Building a wedge kicker

This basic wedge type kicker is a good feature to start with for a couple of reasons: If you haven't done any digging before then it gets you used to shifting and shaping soil. Plus if you are new to freestlye and hitting kickers then little wedge kickers are good to start learning tricks on.

BTW, you can build wedge kickers from plywood and there are plenty of plans for out there else where on the internet and one here on rem. They are pretty handy to have about. You can stick a plywood kicker in your car and take it places or you can also shift it about in your park to create new lines. This article is all about building with soil, it's good to remember the thing with building with dirt is if the finished product is the wrong shape then it can be easily changed, and if you want it bigger you can just add some more dirt to it. You can't do that with a ply kicker once you have made it!

To start with you will need to decide where to site your kicker. You are going need to have it positioned so that has got a run in that gives you plenty speed. If you can, it's handy to have longer/steeper run in than you need, so when it rains or if you want to beast it, all you have to is hike a bit further up to get some more speed.

You are also going to need to have a sloping landing which is nice and wide and doesn't have any roots, stumps or rocks, which will hurt you if you slide into them. If the run in or landing is a bit off camber or if the run in is coved in long grass it doesn't matter, it's time to get the get the mattock out to strip the turf off the run in, if necessary. It doesn't seem to matter too much if you leave it on the landing, it makes for a softer landing. Next use the rake and the shovel to remove the lumps and bumps and level out the run in and the landing.

It's a good idea to start the foundation of the kicker before you get to involved in sorting out the run in and landing as it gives you somewhere to aim for when you are making the run in and keeps the landing in line with everything. It also means you can start heaping the soil up in the right place.

To build the foundation of your kicker, it's best to start off by piling up a collection of big rocks, rumble or logs, anything really; you know dogs, bodies, bits of old mountainboard ;) Basically anything which is big and solid and will provide a good solid base to your kicker. It's important to make sure your foundation is bigger than you want the finished kicker, bearing in mind you are going to want to build the kicker bigger than you think anyway because they shrink quite a lot when they dry out and they weather over time. It will also make it easier to hit if it's much wider than your board.

Ideally once you've got the foundation in place and heaped up you will then fill the gaps in with soil, ready to have more heaped on top. A good trick for the times when you are struggling to get enough soil to build the kicker with is to make the kicker mostly from a mixture of logs and soil. Another good way to create more soil is to dig the foundation of your kicker into the ground and then use the soil you have dug out for the surface of the kicker.

Ideally you want make your kicker out of pure soil with a solid base. As It makes the kicker less likely to end up �lumpy' as it settles and it will be easier to reshape if it's got a layer of soil on it.

Hopefully you should have good well packed down foundation with all the gaps filled soil, which should be just over twice as long as you want high and 3 or 4 board widths wide. ie if want a 2 foot (60cm) high kicker then it needs to be 4 foot long (120cm) and just over 3 foot wide (1m). As the name suggests, the kicker is going to look very wedge shaped. You should then shape it with a tapering curve from the run in, up to the knuckle, lip or point of your kicker.

It's good idea to make it slightly steeper than you want it. So when it dries out and packs down it should settle to about the right shape. When you are building your kicker up the best way is to do it in layers. So once you have made a good solid base the next stage is to cover it in soil, rake it into shape, pack it down then add the next layer of soil. If there is couple of you building it often works well if one person rakes and packs and the other gets the soil.

Once you have built the kicker up to where you want and you are happy with the shape, to finish it rake on some good top soil which hasn't got stones, rocks leaves or any other rubbish in it so the kicker has a nice and smooth riding surface. It is also a good idea to make sure it's nice and smooth were the kicker joins the run in. Sorry for the cheesy line, but if you have got it right the kicker should look like it has grown out the ground.

Wet it to settle it and now all you have to do is the really hard bit: wait until it's solid enough to ride without your tyres sinking into much!

That's it, happy landings!

words by Smilie, pics byWilz