So I don't live near any beaches and so the only places I have to buggy are grassy fields and parking lots. The tires don't seem to matter on parking lots but I much prefer the grass when I make a mistake. I can roll forward on grass with the wind in 10-15mph winds but I have to really work the kite. I can go to the right or left but there is no way I can get even close to going upwind.

So the real question, how much does the shape of the tires affect buggying on grass and what would the best kind of tire be?

i'm listening as well
Paul

The tires will not compensate for lack of knowledge/skill. (I mean no disrespect in that comment and nothing personal towards you or your skills).

What I mean by this is that the tires have very little to do with your ability to go upwind. Generally, the ribbed tires will grab a little more on grass than the smoothies will but again that is very minimal (unless your on very wet grass, then it is very hard to get any kind of traction with either type of tire).

I think the best option for you is practice, practice, practice. You'll get it figured out eventually.

I have found that grass offers a lot more resistance than hard pack or asphalt. Because of this you will usually need to have a bit more power to get going than you would on the less resistant surfaces. More power will sometimes mean that you are being dragged down wind more, making it more difficult to get upwind. Also the type of kite you are using will effect the amount of upwind you can get. Example, the Yakuza has better upwind-ability than the Quattro. That being said, the Quattro still has the ability to get you upwind and a very skilled pilot might be able to get upwind better on the Quattro than a beginner on a Yakuza. It all comes down to time in the buggy and experience.

Basic instruction? - get a bit of speed built up heading on a cross wind tack, once you get a bit of speed and the kite starts to settle (you don't have to work it so hard to maintain speed), slowly turn the buggy upwind a little. You should be able to maintain the same speed and power (maybe even more). If you slow down to much then you either don't have enough power in your kite, the kite has too much brake line tension and is dropping back in the power zone too much - not on the edge where it should be, your kite isn't capable of going upwind because of design or you are pointing too far upwind.

Hope this helps a little.

Question? Can you get good upwind on the parking lot?

tires with a larger diameter have less rolling resistance thus making it a little easier to go upwind or down wind ,but most of it is finding the "line" and having a kite that can produce power on the windows edge. If your kite peters out at the edge ,it can be really hard. Try changing your angle in relation to the wind a little ,sometimes a few degrees can make a difference. I ain't no expert yet ,but I can go back and forth at will.( wind speed permitting) I've said it before and I'll say it again AAA AAA AAA it makes all the diff.!

I tried to buggy yesterday in miserable conditions. The wind every 10 minutes or so would kick up to maybe 5-6 mph. I was using my Blade and flying on a bermuda grass soccer field. This grass makes a mat and is mowed very short so it has low rolling resistance. I could roll along slowly and hold my line with the wind in maybe 5 mph winds. Twice the wind kicked up enough that my speed got high enough that I could feel the apparent wind kick into gear. I was riding my recently sold PL buggy with the std. barrow tires. In light winds i find it easier to hold my line or go upwind slightly using my momentum to get me through the short lulls. I didn't drift downwind any except for 10 feet or so to start rolling and then I'd cut up perp to the wind. In 15 mph winds I could've done the same thing with my Beamer 3m. So like kent said, you either have an issue with your kite, too much rolling resistance with your bearing/tire combo or you still have some basic skills to hone.

I know my skills are lacking, no offense there. I just seem to have a hard time getting much practice. I made the buggy and it certainly doesn't look like a PopeyTW buggy. I had smaller diameter tires on it that were narrower, 3 inches I think and it worked a little. They worked great on pavement but couldn't get upwind. I think that was skill at the time. The parking lot I was using is now too full to use so I have been trying with grass. I tried getting wider tires, 5 inch, and they don't seem any better on the grass. I wondered if I went the wrong way. I know I need more practice but it is hard when I keep taking long walks back up wind.
Thanks for the help.

What is your wheel diameter? If your wheels are really small it might be what prevents you from going upwind.

The diameter is 13 inches. They have a knobby tread on them as well. Here is a link.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnu...

The grass I have been riding on is not that short which causes some difference, but it isn't really very long.

Those wheels have bearings like my old wheelbarrow had. They could be causing quite a bit of drag. That combined with the higher grass could be holding you back too much to get upwind. With 15 mph winds, you should be saying "oh crap, how do I slow this thing down?"

I had those kind of wheels/ bearings when I first started,and that is exactly your problem. You need to get at least some 16" tires for wheelbarrows with rim and knock out the crappy bearings. Get some of those disposable chinese sealed bearings and stick em' in. you will be haulin azzz before you know it! WG

I have those tires on my buggy as my rears, stock bearings, on grass and have no problems at all, I have a lined tire as my front, and am planning on switching it out for one of those as it slips too much, I wind up doing a 180 and going backwards atleast once a session cuz that tire slips. :P The bearings work fine, except when I run over the backstop, and they are wet from the grass, they suck dirt in, and I can hear them grind on the way home everysession. They're gonna go soon anyways.

Imagine how fast you would go ,if you had high speed sealed bearings:wow:

this sort of applies to kiting. You aren't really competing with anyone but yourself but anyway. A coach told me something yesterday when we were talking about technology and sports. Baseball bats can be bought for $20 to over $400. There are advantages to having more expensive bats than the cheapest ones because they offer additional performance. The performance bump diminishes as you add more money. He said if your performance is going to suffer you want it to be due to your ability, not because of your equipment. How sad to go to a baseball tournament (kite field) and lose (not have a great day flying) not because you lacked talent but because your equipment wasn't up to the task. Having good bearings in your wheels isn't like the difference in price of a homemade buggy and a >$2000 custom buggy. You're only talking the equivalent of a meal at a burger place. Well, maybe two meals.

BB that sounds like good advice. I hope that better bearings will help. I found another parking lot to use but now there is no wind. Once I get more skilled maybe I will be able to do more on grass. Now I just need to get some hillbilly pants to protect my assets from the asphalt.
Thanks

stetson05 - when you say you can't get upwind, is it because you can't get enough pull to be able to turn up into the wind and keep moving, or are you getting too much pull (overpowered) and you're getting pulled sideways downwind? In the first case maybe you don't have enough pull to overcome the rolling resistance of the ground you're buggying on. In the second case maybe you have too much pull to be able to get upwind.

I take it from your descriptions in your posts you're just getting started - you realize you can only turn a small angle up into the wind with your buggy, and that it's not exactly like sailing where you can turn at quiet an angle up into the wind? Sorry if I'm under-estimating your experience, but sometimes when people get started with buggying they expect they should be able to get 45 degrees up into the wind but thats being a bit too ambitious