RockChuck
Pebble Pounder
So this past weekend I volunteered my property to my local crawling group to do a TTC (Top Truck Challenge). I have 2.5 acres, ½ of an acre being a steep hill covered in natural lava rock. We had 7 courses in mind for the event, tank trap, obstacle course, mini rubicon, hill climb, sled pull, frame twister, and mud pit. We dedicated 3 solid days and a few nights after work to get all the work for the courses done. After completing the courses we decided that we should combine the frame twister and the mud pit and that we should also run them last so no one would fry their electronics on the first leg of the courses. I’d never been to an RC TTC before so we did our best to set up scale obstacles that everyone could do.
We had an 11am start time but most were there 30 min early or so. We started with a course tour and sticker give away. Since I have my own vinyl cutter I can make group stickers and stuff at cost. The day of the event it was windy and being on top of the hill only made things worse. The windy had messed with my sprinkler all night and hadn’t really watered the mud pit and frame twister like I had wanted, but then again it was our first event. We had 14 competitors for the event day, but had 1 MOA rig that just competed for fun. We had a few trucks on 1.9s and they even completed the courses.
We started with the tank trap and things went well, people got hung up on the obstacles that we thought they would, and the course held up well for being soft. I was cut into the side of a hill face and we added some extra rock everywhere for more of a challenge.
Next up was the obstacle course, it was a LONG course but was completed in 1:00 min flat for the best time. It featured a mixture of hill climbs, descents, holes, and rocks.
The Mini Rubicon followed and featured a 12” wide I-beam, and LOTS of shale rock to traverse.
The hill climb was not really about hills but more about speed since we wanted everyone to compete and have a chance at completing all the courses.
The sled pull was FUN, we built our own sled for the comp and it worked like a charm until I broke it on the second to the last run. Haha
The mud pit/ frame twister was one of the most challenging events and the only one to feature water. I had just cut down a 14YO cherry tree, so I used the logs from that to build the frame twister. The mud pit was pretty straight forward but it was fun. The mud was too heavy for all the light trucks so it didn’t really fly unless you had lots of power.
All in all it was a great day of competition, everyone went home happy and not broken. Plus I’m pretty sure they all want another TTC to be hosted at my place!
Results:
I took home 2nd!
We had an 11am start time but most were there 30 min early or so. We started with a course tour and sticker give away. Since I have my own vinyl cutter I can make group stickers and stuff at cost. The day of the event it was windy and being on top of the hill only made things worse. The windy had messed with my sprinkler all night and hadn’t really watered the mud pit and frame twister like I had wanted, but then again it was our first event. We had 14 competitors for the event day, but had 1 MOA rig that just competed for fun. We had a few trucks on 1.9s and they even completed the courses.
We started with the tank trap and things went well, people got hung up on the obstacles that we thought they would, and the course held up well for being soft. I was cut into the side of a hill face and we added some extra rock everywhere for more of a challenge.
Next up was the obstacle course, it was a LONG course but was completed in 1:00 min flat for the best time. It featured a mixture of hill climbs, descents, holes, and rocks.
The Mini Rubicon followed and featured a 12” wide I-beam, and LOTS of shale rock to traverse.
The hill climb was not really about hills but more about speed since we wanted everyone to compete and have a chance at completing all the courses.
The sled pull was FUN, we built our own sled for the comp and it worked like a charm until I broke it on the second to the last run. Haha
The mud pit/ frame twister was one of the most challenging events and the only one to feature water. I had just cut down a 14YO cherry tree, so I used the logs from that to build the frame twister. The mud pit was pretty straight forward but it was fun. The mud was too heavy for all the light trucks so it didn’t really fly unless you had lots of power.
All in all it was a great day of competition, everyone went home happy and not broken. Plus I’m pretty sure they all want another TTC to be hosted at my place!
Results:
I took home 2nd!
