could some one track it/if so how long would it take?

Question

if its a pre paid phone and the batteries are out and it obviously off

Answer 1

When the phone is off, it cannot be tracked. Tracing is done by triangulation from the base station/cell tower and the phone, but the phone has to be on for this.

When the phone is on, it probably takes just a few seconds. You don't need to be making/receiving a call for this to happen