# Trail maintenance passion



## scaryfast (Apr 23, 2004)

Recently on a ride, I ran into two friends who were helping to build a new reroute. I asked them why they were doing it and what help they were receiving. They were doing it because they felt a need for it to be done. A lot of us love riding bikes but how many of you are passionate enough to put in the time to keep your local trails awesome? It's the winter time, lots of downed trees, eroding areas, blown berms/corners. Do you wait for local organizations to spear head a maintenance session or do you go out on your own?


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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

scaryfast said:


> Recently on a ride, I ran into two friends who were helping to build a new reroute. I asked them why they were doing it and what help they were receiving. They were doing it because they felt a need for it to be done. A lot of us love riding bikes but how many of you are passionate enough to put in the time to keep your local trails awesome? It's the winter time, lots of downed trees, eroding areas, blown berms/corners. Do you wait for local organizations to spear head a maintenance session or do you go out on your own?


For me, creating trail and trail maintenance is as important as riding. I do both daily/weekly year round for over 25 years now. I create trail for myself and perform trail maintenance on my stuff and places I frequent semi regularly. I love it.


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## scaryfast (Apr 23, 2004)

That's awesome, Hacksaw! I do my fair share of building/maintenance too. Recently I bought my first silky saw and I can't wait to use it on a downed tree.


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## Curveball (Aug 10, 2015)

I do both rolling maintenance of picking tree limbs off the trails or clearing drainages and more involved work parties with the local trail club.


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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

scaryfast said:


> That's awesome, Hacksaw! I do my fair share of building/maintenance too. Recently I bought my first silky saw and I can't wait to use it on a downed tree.


Pretty much all new trail that I create these days is with just a folding saw that fits in my jersey pocket. Clear what I need to by hand and cut/trim with the folding saw then let my tires burn in the trail. So quick and efficient to create the miles that way.


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

I put in well over 100 hours of build/maintenance time a year and have for a long time.
Mainly self-directed these days, but have done a fair amount of local org type stuff in the past too.


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## mileslong (Aug 20, 2016)

I passionately remove rocks and corners and other stuff I find too hard to ride.


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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

mileslong said:


> I passionately remove rocks and corners and other stuff I find too hard to ride.


😀👍



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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

My trails are so low impact that the deer and turkey can barely find or follow them.

Old skool trail network(s) in a way overly complicated obtrusive abusive riding world/era.


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## mileslong (Aug 20, 2016)

Every so often I bring a saw and walk the dog the length of the local trails, kicking sticks and trimming fallen stuff. Once in a while a skinny needs propping up out of the mud but I don't change anything... as natural as can be is the preferred type of trail for me.


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## gmats (Apr 15, 2005)

I've had the fortune of riding some amazing trails around the world for 30+ years now. I know that all of these trails were put there and maintained by individuals. So here in Hawaii, I pretty much carry my brush saw in my pack every ride I do and will almost always do some kind of clearing and cleaning. I appreciate it just as much as the next guy that gets to ride the trails.


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## 2old (Aug 31, 2015)

mileslong said:


> I passionately remove rocks and corners and other stuff I find too hard to ride.


Lol

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## Hurricane Jeff (Jan 1, 2006)

I love doing trail building and maintenance. I've been doing it since 1992 and last year got accepted as a board member for the Big Bear Trails foundation. Late last year my company, Exodux, adopted a section of the popular Skyline Trail up here in Big Bear.
I think everyone who rides the trails should put some time in if they can.


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## milehi (Nov 2, 1997)

Hurricane Jeff said:


> I love doing trail building and maintenance. I've been doing it since 1992 and last year got accepted as a board member for the Big Bear Trails foundation. Late last year my company, Exodux, adopted a section of the popular Skyline Trail up here in Big Bear.
> I think everyone who rides the trails should put some time in if they can.


I love your "pumptrack" section on Skyline. A couple mountain communities west is my after work trail network. Once a month I'll tip toe the trail with folding saw, impact and deck screws, cutting back growth, blocking cheater lines, and fixing bridges and ramps.


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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

Vader said:


> blocking cheater lines


❤❤❤


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## DaveVt (Jun 13, 2005)

No dig, no ride. Never been a rider and not been creating trails. To me the bike is only half the equation. Bike+Trail=Stoke. I've been a "Professional" for almost 10 years, and was full time for a handful. In the end, travel everyday and the random nature of the funding of the work here in Vt made the logistics too much of a PITA to fit into life. Fortunately one of the projects I worked on was a XC touring center for a small university that owns an abandon ski hill with 1000 vert on 600 acres, plus another few hundred acres on adjacent parcels I access from my street. I moved here to this house for that land, and for the lack of riding. I wanted a blank canvass. For about 5 years I was building "Volunteer" trails up there, then the Touring Center went in when the University realized what I was doing. Since then I have become the School "Trail Guy" and I do a couple few days a week keeping the machine built stuff buttery. On my own time, I've been expanding the primitive trails that surround the machine built stuff. I worked on every major trail network in Central Vermont at some point. I watched for 20 years as trails wore in, and got overbuilt. Here I have been able to create exactly what I want to ride, tight primitive technical trails that fit well into the landscape, have great flow, and offer good routes through the several hundred acres of open land that surround Northfield Vt. Still so much potential. Currently I have routes set to "Build" that will probably take the next 2-3 years by myself, as well as some projects going with a local group that has formed to help me about once a month. I think I am lucky to have created and helped create the best local riding spot in the area.

What get's me stoked is riding new trail, creating new routes that serve a purpose and offer connections to new parts of town or offer access to open spaces that are not being utilized. I hate the over-saturated bike park feel that the state and local orgs are building out around me.

I can't imagine riding without building. I would feel like such a douche knowing how long good hand work and trail clearing takes if I just rode all week and never picked up a tool. I ride once or twice a week. I get to be out on the trails 3-4 days a week, at least one day is on my dime building out impacted sections with rock work, and hiking and re-hiking next years trail clearing projects. Nothing get's me as pumped to ride as a new section of armor, or fresh cut trail. At one time riding was about the bike. As time has gone on I realize it's about the trail and where it takes you. Tight, technical, aesthetically pleasing lines through the brush. Mmmmmm, trail work.












Oh, and we have a "Flow Trail". 900 vert in 1.5 miles....no pedal strokes. Always a great way to end a ride.


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## Boris Badenov (May 31, 2015)

Went for a 3 hour ride yesterday and did n't make it home until I'd been out there 5+ hours. The plan was to ride, but I also took my hand pruners and a folding hand saw. The first three miles of riding took me almost 2 hours. So many branches encroaching onto the trail. Everyone should consider keeping a limb saw in their hydration pack. Keeping brush cut back helps prevent the trail from getting widened by riders avoiding tree branches. 

Got asked to go out today and construct a kids race course, as part of a 45 mile long race on Saturday. I decided to pass. But I am going to drag my nephew out and do trail work later this morning. We need to create a borrow pit and fill buckets of soil to elevate a low spot that is holding water and becoming a muddy mess. It's hard to discourage riders from riding a trail that is 99% dry the day after a storm, but has a couple short sections that hold water for a few days. Seems like an easy fix.

When you talk to a mountain biker who does trail work, you realize we are problem solvers. Hikers and equestrians tend to go right past a problem on the trail and ignore it. It could be discarded trash or a fallen tree limb, or a dislodged boulder that rolled into the center of the trail. They will just go right on by. Bikers tend to look at the trails as a long-term investment in fun, and don't want to see it gradually ruined by trash or lack of light maintenance.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Boris Badenov said:


> When you talk to a mountain biker who does trail work, you realize we are problem solvers. Hikers and equestrians tend to go right past a problem on the trail and ignore it. It could be discarded trash or a fallen tree limb, or a dislodged boulder that rolled into the center of the trail. They will just go right on by. Bikers tend to look at the trails as a long-term investment in fun, and don't want to see it gradually ruined by trash or lack of light maintenance.


^dishonest stereotyping IMO, a person's chosen recreational activity does not determine their nature. Also what is best for a hiking trail can sometimes be a fair amount different from what is optimal for mountain biking.


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## radair (Dec 19, 2002)

Oh hell yes. Trail work is as much of my physical fitness regiment as biking, skiing, hockey and firewood. I started building bike trails the first day I brought home a mountain bike in 1986 and have never stopped. Primitive tech trails, easy beginner trails, machine built flow trails, I am happy riding and working on all of them.

The only downside is every trail I ride is kind of a study in design and construction.


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## Boris Badenov (May 31, 2015)

J.B. Weld said:


> ^dishonest stereotyping IMO, a person's chosen recreational activity does not determine their nature. Also what is best for a hiking trail can sometimes be a fair amount different from what is optimal for mountain biking.


I also believe there is honest stereotyping. Equestrians tend to be less athletic. After all, the horse is doing most of the work. That might explain why they rarely show up on volunteer days in the kinds of numbers that bikers do. And sitting up on that horse doesn't let them take notice to things like the damages done to trails when a 1000 pound animal walks on a trail after a recent rain shower. Bikers would feel their bikes sinking in the mud and know they have made a bad choice. Equestrians have told me their animals enjoy walking in soft mud, seemingly oblivious to the fact someone else will need to come out and repair those postholes.

Hikers are moving at slower speeds than bikers, so they can more easily move from one side of the trail to the other to avoid loose rocks or a single large rock that fell onto the trail. The same is true of obstructing tree branches of bushes that have grown out onto the trail. A hiker can simply walk to the other side of the trail. They don't see it as much of a problem. A biker is moving at a higher rate of speed and his momentum often forces him into intruding brush or a low tree branch, or over loose baby head rocks. These can cause cuts or minor injuries, especially when the brush is desert cactus.

It might take a couple of days before I'll get all the thorns removed from my hands and arms and legs from yesterdays trail work. One chunk of cactus ended up getting stuck in my arm as I attempted to move it off the trail. I look like I was attacked by a pack of wild cats.It's the nature of brush work in Arizona.


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## bpressnall (Aug 25, 2006)

Where I ride, if us bikers don't do maintenance, then we have no trail to ride-simple as that. I was impressed that one of those guys that makes his living off mountain biking videos (BKXC) came out and helped us once. I always wonder how many of those cool pro riders actually help with local trail work, besides building private jumps and such, and then making videos of themselves, while the work that you folks do for everyone goes basically unnoticed by the majority of riders.


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## LMN (Sep 8, 2007)

I love doing trail work. Over the years I have done a lot of the base work in three major riding areas in BC.

At the same time I have no problems with people who don't do trail work. I have never bought into "No dig, no ride". For those of us who build, we do it because we enjoy it, just like we enjoy riding our bikes. If someone doesn't enjoy building and they just ride I do not have a problem with that.

That being said, if you don't dig then you better not complain about any work that is done to a trail. I don't care if your favorite rock has been moved or a berm has been added to the flat corner you love to drift. 

No dig, no complaining!!!

If you are a "non-digger" then the only thing you give to the trail workers is a high-five and beer(s).


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

LMN said:


> No dig, no complaining!!!
> 
> If you are a "non-digger" then the only thing you give to the trail workers is a high-five and beer(s).


Perfect!
With MTB trails, I agree that the 'no dig, no ride' thing doesn't really apply so much. With dirt jumps though, it's pretty much law.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Boris Badenov said:


> I also believe there is honest stereotyping. Equestrians tend to be less athletic. After all, the horse is doing most of the work. That might explain why they rarely show up on volunteer days in the kinds of numbers that bikers do. And sitting up on that horse doesn't let them take notice to things like the damages done to trails when a 1000 pound animal walks on a trail after a recent rain shower. Bikers would feel their bikes sinking in the mud and know they have made a bad choice. Equestrians have told me their animals enjoy walking in soft mud, seemingly oblivious to the fact someone else will need to come out and repair those postholes.
> 
> Hikers are moving at slower speeds than bikers, so they can more easily move from one side of the trail to the other to avoid loose rocks or a single large rock that fell onto the trail. The same is true of obstructing tree branches of bushes that have grown out onto the trail. A hiker can simply walk to the other side of the trail. They don't see it as much of a problem. A biker is moving at a higher rate of speed and his momentum often forces him into intruding brush or a low tree branch, or over loose baby head rocks. These can cause cuts or minor injuries, especially when the brush is desert cactus.


I'll admit that is slightly more honest stereotyping. Suggesting that only mountain bikers look at trails as a long term investment and that hikers don't care about trash is bs though.


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## DMFT (Dec 31, 2003)

J.B. Weld said:


> I'll admit that is slightly more honest stereotyping. Suggesting that only mountain bikers look at trails as a long term investment and that hikers don't care about trash is bs though.


-From my experiences, it is dependent on the locale.
Here in Monterey County, Ca. it is without a doubt the Cyclists that do the lion-share of trail work/maintenance.

I also feel if at all possible before "just doing the work" ASK the Parks Dept./Land Managers about doing it legitimately. I know it's not the "fun way" but the damage done by getting caught makes it hard for us as a user-group to gain access.

-Off my soapbox.


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

Long time digger here. My local( 100 yds from my driveway) gets lots of TLC. Talked to the conservation manager for permission to do work, everything except digging is fine for me to just do. We have a good relationship from the other parcels nearby. Love my sliky gomboy, 11" of nice steel, perfect for trees and branches. I have sort of an informal FB notice for the few riders who bike there. Trees down, branches need removal, work that needs to be done etc. My NS Nemba chapter, lots of trail days, lots of boardwalks, a very passionate core builder group of say 30 or so. Our typical work day is Saturday or Sunday, 4-5 hrs, chapter provides lunch and beverages, then ride. In my area( MA) we get LOTS of hikers and other non bike folk to show up for trail work, lots of different orgs in the region too. Depends on where the trails are. This fall I picked up a 70HR rogue hoe with a 54" ash handle. Also a forest service rake, both really nice for trail care.


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## LyNx (Oct 26, 2004)

Started riding MTBs back in early '04, was fit enough to be exploring proper trails before the end of the year and started trail clearing/fixing then and have been doing it ever since. I always try to travel with at least a folding saw when we've had weather pass where trees may have fallen or sagged down into the trails. Heck, like HackSaw, one birthday years ago I went out for my usual ride at 6am, did not get home until around 2pm because I was basically just riding and clearing, figure I rode for about 4 hours and cleared for about that long as well. To me it's part and parcel if you're a true MTBer.


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

It's great to hear that there a lot of "one-man armies" out there, but I must say I feel fortunate to be associated with an army of volunteers. Many hands make light work, so trail maintenance is pretty much limited to clearing drains for the late Winter thaw, trimming back trailside growth in the Summer, and removing downed trees (or calling someone who can).

We have a pretty efficient process for reporting maintenance needs or safety issues to the parks when volunteers can't handle it themselves.

We have very specific roles for many people, both within the MTB club and within our local park's volunteer corps, and well-rehearsed protocols for surveying, flagging, clearing, building, and maintaining. There's no rogue building going on.

We even have a training program whereby a person can move up from basically a shoveler to an actual trail builder, where they decide where to go and how to utilize the terrain. Having more people in those roles results in a lot more creative ideas on what might be deemed "boring" terrain.

One thing that we have going for us is that many of our trails are pretty much brand new (<10 yrs.) by any standards, so they are all very sustainable, with very few problem areas. Maintenance is usually a breeze. I carry a 12" folding saw and that's it. The other thing we have going for us is accessibility. It can't be more than about 3 miles from the most remote location I can think of to the nearest road. Usu. it's far less.

The guy that does the most work around here is the guy who shovels the snow off all the bridges and switchbacks, just to make it more fun for everybody else. He is the frickin' energizer bunny!

-F


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## Ray Lee (Aug 17, 2007)

cutting trees that fall on the trail out, armoring up wet spots and stuff no problem... but re routing new lines or building new trial I just do not have time to go through the proper channels...... thats the hard part, huge props to the folks who go through the approval process to get stuff done!


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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

Love the passion coming thru in this thread.👍👏🏻🙌🏻


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

HacksawReynolds said:


> Love the passion coming thru in this thread.


Sucked me in...I'm loving doing mostly rake-n-ride, right out the door stuff the past 8 or 10 years as far as trails go. We've built a solid 18 of singletrack locally, mainly 2 guys and can link into a bunch of other stuff for lots of options. You can ride from a brewery, and/or a number of local's houses. :thumbsup:

Also really enjoying our pumptrack project for the past 3 years or so. My plan is for it to be omnidirecitionally pumpable, kind of a dirt skatepark sort of thing. My town rains giant piles of perfect dirt on us on demand; it's pretty sweet.


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

Building is integral to my MTB experience. I've been seriously involved in trail work for around 12 or 13 years. We have thick woods/brush and rough terrain so each section of trail is hard won. My Stihl MS211 is my best friend but I always carry a Big Boy 2000 in my pack to deal with deadfall while riding.

In the last couple of years I have noticed a major uptick in the amount of traffic my trails are seeing, both bike and foot which is gratifying.


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

I help whenever I can. Each year I set a goal to spend a few hours each month devoted to trail maintenance. I feel proud when I ride sections of trail that helped build or clean up. My contribution is small compared to my husband's involvement maintaining, building trails and advocacy.


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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

slapheadmofo said:


> Sucked me in...I'm loving doing mostly rake-n-ride, right out the door stuff the past 8 or 10 years as far as trails go. We've built a solid 18 of singletrack locally, mainly 2 guys and can link into a bunch of other stuff for lots of options. You can ride from a brewery, and/or a number of local's houses. :thumbsup:
> 
> Also really enjoying our pumptrack project for the past 3 years or so. My plan is for it to be omnidirecitionally pumpable, kind of a dirt skatepark sort of thing. My town rains giant piles of perfect dirt on us on demand; it's pretty sweet.
> 
> ...


You guys got it goin on down your way👍


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## Boris Badenov (May 31, 2015)

My best years are behind me. I tried to quit building or maintaining trails a couple years ago, when we moved to Phoenix. Once I met some committed trail builders, and they discovered my own experiences building, they drug me back in. As much as I'd prefer to just ride all the time, It looks like I'm always going to be involved in maintaining trails. Even doing simple brush work can add 2-3 hours onto a ride. It get to the point where you can't ride past a bush or tree that needs pruning.


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## twd953 (Aug 21, 2008)

LMN said:


> I love doing trail work. Over the years I have done a lot of the base work in three major riding areas in BC.
> 
> At the same time I have no problems with people who don't do trail work. I have never bought into "No dig, no ride". For those of us who build, we do it because we enjoy it, just like we enjoy riding our bikes. If someone doesn't enjoy building and they just ride I do not have a problem with that.
> 
> ...


Great post. Totally agree.

I wish every biker would put in effort, or otherwise support the effort. That can be in many ways other than picking up a shovel. Donate some money, help out with some other planning or organizational effort like a go fund me campaign to buy trail tools, or find some other way to contribute.

But yeah, if you're not contributing in any way, probably best to hold the negative criticism. Notice I said "negative", as I think there is room for constructive suggestions from the riding community at large, as we as trail builders need to be willing to listen, especially since those conversations give us an opportunity to educate and inform those folks about the myriad factors that go into why we do what we do.


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## twd953 (Aug 21, 2008)

leeboh said:


> This fall I picked up a 70HR rogue hoe with a 54" ash handle. Also a forest service rake, both really nice for trail care.


The 70 HR is my swiss army knife of trail tools. I don't ever build without it. It may not be the best tool for every job, but if you keep it sharp, you can dig, rake/move dirt, cut roots, compact soil, and shape tread.

Sorry, you just brought out the trail builder nerd in me. Back to the topic...


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## scaryfast (Apr 23, 2004)

Whats your favorite tool to take with you on rides that is compact and does great for maintaining trails?


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## twd953 (Aug 21, 2008)

I've been digging in the dirt as long as I've been able to ride. Growing up, we had a full size BMX track in our back yard, starting gate and all in the early 80s. So I spent my summers as a kid getting up at the crack of dawn, building new jumps and berms on the track, then in for lunch, and back out to ride the track til dinner. 

By the late eighties I got my first mountain bike, and started building trails all over the 25 acres that my parents owned.

Nowdays, I am a trail crew leader for our local mtb organization, so I'm involved in every aspect of building and maintenance. During build season (fall-winter-spring) I probably put in equal hours on the bike vs building/maintaining trails. 

Every time I go out, I try and improve the trail in some way. Usually, that's stopping and moving a down limb, getting the saw out of my pack to cut out a tree, or just clearing a drain with my foot.

I will always first and foremost be a rider, but at this point, I can't imagine not building and maintaining trails and having that satisfaction of creating something that gives happiness to so many people.


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## Klurejr (Oct 13, 2006)

I put the time in, but we have very small windows to do so where I ride, specifically after a good rain so the ground is soft, otherwise the ground turns to rock and the loose stuff becomes dust.


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

scaryfast said:


> Whats your favorite tool to take with you on rides that is compact and does great for maintaining trails?


 11" sliky gomboy folding saw, can cut a 6-8" tree, easy.


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## evasive (Feb 18, 2005)

leeboh said:


> 11" sliky gomboy folding saw, can cut a 6-8" tree, easy.


Yeah, I carry a Silky Big Boy in my pack as standard equipment.


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## scaryfast (Apr 23, 2004)

+3 for the silky Big Boy. I am looking for something I can use to help with puddling issues that isn't hard to pack in. Ideally I carry a McCloud but I just ned something small and easy.


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## L. Ron Hoover (Feb 1, 2006)

leeboh said:


> 11" sliky gomboy folding saw, can cut a 6-8" tree, easy.





evasive said:


> Yeah, I carry a Silky Big Boy in my pack as standard equipment.





scaryfast said:


> +3 for the silky Big Boy. I am looking for something I can use to help with puddling issues that isn't hard to pack in. Ideally I carry a McCloud but I just ned something small and easy.


And another vote for Silky.  I always have a Big Boy 2000 in my pack. It's big enough to deal with just about any deadfall we have around here and is really small and light. We have frequent wind storms (it's gusting to 75MPH today for example) so there are often trees down across trails. The Big Boy makes short work of them.

Due to our terrain (very rocky, very little soil) there aren't any packable tread tools that are useful but I have pickaxes, 60"steel digging bars and shovels stashed in a couple of locations near ongoing trail projects and move them as needed so I can ride into a work site, do some work and then continue riding.


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

scaryfast said:


> +3 for the silky Big Boy. I am looking for something I can use to help with puddling issues that isn't hard to pack in. Ideally I carry a McCloud but I just ned something small and easy.


 There are segmented trail tools that pack down well, also a folding entrenching tool works for small dirt stuff.


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## 786737 (Mar 13, 2015)

leeboh said:


> a folding entrenching tool works for small dirt stuff.


I got one off eBay which I think is from the (former) East German army. I like the locking mechanism better than the screw collar on other types.









Easy to pack along with a folding pruning saw.









For organized trail work days I'll sometimes bring a Dewalt 18V reciprocating saw with demolition blades, and 2 batteries. That speeds through the bigger stuff including getting down into the dirt if we're trying to cut through roots while clearing stumps.


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## scaryfast (Apr 23, 2004)

the one ring said:


> I got one off eBay which I think is from the (former) East German army. I like the locking mechanism better than the screw collar on other types.
> 
> View attachment 1179758
> 
> ...


I had a portable entrenching tool but it fell apart pretty quick. Anyone got a specific brand they had good luck with? I don't mind paying more for something solid but I want to make sure it's legit if I'm going to make that kind of commitment.


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

Usually they are all mil spec available at an army/navy store or such.


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## 786737 (Mar 13, 2015)

leeboh said:


> Usually they are all mil spec available at an army/navy store or such.


We received a catalog the other day for this survivalist place in L.A. and it has an ad for a $19 German tri-fold shovel:

https://www.majorsurplus.com/german-tri-fold-shovel.html

Used, very good condition. It folds down really small. Shipping is $7. Not shown in the listing, but it comes with a vinyl cover.

They also have a pick shovel like the one in the pic I posted above for $30.

I don't know how my wife got on this mailing list (better watch my back).


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## Boris Badenov (May 31, 2015)

The only tool you would need to do a variety of trail maintenance projects.









It can break down into two pieces for packing. The hickory handle is strong enough to allow using it to pry several hundred pound boulders out of the ground. It will cut through roots. It does a far better job of digging than any shovel.









This is the folding limb saw I carry in my hydration pack on every ride. It is compact and easy to grab without removing my pack. The rusted wooden corona saw in the picture above is really a poor choice. The wooden handles become dried out and brittle and break apart. Those blades don't have the same style teeth as this model. If you purchase it at Home Depot, save the box it comes in. When it finally becomes dull, try getting aggressive with it in a particularly sappy tree and you will bend and then break a piece of the blade off. Then return it for a free replacement. They have a lifetime guarantee.









These boots are my favorite tool of all. I built over 50 feet of trail the other day down into and then out of a dry wash and after cutting a bench with my pick mattock, I moved all the material downslope with my Rocky Jungle Hunter boots. I knock rocks loose with them and perform a task I like to call potato farming. You use your boot to work the surface of the trail tread, evening out the soil, while feeling for those sub-surface loose rocks that you want to remove prior to packing the soil. No hot spots ever in these boots. They'll knock down brush and thorns won't penetrate them. Very grippy sole.









The other tool I keep in my hydration pack is a pair of quality Fiskar hand pruners. They'll bite through a 1" tree branch. Sadly, I lost mine last week while riding down a steep trail over rough terrain. I rode back to look alongside the trail and never found them. Goodbye old friend.


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