Innovations in Mechanized Trailbuilding

Cutting edge machinery for building recreational trails.

by Tony Boone, COO, Timberline TrailCraft, Zachi Anderson

Innovative, cutting edge machinery for building recreational trails has revolutionized the trail industry over the past 30 years, from specialized trail dozers and miniature excavators to crawler carriers and ATV/AWD moto harrows. The advantages of small earthmovers are unrivaled, allowing significantly faster rates of construction, increasing profit and productivity by requiring less hand work by laborers or volunteers, and sculpting a more consistent tread and compaction.

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About the Authors

Tony Boone is a pioneer in the evolution and art of planning and creating sustainable trails for mountain bikers, hikers, runners, and equestrians, having completed over 400 successful trail projects encompassing fifteen U.S. states and nine countries. His accomplishments include the first official mountain bike patrol in Colorado in 1989, training eight International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Trail Care Crews (1997-2011), inspiring and conducting mechanized trail dozer training for IMBA Trail Solutions (2001), and contributing to three IMBA books: Trail Solutions: IMBA’s Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack, Managing Mountain Bikes: IMBA’s Guide to Providing Great Riding, and Bike Parks: IMBA’s Guide to New School Trails. During his career, Tony has taught over 3,000 students worldwide the art of sustainable trail design, construction, and management.

Currently, Tony is the owner of Tony Boone Trails and the Business Development Specialist for Timberline Trailcraft. Tony holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Animal Science, and a Master of Education focused in Outdoor Adventure Recreation.

Contact: [email protected]

Zachi Anderson has been a builder for many years and a lover of trails. Besides building a variety of surface and design types, he is a mason and woodworker and introduces character features like stone arched bridges to his projects when possible.

Contact: [email protected]

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