The lakes around here will be freezing soon so I'm going to be making some ice blades for the bug. I've read a couple old threads about making your own but haven't heard much about how they work. I have some HDPE (cutting board) material coming in the mail and will be making them out of this. I'm gonna sandwich some steel between the pieces for the blades. Any advice on length? Should the front blade be shorter than the rears to aid in steering? How thick should the blades be? I could only get 24 inch lengths so that will be the longest I can go. Any advice or pics from past builds would be great.

Rob

I have witnessed a 5 or 6 attempts at this in one form and another that didn't work well. You need perfect conditions. Ice isn't uncommon here but nice ice is ! Blades jam easy and don't like drifts.



The most simple and effective example I have ever witnessed working was the chains that Coolbbreeze put on his tires !
He could run on a lake that had good ice + flake ice + blown in sections without being toooooo disturbed by the terrain changes. It was the only time I have ever seen anybody take a buggy out and really get an all day ride in on a slightly blown in but icey lake before or since.

I know without a doubt that the chains are what I would invest in if I had interest in taking my buggy out on frozen lakes. I have seen some real smart looking blades and skis fail. I have only ever seen Coolbreeze make a good day of it with his chains. Others fell short for one reason and another.

The second best attempt I have seen involved a straight up barrow wheeled buggy on a snowy lake but that is a slightly different topic.

I am not saying to stop your build. Just hoping to add some insight into what I have seen tried around here. Your lakes are no doubt different than ours. The Dutch show clearly that a good set of blades will do an excellent job . Some " cracks " show up in the set up but who isn't inspired watching them tear it up out there ! Lac Des Arcs outside of Calgary sets up for perfect ice blade conditions but it is pretty unique and it doesn't always last long. Snagging those perfect ice conditions will be your big challenge. Best of wishes on the build and conditions coming out perfect !

:bigok:

Thanks for the insite Blade, it's somethin I don't mind tinkerin with even if the success rate is proven to be low. I realize that the good ice window is very small, if at all. I always have my trusty skis to fall back on.

Xxtreme puts fat skis (cut down snowboards) on the Apexx that have a fin in the middle of them. They seem to work in the snow, not sure if they would work on ice. You could possibly use a blade as a fin, then find the perfect height of the ski above the fin to make the setup able to go over both ice and snow.

Peter Lynn has designed bendable skis. Not sure if these would work on ice either, but if you put some sharp edges on them they might.

How about a combo of the two. Bendable skis, with matching bendable blades that attach either side of each ski. :eureka::piggy::piggy:

The fin on the bottom of a ski is a really good idea, as long as you have enough snow. By far the largest challenge is coming up with something that matches the conditions your going to be riding on. Ice conditions can change daily and seems like no one type of ski/runner/blade will do it all. A person almost has to have a quiver of devices for the buggy or your looking at a small window of opportunity to ride. It's fun to experiment non-the-less.

what about snowmobile skis cut down? some have carbides on them that would carve the ice fairly nicely.

Claude aka FMF and Patrick aka Snowspider each made a cool set of blades. I am working on a new set for myself and TheKidd next week. I have the composit for the uppers and the stainless for the blades. Just need to settle down and do it.
I made a set two years ago from snowmobile blades. Worked ok on clean ice but not at all when it got snow on it. Also didn't hold a line to well.

A lot really depends on conditions you have - and in most places around here they change all the time. It's rare that we get any clean smooth ice days, only a few times in the last handful of years. More often crusty snow, or rugged ice, or deep dry snow or deep wet snow or patchy etc. Blades are great but you need good conditions so a mix of ski with an edge will give more range
The snowmobile skis work good in a lot of conditions but wet heavy snow and it's no go. Buggy weight also makes a difference. The smaller lighter buggies ride easier in mixed conditions and going to a bigger buggy then you need a wider ski or snowboard to distribute the weight. I keep thinking a snowboard built like and ocean rodeo mako board would be great. a concave board so that it runs on the edges when needed without needing to tip it on edge, then still flat and channeling the snow.
I have a buddy that makes his own boards and snowboards and made his own buggies but no time to experiment with making custom buggy specific boards/skis.

I bet if you build a snow board with a tri hull style ( as in long center blade and then on either side a cove with a blade on each outer edge) it would be a beast. Just figuring out what angles and blade heights would be a pain. But it would cut an edge I bet!!

This guy used plastic snowmobile race skis on a libre buggy with some success on snow.


See thread on extremekites

Nylon on snow is great. I made mine with the old metal skis. These almost look like PL skis.

I have been using blades for three years and have some insight as to design ideas. The blades that I made have a contact length of 11". All of the blades are the same length and are on carriers that are made to duplicate the ride height with tires. The blade material is CroMoly partially hardened 3/16 steel 4" strip ground flat. I sharpen them @ 90 degrees using a jig and a combination of files and diamond hones. They must be very sharp! If I were to change something, it would be to lengthen the rear blades by about 2". If the blades are too long,you can't turn as small a radius as you need to jibe well without sliding the rear end. Sliding the rear doesn't do good things for the sharpness of the blade.
Riding technique is pretty much the same. On good ice there is very little friction and even a small kite will deliver good drive. The coasting distances are much greater so the timing of a jibe must be adjusted or you run the risk of overrunning the kite. Slack line that you would run over with tires get sliced off with blades. The ice has to be good with little or no snow which we usually get several times a year. When it's otherwise I get on the skiis. I like the chain idea, as being the simple answer to a wider range of conditions. Let's see...the wife's not using her bike right now,that chain and some screws might be just the thing...

Quote:

Originally posted by TEDWESLEY I have been using blades for three years and have some insight as to design ideas. The blades that I made have a contact length of 11". All of the blades are the same length and are on carriers that are made to duplicate the ride height with tires. The blade material is CroMoly partially hardened 3/16 steel 4" strip ground flat. I sharpen them @ 90 degrees using a jig and a combination of files and diamond hones. They must be very sharp! If I were to change something, it would be to lengthen the rear blades by about 2". If the blades are too long,you can't turn as small a radius as you need to jibe well without sliding the rear end. Sliding the rear doesn't do good things for the sharpness of the blade. Riding technique is pretty much the same. On good ice there is very little friction and even a small kite will deliver good drive. The coasting distances are much greater so the timing of a jibe must be adjusted or you run the risk of overrunning the kite. Slack line that you would run over with tires get sliced off with blades. The ice has to be good with little or no snow which we usually get several times a year. When it's otherwise I get on the skiis. I like the chain idea, as being the simple answer to a wider range of conditions. Let's see...the wife's not using her bike right now,that chain and some screws might be just the thing...

Thanks for the insite, pretty much the same thing I'm building but my composite I ordered is in perpetual "checking stock" mode. Been a month since I placed my order, must be having issues with supply or somethin. Never had a single issue with these people until now. Local lake freeze-up is real soon so I hope things can move along or it will be next year for a test.