Dig stoke, who else likes to play in the dirt???

[SkiLyft]

Dirts been killer to work with here in Spokane.

Tonight’s sunset was




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[bagtagley]

Any suggestions for where I can find a McLeod? Local hardware and building supply stores have no idea what I’m talk about and no joy at the big box stores.

[toast2266]

Any suggestions for where I can find a McLeod? Local hardware and building supply stores have no idea what I’m talk about and no joy at the big box stores.

Just order straight from rogue.

[teledad]

Firefighting equipment sites have them: https://www.fire-etc.com/7144/

[bagtagley]

Just order straight from rogue.

Wow, so many options. I’ve always used a McLeod for trail work. If I’m stashing one tool for solo trail work, what do y’all recommend?

[jamal]

The rogue hoe mini mcloed thing is pretty rad. Digs and cuts much better, but doesn't smooth and rake and move dirt as well. I don't find myself grabbing the regular mcloed very often these days now that we have a few of those things. Depends what we're doing though. Cutting new trail I usually grab the rogue hoe and a pulaski. Finishing work i like the regular mcloed and a flat shovel.

now that i'm looking at all their shit, this one

https://roguehoe.com/product/70hr54/

[kootenayskier]

Wow, so many options. I’ve always used a McLeod for trail work. If I’m stashing one tool for solo trail work, what do y’all recommend?

The standard fire crew McLeod works just fine, but there are better options. Rogue make pretty much every combination and configuration of McLeods, hoes, and heavy duty rakes, which all have their pros and cons, depending what you’re trying to accomplish and in what sort of ground. My crew have and use pretty much all of them, but when I want just one tool for various maintenance tasks, this one is my current favourite:

https://roguehoe.com/product/100cr/

[jackstraw]

The rogue hoe mini mcloed thing is pretty rad. Digs and cuts much better, but doesn't smooth and rake and move dirt as well. I don't find myself grabbing the regular mcloed very often these days now that we have a few of those things. Depends what we're doing though. Cutting new trail I usually grab the rogue hoe and a pulaski. Finishing work i like the regular mcloed and a flat shovel.

now that i'm looking at all their shit, this one

https://roguehoe.com/product/70hr54/

Yeah, I wish I could find the Rogue local. The shipping charge is brutal.

I have this Mcleod. I think I got free shipping somehow several years ago when I bought. Did not buy from this site...I forget where I got it from. Looks like the orange box store has them too -
https://toolsfortrails.com/products/nupla-mcleod

For where I build, I usually start with my hands and saws moving larger stuff, then a blower, then the mcleod and a small rake, like a shrubbery rake. I tend to use a Mattock quite a bit and I really like the 6' digging bar, but that is a bitch to get out to the trail. The Rogue would sub for the Mattock and Mcleod, but not always.

Everything possible in a fiberglass handle so you can stash and not worry about it rotting/weakening.

[toast2266]

Wow, so many options. I’ve always used a McLeod for trail work. If I’m stashing one tool for solo trail work, what do y’all recommend?

Kinda depends on your dirt and what you're actually doing. For a lot of stuff around me, I don't actually find the rake side of the McLeods all that useful. I use a 70h (7" hoe with an axe handle) for probably 90% of the trail I build.

But if you're doing maintenance as opposed to building, you'd probably want something different.

[teledad]

Cutting new trail I usually grab the rogue hoe and a pulaski. Finishing work i like the regular mcloed and a flat shovel.

This. I like the Rogue 70H (without the rake) for rough-in work. It's tough enough to chop roots and pry out smaller rocks without having to switch to the Pulaski (which I'll use for bigger stuff). Also works for compaction. For finish work and maintenance I'll use a McLeod, or even a garden rake.

Gempler's has some of the Rogue stuff at cheaper shipping costs: https://gemplers.com/products/rogue-...ree-sides-hoes

Nice to see people getting after it already. We've still got 6+ feet of snow on the trails but I'm starting to think about spring maintenance and summer projects.

[evdog]

I like the FB70H. Only sharp along one edge and the blade edge is pretty flat. Smaller head and heavier weight than a mcleod makes it better for tamping IMO. And way better for cutting/digging in. Plus its only $50 and lasts forever.

Last time I ordered 2. Don't recall shipping being that bad. Get together with friends and order a few.

[jackstraw]

Right now all we need is chainsaws. Whata pia. Heavy winds wreaking havoc lately and more in the forecast.

[bagtagley]

Thanks for the input, folks. This is for benching goat paths roughed in by runners. Saw work is mostly done, now I have to make it not suck on a bike.

[jackstraw]

Gaining. So much rock and so little dirt makes it an arduous process.

[evdog]

No digging today. With recent rains and now warm temps the PO is exploding. Today was step 1, nuke from orbit.

[LeeLau]

Shar built Greenland 11 years ago as mellow xc route so we could keep ass dry. Now we've punched in downhills leading to it so the trail sees more wear.

Spent a good chunk of last fall and this spring narrowing the trail, fixing holes and making it climbable both ways.

Typical work. Found big Rock. Figured out how to use it in high wear section. Buried the rock. Used rock and soil to raise trailed over roots

[LeeLau]

One of the more DH trails in the area.

I can ride the Max Wang rockface but the exit is janky af and I knew people would tomahawk off the end. Plus the more mellow line is to wrap around the stump bu t to make the turn you have to nose endo. And I knew most would fuck that up so may as well preemptively dumb it down

Pic 1 Max Wang when I started clearing the line. But before it was rideable

Pic 2 Max Wang is rideable but the runout is highly tech so I thought it best to create a platform. Some yellow cedar had fallen close by so used it to create a crib into the steep bank of picture left

Pic3 backfilled crib with rock and also buried cedar chunks

Pic 4. Dumbed down.

[LeeLau]

Went to town on this last stubborn mudhole on Greenland which kept silting up. Made it ebike gravel grind friendly.

Pic 1. Its a broad pit with our sump off to the side plugged by a buried log.

Pic 2. Dug out the mud exposing to mineral soil and conveniently leaving space for a drain to the sump and a spot for rocks.

Pic 3. Filled drain with cribbed rock

Pic 4. More rock cribbing. More dirt

Pic 5. Dug out sump carving off silted organic. Sump was still full of mineral soil which then got put on trailbed. Once dirt topped trail then sloped so it drains to sump. Grabbed various random greenery from trailside to make works items look semi presentable

Pic 6, 7, 8. Taken from other side (trail is bidirectional) showing rocked in drain

[LeeLau]

Ground work can be so mundane but ultimately necessary.

Fixed up some corners on a trail that will be used by bikes, dogs, and walkers. The corner was too tight so cribbed the outside, built that up then flattened the turn and finally renaturalized the inside. PIC 1, 2 and 3.

Then threw some (a lot) of dirt on another section that was getting eroded and exposing roots. Pic 4 and 5

[jackstraw]

Ground work can be so mundane but ultimately necessary.

So much work for 1/2 a second of travel time!

But so satisfying every time you ride that section now and everyone else has no idea what it took to make that section flow as well as it does.

I had one little turn section in between two super tight trees...all of 4 feet long. Big roots were exposed and it was just annoying. It could throw your bars into the trees. So I filled with rock and dirt. Took me a while because there was no dirt available close by. I did find some nice flat rocks that fit in between the roots once I had the fill up high enough. It's lasted for several years now, but I swear nobody knows or remembers what it was like previously.

[LeeLau]

Our quest to keep your bums dry continues

Pic 1. Puddle in centre of trail annoyingly cannot drain to our sump as its been dammed by chunks of organic falling from trees.

Pic 2. Not pictured is my digging the sump all the way to China on picture right. That then yields mineral soil which goes onto the trail bed. Then breach the organic dam to move the Puddle from centre of trail out to the sump. When it stops snowing, we'll dig out the sump more, use the rocks piled to the side of the trailbed to raise the trail, and put more soil on top of the trail for max dry but

PIc 3 and 4. Drainage pics from the other angle

[klauss]

Worked on some jank berms on the local neighborhood trails. First pic is new trail going in and second pic was different trail completed in fall

[LeeLau]

Worked on some jank berms on the local neighborhood trails. First pic is new trail going in and second pic was different trail completed in fall

Nice. I've got to get better at shaping. Usually get impatient and leave them too flat

[klauss]

Just picked this up from a local shop (Urban Wheeler for pdx mags) that has donated a lot of tools for the neighborhood dig spot.

I’d like to mount it to the vehicle to get some G.O.T.O.S. points. Don’t want her getting dirty.

[toast2266]

Grabbed a mini-ex from a friend and have been reworking the backyard jumps for the last few days. Made the bigger line bigger so that it works better at "trail speed," and added a new smaller line. The line goes into a rolly pump track section after the main jump, and that all got re-worked as well. Eventually that section will merge into a pump track, but that's a project for another time. Almost done with this round of work, but still have some raking and packing to do.