Ice Buggy Cometh!!

The stars and planets finally aligned and I had a rare opportunity to try my buggy blades. Not very often mother nature gives me the opportunity to try this. Temps were extremely brutal but I couldn't let that get in the way. -4f temp and -25f wind chills was the flavor of the day. As you see in the video there was patches of bonded snow that wanted to slow me down. Def more resistance than I anticipated! Figured I was going to be over powered with the 6m Access but soon realized it was a comfortable size given the little extra resistance on the ice. No speed records broken but I was able to put on 60 miles and had a permagrin when the day was done

https://youtu.be/uswKroGapV8

Picture of the blades for any curious minds

most excellent. what is the white material the blade is sandwiched? no ice near me but I need to set up a snowboard or ski type set up.

Quote: Originally posted by Cheddarhead

Picture of the blades for any curious minds

That is one gorgeous "home brew" buggy! I love the geometry around the seat. It looks both comfy and secure. Did you make it yourself? What sort of wheels do you mount on it in the warmer months?

Who made or where did you get the blades?

I actually passed up on a FREE set that was on the raffle table after winning a choice as my # was called at WWBB. I said to myself,' let someone else have them...I'll use my ice skates'.

Had some regrets about that... But not too much. Prefer to use my legs..better work out. skate are so compact for transport. Could backpack into a remote lake w skates.

But...with all that said... would still love to try buggy & blades set up!

You can hold an edge by ANGULATION with ice skates. You can't angle any edge in the buggy.

Here's Paul(Doublespeed360) with his set up a few years back.

Paul said side skid happens with too much power.

So the answer to 'How does it corner?' is...not too good!

Quote: Originally posted by skimtwashington

Who made or where did you get the blades? I actually passed up on a FREE set that was on the raffle table after winning a choice as my # was called at WWBB. I said to myself,' let someone else have them...I'll use my ice skates'. Had some regrets about that... But not too much. Prefer to use my legs..better work out. skate are so compact for transport. Could backpack into a remote lake w skates. But...with all that said... would still love to try buggy & blades set up! You can hold an edge by ANGULATION with ice skates. You can't angle any edge in the buggy. Here's Paul(Doublespeed360) with his set up a few years back. Paul said side skid happens with too much power. So the answer to 'How does it corner?' is...not too good!

Thanks Skim! The inability to tilt the blades was exactly what I was thinking about. I use to ice skate a lot as a teenager and know only too well how pleasant it feels to corner without the right lean... Ouch. Much like catching a downhill edge on skis. Everything's fine right up to the instant when everything isn't anymore.

Quote: Originally posted by markite

Hey nice ride, the lake and buggy look great. How were you doing on your first few turns? I usually do a down turn and follow the kite around to power through the turn - friends I let use the buggy usually start off doing the common upward turn but run under the kite so the lines slacken and then there is the danger of riding over lines. Thanks for the ride that was fun to get that feeling sitting there riding along, I hope you get good conditions for more runs. We finally have thick enough ice over the last few days and was looking forward to getting the ice buggy out and then today we had a big dump of snow so I'll have to look to see how much stuck on the lake - probably a bit too much for the blades now but good for the bugs with skis and snowboards.

Thanks Mark! The first few runs/turns were a matter of feeling out how the blades felt and how they would react. Also put on a few miles slowly scouting the area for any unexpected cracks or ice shoves that can spoil your day. The snow patches actually helped to scrub off speed so I could turn around without outrunning the kite. Nice to have that much room to work with:D I was extremely paranoid about running over my lines:o First couple turns were slow with upturns of the kite but quickly found down turning kept the lines under tension much better. The front blade was a little tough to turn corners when going slow. Always wants to track straight and bite. No problems with sliding sidways. Had it up on two blades a couple times when a sudden gust hit:o

I made the blades from 1/4 inch stainless plate sharpened to a 45 degree point. Not flat like an ice skate. I did a little reading on how the ice boaters do their blades and went from there. 45 degrees is a good all around edge that is pretty durable. Some guys do different edge angles according to ice surface conditions, I just wanted a generic blade angle to get me started:D Pretty hard to get a centered 45 degree edge without a large belt sander so I used the one at work after hours As far as the blade holders go, I used High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) which is plain ole cutting board and sandwiched the blades between them. I will say this, the blades are heavier than an elephant but pretty much indestructable.

Steve - The side rails and seat I got from Kent Kingston. The rest I cut by hand then had a shop fab it all together for me. As far as wheels, I run standard barrows since I'm always on grass.

Quote: Originally posted by markite

I found that when I sharpen my blades the ice buggy rides on rails - you can go really high upwind, hold an edge like a razor blade yet still kick it out to slough off speed if needed.

Very accurate. Never once did I have the blades slide sideways on me. Perhaps glass smooth ice would be a different story. I had plenty of "stuff" bonded to the ice so I tended to want to roll over before the blades would slip. I hear ice boaters talk about detuning the front and back portions of their blades. I simply had mine sharpened from tip to tail. Seemed to work fine like that.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

Does axle bolt fasten through blade as well or just the poly ethelyne

Fastens through the poly only. The 1/4 inch blade leaves a small gap between the two sheets of poly. I simply put a couple large washers in the gap where the 20mm bolt goes thru. Avoids bending the poly when everything is tightened up.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

Does axle bolt fasten through blade as well or just the poly ethelyne

The poly I used was 1 inch thick, so two chunks of this with a 1/4 inch blade sandwiched in between = REALLY heavy!