt]

So had a great conversation with the mulch/ dirt guy. He recommended sand rock. He actually has some and I am going to get a trailer load of dirt tomorrow. I want to fill it in with dirt.

The pile of junk to the left is for obstacles, plus I have a lot of small wood pieces to start building our course.

Since I have 1/24 scale deadbolts, I think we will have lots room for a course.

See the deadbolt on the corner?

[mewalsh100]

Here's a few update pics from my course. Hopefully these provide some inspiration for other folks. I know when I was starting to build, I got a lot of ideas and inspiration from other people's course builds here on the forum. I think the biggest thing is to just get started and have fun with it!

[2xDeadbolt]

@mewalsh100 did you have the rocks or did you buy them? Looks good

Our course to this point! We only have 1/24th scale cars at this point.