Trail Marking

[X2700]

Officers love to sit in that small woods just after those nice open fields!!

Unfortunately I know all to well and i am a slow learner!!

Looks like alot of work.

Thanks again for all the hard work!!

Hopefully we will get to use them!!

[Bontz]

1 minute ago, X2700 said:

Officers love to sit in that small woods just after those nice open fields!!

Unfortunately I know all to well and i am a slow learner!!

Looks like alot of work.

Thanks again for all the hard work!!

Hopefully we will get to use them!!

You ain't kidding about the DNR liking those areas.  The big money maker in our area is actually the next section to the north, when you come out of Frontenac and go through that solar panel field and then cross County 2 into the next field.  That field has been a gold mine for the DNR in years past (got me about 10 years ago).  That's another re-route this year, too, FYI.  Instead of that trail crossing the one driveway and then back to County 2, it goes up the draw (staying to the north side of 2) and up to Mount Frontenac.  We'll have a Facebook post going up soon, with some pictures/updates to that area with the goal of keeping people off the old section of trail.

[X2700]

That’s good news.

that section just off hwy going up hill is always mud and rocks!!

you bypass this now correct?

yeah those sections on other side of solar farm are good traps!

I did always like that section when you cross back south and there’s that quick down hill!!

lots of air!!

[Bontz]

Just now, X2700 said:

you bypass this now correct?

Yep   That was a pretty crappy hill to deal with (not only riding it, but also trying to maintain it).

[01mxz800]

looks like a lot of you guys get plenty of help, our club has 145 miles of state funded trails and if we have 10 guys to do the work each year we're lucky, can't get the younger guys to get involved, our trail guys range in age from 50 to 78 years old, not sure how much longer the old guard can keep going

[Bontz]

20 minutes ago, 01mxz800 said:

looks like a lot of you guys get plenty of help, our club has 145 miles of state funded trails and if we have 10 guys to do the work each year we're lucky, can't get the younger guys to get involved, our trail guys range in age from 50 to 78 years old, not sure how much longer the old guard can keep going

Man, 145 miles??  That's close to 3x what we have to deal with and I can't imagine having only 10'ish guys taking on that work every year.  Sucks - sorry to hear that!  We've been fortunate to get some younger 30-somethings in the club the past few years, and thankfully they work well with our "veterans".  But I won't lie, we have a lot that tends to get done with the same 4-6 guys, too.  We do luck out and get at least a couple weekends where a crew of 12+ will show up to help get stuff done.

The "old guard" sure seems to be the common denominator among a lot of clubs though.  I hope the younger crowd wakes up and realizes it's going to take some effort from them to keep things going.

[01mxz800]

23 minutes ago, Bontz said:

Man, 145 miles??  That's close to 3x what we have to deal with and I can't imagine having only 10'ish guys taking on that work every year.  Sucks - sorry to hear that!  We've been fortunate to get some younger 30-somethings in the club the past few years, and thankfully they work well with our "veterans".  But I won't lie, we have a lot that tends to get done with the same 4-6 guys, too.  We do luck out and get at least a couple weekends where a crew of 12+ will show up to help get stuff done.

The "old guard" sure seems to be the common denominator among a lot of clubs though.  I hope the younger crowd wakes up and realizes it's going to take some effort from them to keep things going.

we are number 2 or 3 in the state for trail miles, we have tried many different ways to entice the younger crowd but they all think they're going to jump in the groomers and fuck the bull work and that don't fly well. we are shopping for another groomer as we are down to two but can't decide what we want, I want to go with 4 track tractor that we can pull tracks off in spring and use for trail work with tires on it to brush and what not

 

[Doug]

55 minutes ago, 01mxz800 said:

we are number 2 or 3 in the state for trail miles, we have tried many different ways to entice the younger crowd but they all think they're going to jump in the groomers and fuck the bull work and that don't fly well. we are shopping for another groomer as we are down to two but can't decide what we want, I want to go with 4 track tractor that we can pull tracks off in spring and use for trail work with tires on it to brush and what not

 

When we marked trails we were laughing that we finally got some young guys to help out.  They were in their mid 40's.

I'm in 2 clubs one around home and one by our cabin up Nth.  Around home that I help with grooming is mostly agriculture and we had 2 Cat Challenger's and now have 1 Challenger and a Quadtrac.  Over the past 2 seasons with the lack of snow for grooming the club has selectively rented them out to get income during the off season.

Up Nth in Northern Wisconsin which is mostly woods the club has a mix of Piston Bully's, Tractors with Soucey tracks and one tire tractor used primarily for brushing.  Depending on terrain with some swamps is the determining factor of what groomer is sent in what direction.

[Blackstar]

2 hours ago, 01mxz800 said:

looks like a lot of you guys get plenty of help, our club has 145 miles of state funded trails and if we have 10 guys to do the work each year we're lucky, can't get the younger guys to get involved, our trail guys range in age from 50 to 78 years old, not sure how much longer the old guard can keep going

I live in a populated area, 600-700,000 people locally. They get so many people wanting to help that they have to keep it quiet otherwise every dickhead with an ATV shows up. Its by invitation only. The last club I was with took care of 40 miles of trail. Easy to get 20-25 guys out on a couple Saturdays and the bulk of the staking and signage is done.

I'm with another club now. I sent a text to one of the main guys last week to let him know I'm available anytime from now until Christmas and I have my Kubota UTV here if needed. I don't expect a call. They have people to do what needs done.

[Sled_Hed]

3 hours ago, Bontz said:

Man, 145 miles??  That's close to 3x what we have to deal with and I can't imagine having only 10'ish guys taking on that work every year.  Sucks - sorry to hear that!  We've been fortunate to get some younger 30-somethings in the club the past few years, and thankfully they work well with our "veterans".  But I won't lie, we have a lot that tends to get done with the same 4-6 guys, too.  We do luck out and get at least a couple weekends where a crew of 12+ will show up to help get stuff done.

The "old guard" sure seems to be the common denominator among a lot of clubs though.  I hope the younger crowd wakes up and realizes it's going to take some effort from them to keep things going.

That's something I've thought about  before. I'm guessing many years back there was more clubs and that meant less miles maintained for each one. My old club was over 100 miles and it got to be plenty when it was only a couple people doing the work, and it was almost the same mileage on atv trails in the summer. 

[Mag6240]

Sometimes the guys that ride the trails need to go help out where they ride - we’ve done that a few times.  It really helps…

[01mxz800]

17 hours ago, Sled_Hed said:

That's something I've thought about  before. I'm guessing many years back there was more clubs and that meant less miles maintained for each one. My old club was over 100 miles and it got to be plenty when it was only a couple people doing the work, and it was almost the same mileage on atv trails in the summer. 

Currently we are 3 local clubs that merged into 1 big one.....on a bright note when the wheeler is on the trailer I am down to the last couple of miles on my section I can't run wheeler too due to a hunting club hunting so can't get through there until Xmas, which I signed earlier, light at the end of the tunnel 

[Doug]

1 hour ago, 01mxz800 said:

Currently we are 3 local clubs that merged into 1 big one.....on a bright note when the wheeler is on the trailer I am down to the last couple of miles on my section I can't run wheeler too due to a hunting club hunting so can't get through there until Xmas, which I signed earlier, light at the end of the tunnel 

We also go through a hunting clubs land/woods.  They've been good to work with and I normally take care of the marking and any brushing during early November.  Always call them ahead of time to make sure its good.  Only go during the week between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.

[01mxz800]

38 minutes ago, Doug said:

We also go through a hunting clubs land/woods.  They've been good to work with and I normally take care of the marking and any brushing during early November.  Always call them ahead of time to make its good.  Only go during the week between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.

I only have to put 8 signs between their gates and can sneak in through a powerline access trail and do it when I know they're not there

[poopooforme]

Gonna go out today and cut a big tree off my trail.  First year in three years that I didn't have to pound signs in through frost.  I sure like those skinny posts you use @Mag6240 got a line on where you got them?  Ours are stupid wide and fiberglass.  As for the club stuff goes we have 179 miles to take care of.  I have over 20 myself.  We also have a young person problem....  Even with all this equipment we still can't get people to help.  Well the weather probably doesn't help.  Lot of years I do all that work and never get to ride our trail system.  Sucks.  Here is the tree I get to mess with today.  

[Bontz]

That clubhouse is freaking awesome.  I wish we could make something like that happen.

[Mag6240]

47 minutes ago, Bontz said:

That clubhouse is freaking awesome.  I wish we could make something like that happen.

Just have to beat the Hockey parents to the Pull Tab game...

[Sled_Hed]

32 minutes ago, Mag6240 said:

Just have to beat the Hockey parents to the Pull Tab game...

Yep, I knew pulltabs were profitable but when I joined the club I learned just how much. 

[poopooforme]

Sometimes I think I would gladly trade the clubhouse for an old fashioned winter....  Sucks having all those resources and looking at the weather....  Those two Piston Bully's don't have 1000 hours between the two of them.  They are 10 years old...  Depressing.  Bought a new drag last year.  Didn't even use it...   

[Bontz]

2 hours ago, Sled_Hed said:

Yep, I knew pulltabs were profitable but when I joined the club I learned just how much. 

It depends, but for the most part gambling does have its advantages for the club.  But it's work, and people may not realize how much goes into it (people hours plus all the expenses). It's crazy though, to see how much money can be pulled in during a given month - and then you look at the payouts, expenses, and lawful expenditures, and your net result is peanuts (or in our case most recently, a net loss!!).

 

Back to the trail topic ... 

We're heading out tomorrow (if no rain) and running the trails with our club SxS's to get the GPS/mileage information into the DNR.  I didn't realize it until our Treasurer went to the regional meeting recently, that clubs are now responsible for reporting their mileage to the DNR?  We'd normally just report the same as what was used last year, but after a couple re-routes, we're going to GPS the whole thing.  I'm kinda looking forward to it, actually.  Heck - it may be the only time I get to "ride" our trails this season (God, I hope that's not the case)!

[Mag6240]

13 minutes ago, Bontz said:

It depends, but for the most part gambling does have its advantages for the club.  But it's work, and people may not realize how much goes into it (people hours plus all the expenses). It's crazy though, to see how much money can be pulled in during a given month - and then you look at the payouts, expenses, and lawful expenditures, and your net result is peanuts (or in our case most recently, a net loss!!).

 

Back to the trail topic ... 

We're heading out tomorrow (if no rain) and running the trails with our club SxS's to get the GPS/mileage information into the DNR.  I didn't realize it until our Treasurer went to the regional meeting recently, that clubs are now responsible for reporting their mileage to the DNR?  We'd normally just report the same as what was used last year, but after a couple re-routes, we're going to GPS the whole thing.  I'm kinda looking forward to it, actually.  Heck - it may be the only time I get to "ride" our trails this season (God, I hope that's not the case)!

Yeah we had a net loss of 2.6 miles this year, cost us almost $500 in grant money.

[Sled_Hed]

23 minutes ago, Bontz said:

It depends, but for the most part gambling does have its advantages for the club.  But it's work, and people may not realize how much goes into it (people hours plus all the expenses). It's crazy though, to see how much money can be pulled in during a given month - and then you look at the payouts, expenses, and lawful expenditures, and your net result is peanuts (or in our case most recently, a net loss!!).

 

Back to the trail topic ... 

We're heading out tomorrow (if no rain) and running the trails with our club SxS's to get the GPS/mileage information into the DNR.  I didn't realize it until our Treasurer went to the regional meeting recently, that clubs are now responsible for reporting their mileage to the DNR?  We'd normally just report the same as what was used last year, but after a couple re-routes, we're going to GPS the whole thing.  I'm kinda looking forward to it, actually.  Heck - it may be the only time I get to "ride" our trails this season (God, I hope that's not the case)!

That is interesting. Like you said when I was doing it, you used the number from previous years from DNR. As many rerouted as there have been recently its probably necessary. I know my old club was getting a grant in aid audit this fall too.

[01mxz800]

Another 2 miles done, 2 more to go

[01mxz800]

a few more from today

[Mag6240]

Looks like fun!  I enjoy being out there signing, or pulling as long as it’s not a mud fest.