Pinewood Derby Tracks

[bgunther 10]

We are a small pack in Frankfurt, Germany with a very old pinewood derby track. Of the 4 lanes, 1 is broken completely and 1 causes cars to jump. We are looking to replace it. I am looking for experiences with purchased tracks - wood, plastic and aluminum. The plastic track is very interesting due to lower shipping costs. Any advice would be useful.

 

 

[nldscout 18]

3 yrs a go we purchased a wood track from http://www.pinewoodderbytrack.com . Very well built and should last long after I am gone. I have a personal preference for wood tracks. Metal and plastic just don't look right.

[OneHour 11]

Two years ago, our pack bought the aluminum track from Best Track (http://www.besttrack.com/) 6 lanes, 35', for about $1400 (includes timer, gates, software, stop tracks, and shipping). We have been fairly happy with it. The aluminum track is fast. To win first overall in our Pack, it went from an average time of 5.45 seconds on the wooden track to 3.86 seconds on the aluminum. The setting was easy after the initial assembly. Right after we bought ours, they came out with gentler curve sections that is less harsh on the cars. Our curves popped some of back-heavy cars. There are several of previous threads on pwd.

 

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=17904

 

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=20589

 

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=51438

 

I'm not sure if aluminum is heavier to ship. Anyway, our Pack has been very happy with our aluminum track.

 

1Hour

 

 

[gpraceman 10]

Piantedosi Oars, http://pinewoodderbytrack.com, came out with a new aluminum track last year. For the curve, the aluminum "sags" like their plywood track does. This makes storage easier and makes for a better transition to the flat section for the cars. I think shipping weight would be less than with the BestTrack.

[fotoscout 15]

Ditto what OneHour said.

 

We are very happy with the new track. I does need more storage space than some of the other tracks available today.

 

Happy Racing!