Is Today A Good Example Where Track Covers Would Have Worked?

[Daytripper]

How much does an airfence cost and how much work is involved installing it before each meeting?

A complete air fence costs around 20k new, give or take a bit depending who you buy it from. It's not just putting it up , it needs labour to take down and put away. Each section is very heavy , and when folded and wet takes four men to lift and there are about 20-24 sections on the whole track I think.

 

I don't know how much an track cover weighs but I would imagine they are extremely heavy. I very much doubt that they could be thrown down and picked up at a moments notice. I don't know whether they can be put down using some kind of mechanical attachment on the tractor put I think it would all or mostly done by manual labour.

 

Think about it. Assuming they were stored round the back of the stadium then to get it all loaded onto a trailer, taken round to the track and properly laid out I would say it woukd take a team of say 8 track staff at least an hour maybe much more to get it all down, assuming you could get 8 blokes to take time off work that early in the day, before it rains, and if it rains before all the covers are down you are left with a track that is patchy. Then you have to get people to lift it all up again, possibly soaking wet if it has rained, andthe track curator still has to prepare the track for racing, which is not a 5 minute job. On top of all that you still have to find people to put the air fence up, erect the starting gate, clean the pits and all the other unpaid jobs that need doing by volunteers before the public arrive.

[Shale Searcher]

A complete air fence costs around 20k new, give or take a bit depending who you buy it from. It's not just putting it up , it needs labour to take down and put away. Each section is very heavy , and when folded and wet takes four men to lift and there are about 20-24 sections on the whole track I think.

 

I don't know how much an track cover weighs but I would imagine they are extremely heavy. I very much doubt that they could be thrown down and picked up at a moments notice. I don't know whether they can be put down using some kind of mechanical attachment on the tractor put I think it would all or mostly done by manual labour.

 

Think about it. Assuming they were stored round the back of the stadium then to get it all loaded onto a trailer, taken round to the track and properly laid out I would say it woukd take a team of say 8 track staff at least an hour maybe much more to get it all down, assuming you could get 8 blokes to take time off work that early in the day, before it rains, and if it rains before all the covers are down you are left with a track that is patchy. Then you have to get people to lift it all up again, possibly soaking wet if it has rained, andthe track curator still has to prepare the track for racing, which is not a 5 minute job. On top of all that you still have to find people to put the air fence up, erect the starting gate, clean the pits and all the other unpaid jobs that need doing by volunteers before the public arrive.

But the trackman would be there on raceday, and the owners, so that's 3 or 4 people, or are the owners exempt from a bit of hard work....

 

I reckon 4 people, 2 hours to put down, 6 to 8 people to take it up in less than 2 hours...

Speedway at all levels relies to much on volunteers, can you imagine a bloke running a business, and making money, and not paying its staff! Oh...........

[Steve Shovlar]

It think they realised they weren't needed, or at least the cost and faff wasn't warrented for the NSS.

John paid stadium rental whether we rode or not and that's where the vast majority of the quoted 3K went. We do not have that problem.

No but you have rain and to tonight could have been saved easily. In fact today would have been perfect for covers.

[Daytripper]

But the trackman would be there on raceday, and the owners, so that's 3 or 4 people, or are the owners exempt from a bit of hard work....

I reckon 4 people, 2 hours to put down, 6 to 8 people to take it up in less than 2 hours...Speedway at all levels relies to much on volunteers, can you imagine a bloke running a business, and making money, and not paying its staff! Oh...........

You reckon you'd see Matt Ford or David Gordon getting filthy dirty lugging track covers around ? Not to mention CVS.Cant see it myself !

 

Even on your estimates it means starting the job two hours before it rains, then it would have to stop by about three in the afternoon at the latest to start getting it all up and the track prepared for racing.

 

Seems uneconomic to me on a cost/benefit basis.

[stevebrum]

I have been asking CVS the covers question several times over the recent years and it's always the same response.

 

They ARE the saviour however the point he makes is the reality. It takes man power to put them down and up and more than a hour each time .

 

so if people really want them get your name down as a volunteer on a race night to try make this happen.

 

If you don't want to do your bit on the day then there isn't enough volunteers at the majority of clubs for this to be possible.

 

Let your club know you will offer to help out on the day (or day before) for this to ever become a reality of happening.

 

Otherwise there is no point saying they will save meetings without the help of the speedway fraternity.

Edited August 19, 2016 by stevebrum

[A ORLOV]

I have been asking CVS the covers question several times over the recent years and it's always the same response.

 

They ARE the saviour however the point he makes is the reality. It takes man power to put them down and up and more than a hour each time .

 

so if people really want them get your name down as a volunteer on a race night to try make this happen.

 

If you don't want to do your bit on the day then there isn't enough volunteers at the majority of clubs for this to be possible.

 

Let your club know you will offer to help out on the day (or day before) for this to ever become a reality of happening.

 

Otherwise there is no point saying they will save meetings without the help of the speedway fraternity.

Add to this the problem of where you store wet, heavy covers when you take them off the track. If there is no dog track they could be rolled up and left behind the track fence but most stadiums have dog tracks.

[topsoil]

I have been asking CVS the covers question several times over the recent years and it's always the same response.

 

They ARE the saviour however the point he makes is the reality. It takes man power to put them down and up and more than a hour each time .

 

so if people really want them get your name down as a volunteer on a race night to try make this happen.

 

If you don't want to do your bit on the day then there isn't enough volunteers at the majority of clubs for this to be possible.

 

Let your club know you will offer to help out on the day (or day before) for this to ever become a reality of happening.

 

Otherwise there is no point saying they will save meetings without the help of the speedway fraternity.

There are ways and means. If you really want to do something, you find a way. The first thing I would like to see clubs do is put out a call for volunteers to see if they are interested in doing it. Offer them an incentive like free entry to the meeting that night for the first dozen or so to turn up. Put the message out on local radio, if nothing else it gets a free bit of publicity as well.

Or perhaps one of the promotion or one of the sponsors knows labourers in the building trade or similar? If you can spare them a couple of hours work and you have the machinery to help them, get them involved. In the end it is going to help the promotion which they are involved in, they are the ones who ultimately benefit. That's what happened at Berwick for a GP qualifier a couple of years ago.

Or how about thinking out the box? Get in touch with the local unemployment office and offer a dozen or so of them a couple of hours work. Again sweeten the deal by offering them free admission to the meeting. A bit of PR in the local newspaper?

[Shale Searcher]

I have mentioned this before, but never really had a serious reply... But here goes.

 

Is there not something that could be sprayed onto a prepared and rolled/tyre packed track that would waterproof most of the racing surface? Even if it was a "pepper pot" finish, if it could prevent only 30% to 40% of the rain penetrating the surface, that would probably be enough protection....? Gordon Bennett, we can put people into space, transplant hearts... Surely we must be able to invent this???

[Rob B]

A complete air fence costs around 20k new, give or take a bit depending who you buy it from. It's not just putting it up , it needs labour to take down and put away. Each section is very heavy , and when folded and wet takes four men to lift and there are about 20-24 sections on the whole track I think.

I don't know how much an track cover weighs but I would imagine they are extremely heavy. I very much doubt that they could be thrown down and picked up at a moments notice. I don't know whether they can be put down using some kind of mechanical attachment on the tractor put I think it would all or mostly done by manual labour.

Think about it. Assuming they were stored round the back of the stadium then to get it all loaded onto a trailer, taken round to the track and properly laid out I would say it woukd take a team of say 8 track staff at least an hour maybe much more to get it all down, assuming you could get 8 blokes to take time off work that early in the day, before it rains, and if it rains before all the covers are down you are left with a track that is patchy. Then you have to get people to lift it all up again, possibly soaking wet if it has rained, andthe track curator still has to prepare the track for racing, which is not a 5 minute job. On top of all that you still have to find people to put the air fence up, erect the starting gate, clean the pits and all the other unpaid jobs that need doing by volunteers before the public arrive.

Good post, I have posted similar in the past, lot of people think it's just a matter of throwing a bit of plastic sheeting down but it isn't. I have been to Vojens several times when they have used them before GP's/World Cup, it takes at least 5-6 men to remove each wet section, fold it and then a fork lift truck was needed to lift each folded section onto a trailer, Vojens had about 13 people doing couple if sections at a time.

[stevebrum]

There are ways and means. If you really want to do something, you find a way. The first thing I would like to see clubs do is put out a call for volunteers to see if they are interested in doing it. Offer them an incentive like free entry to the meeting that night for the first dozen or so to turn up. Put the message out on local radio, if nothing else it gets a free bit of publicity as well.

Or perhaps one of the promotion or one of the sponsors knows labourers in the building trade or similar? If you can spare them a couple of hours work and you have the machinery to help them, get them involved. In the end it is going to help the promotion which they are involved in, they are the ones who ultimately benefit. That's what happened at Berwick for a GP qualifier a couple of years ago.

Or how about thinking out the box? Get in touch with the local unemployment office and offer a dozen or so of them a couple of hours work. Again sweeten the deal by offering them free admission to the meeting. A bit of PR in the local newspaper?

 

Again, excellent idea.

I'd say half price entry for those volunteering would be a good idea as can't imagine promoters would give free entry to a dozen people!

 

Engaging with your public is the best way to get assistance.

[A ORLOV]

Good post, I have posted similar in the past, lot of people think it's just a matter of throwing a bit of plastic sheeting down but it isn't. I have been to Vojens several times when they have used them before GP's/World Cup, it takes at least 5-6 men to remove each wet section, fold it and then a fork lift truck was needed to lift each folded section onto a trailer, Vojens had about 13 people doing couple if sections at a time.

Agreed, you just need to look at how many people they have pulling out the covers they have at Wimbledon for the tennis, they are very heavy and cumbersome.

[sparkafag]

But the trackman would be there on raceday, and the owners, so that's 3 or 4 people, or are the owners exempt from a bit of hard work....

 

I reckon 4 people, 2 hours to put down, 6 to 8 people to take it up in less than 2 hours...

Speedway at all levels relies to much on volunteers, can you imagine a bloke running a business, and making money, and not paying its staff! Oh...........

So you're advocating wages for what might or might not be 2/3 hours work.... Ashley got court for less than that

[Shale Searcher]

So you're advocating wages for what might or might not be 2/3 hours work.... Ashley got court for less than that

Ashley who? Court? Less than what?

Please expand?

[waiheke1]

So you're advocating wages for what might or might not be 2/3 hours work.... Ashley got court for less than that

Offering someone 10 quid an hour on race nights when it rains is hardly the same as running a sizeable business on zero hour contracts!?!