TRX250R.ORG
General => Lounge => Topic started by: GO OVRIT on July 20, 2013, 10:04:26 PM
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It's not actually my land, but my best friends. He has 52 acres that we cut a few miles worth of trails on and an open field around 10 acres that our track is on. It is located just over a mile off the road and in the edge of over 3000 acres that my hunt club rents/manages. One way in is cabled. The other way in is over 5 miles of hunting roads and a minimum of 3 cables depending which route you take. We basically ride sunday afternoons and random other days when we can. Somehow there are random people riding there lately almost every day. Sometimes people will show up while we're there and try name dropping to justify their being there. It got to the point about 5 years ago that we flattend the track and completly quit riding there. Some guy on a dirt bike broke his neck and none of us had ever seen him before. Turns out he lived an hour away and heard about the place from some guy on exriders that we didn't know either. Luckily he nor anybody else tried to sue. Its a huge safety liability and lately has also been plagued with thieves. Somebody stole a bunch of 4"angle iron I took out there for building bridges, a charcoal grill, a pull behind roller, and a water trailer I was building to wet the track. We have No Trespassing signs and cables and it seems to be getting worse. What else can we do short of camping out there with a 12 gauge? It would be ashame to have to shut it down again. We have a lot more invested this time to try flattening it again. I buried some pretty good sized boats this time for the table tops. Any tips that won't get me arrested are greatly appreciated.
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I had a post then decided a pm would be better...lol
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That's a pretty good idea. Might give that a try.
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build a fence is about the only reasonable solution. might be expensive though.
john
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I had a post then decided a pm would be better...lol
Now you all got our curiosity going and then............
I almost died when I was 12 riding my yamaha 60 in the field across the street. Another cyclist saw me and came over to ride the trail I made. Head on collision around a blind corner. I had the throttle pinned. Punctured my intestines with the handle bars and spent a month in the hospital. The doctor spent all night going through every inch of my intestines to find the 2 holes. He was having a bad day and just about gave up.
Nothing you can do on public property. Even on private property putting up tripping wires will get you sued.
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definitely do not do anything that could lead to injury or death. some a-hole pounded a steel pipe into the ground on a trail and my good friend hit and and nearly lost his foot. broke his ankle so bad it was hanging on by only skin. not that you would do that but frustration can push reasonable people over the edge. sorry if this was insulting. no harm intended.
john
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Lets just say that making sure they get flat tires everytime they illegaly ride on your property is a sure way to make it so they will not come back again.
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Booby traps are illegal and immoral. You have to actively patrol the land, no way around it.
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It is not technically a booby trap and not illegal. Trespassing is however illegal (and immoral) and when someone is illegaly on your property engaging in an activity that can cause them harm (like riding) through no fault of your own and your are in a postition to be held liable for their injuries you are immune in most staes from prosecution since the offender is trespassing.
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I definately don't want to do anything that is unsafe. We've got hundreds of tires setup as barriers and guides for the track, to try and keep people from skipping parts and wind up going the wrong way. We have some fencing where it's feasible. We have No Trespassing signs around the property line and "Be on property at own risk" signs around the track. Several of our core group brings young kids out there to ride and when somebody shows up that's not looking out for the kids it can get a little scary. Aside from the safety aspect, it takes a lot of time to keep a track groomed. It takes a lot to get me mad, but when I spend 4-5 hours on a saturday morning getting the place in shape and sunday afternoon when I get there to ride the place is paralysed.....:fighting0061:
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I hear you about the possibility of blind corner accidents. I was even cautious about them and got into one--unfortunately the guy coming the other direction was not. I was on my Raptor, slowed down because it was a blind corner, and a guy in a buggy came barreling down the trial in the opposite direction. I flew through his windscreen and stopped with half my body in his front seat. I was lucky I had my helmet on because my head apparently hit the roll cage and deflected off. My handle bars and steering stem were bent forward because my knees hit them and my frame was severely damage. In the end it was about an $1800 dollar accident, e.g., new frame, new shock, etc. Looking back I'm just glad I had my helmet on. I don't know if it would have killed me but it would have been bad. Nowadays I nearly stop at every blind corner.
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"Be on property at own risk" signs around the track.
Get rid of these, I can understand where you come from but the moment you put these signs up i personally would take it as fair game to ride the land, its what it implies to me. I would bet more then one person looks at it the same way. We had a local track at home that had no trespassing and ride at your own risk signs, but we were allowed to be there so having both signs up can throw out a confusing message.
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I agree about the signs sending a mixed message, but my vote counts a little less since my buddy owns the land. It didn't look too bad today. I guess the upper 90s and high humidity kept them away this week. I didn't really feel like riding very long either.
Puma and christph, glad you both came out alright. Do you still ride on 2 wheels Tony?
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try something on the trail in that might flatten their tires but you will have to remember not to hit it yourself.
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I had this happen, only private property and it was sleds riding at night during deer hunting season. Boy was I pissed. I layed down some logs where they were coming in and out and put up no trespassing signs. Was about all I could do.
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fence, no trespassing signs, get the law enforcement involved, and spend some time out their heavily monitoring the place for a couple weeks and kicking out people not welcome. they should get the message.
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Trail cameras. this way you can find out where they are getting in and what time they are arriving. Plus when/if you catch them in the act you have proof and call the police.
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This is a big problem everywhere. It makes it to where you cant have your own trails and do what you want on your own land for fear of being sued by someone that was never invited. Fencing off your property can be a huge cost. Stinks for sure.
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How about some of those cheap fake cameras with signs that say property under video surveillance.
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I gave my buddy a nice game cam for Christmas, but he's a little leary of leaving it out there for fear of it getting stolen. They're easy to hide from deer, but not as easy to hide from people. We're both also leary of general calls to the sheriffs office not because we're doing anything illegal, but because its hard to convince some of our county officials that it's strictly personal use. They have shut down enough similar situations for lack of permits. We're fine as far as zoning, but they could make us go through all the red tape of land disturbance permits made more complicated by the fact that there are running streams on the property that miles downstream feed into the Chesapeak Bay's tributaries. I guess like some of you have said, patroling it more is about it.
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Put up a sign that says "You must pay to use the track" than if anybody call's you'll know if someone is there & you can go kick them off the property. It's unlikely though that people would call especially if the bone head's are thieves & already stealing from you anyway.
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just approach these folks and say whats up. the bottom line is people know its there and there will always be intruders. here in mass we ride on private land and trails that are owned by snowmoblie clubs the tracks by the railroad and state forests. if someone shows up its every man for them selfs. its just the way it is. it sucks but these are our only options to ride.
the word is out about your riding area and it will always be. good luck on keeping out the unwanted. they probably don't have any other place to ride and they will keep passing the word on to others. they don't see it like you do it may not be there land but they still want to ride so they take the chance if they don't they can't ride. if it were you what would you do. not opposing you at all. just saying
thank you
Douglas
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The stealing of the metal is probably from scrapers
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Get rid of the "ride at your own risk" signs as stated above. Find out where they are gaining access and put down some simplex nails. If there are multiple entry trails then, If you have to, put up a barrier of some sort that will funnel the illegal traffic into one spot. Then focus on that area in particular. Four tires full of nails is the best way to convey to someone that "you're not welcome here". It worked for me. Getting bureaucrats/ police involved will only lead to a bunch of red tape and you may end up being the one who has to sneak into your own track to ride it. Goodluck!
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Land mines
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You and your friends that legally own the land, have rights, whatever, should just take some random nice days off work, or the weekends you go to ride, call the local authorities and advise them to be in the area for arresting trespassers and impounding bikes..It sucks having to miss work, and be that way with people, but once you bust a few and machines get impounded, word will get out REAL fast and they will stay away.
And cops love revenue, and impounding equals money to them.
Personally, I would stay away from doing anything to damage others equipment or cause injuries.
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Being an insurance man myself, my first thought is the property owner needs to get the biggest umbrella policy he can get. Although i'd say 2 million should be enough, you never know. But huge risks here.
I have many ideas here, some a great, some are just kind of funny.
My initial response was, if people are coming mainly to ride on the "track" part if with the jumps, is it possible to somehow fence it off(even with cheap stakes and chicken wire, and put arrows to 1 main entrance where you charge for entry and have them sign a liability waiver, i understand you dont have the time to sit there and monitor, but an idea none the less.
I like the idea of fencing off the entrances or gating them(rather than cabling).
As much as i like the idea of nails, or spikes to pop tires, its not logical. People can sue for anything these days
I like Mosh22's idea, alot. although i hear what you are saying about the red tape and the local pd requiring a ton of paperwork, but it may be worth it.
Just sounds like a tough situation. Has there been any advancement in this?
Colin