soft sand sucks to buggy in!

i'm finding out the hard way that i either need gigantic balooney tires to be able to ride on long island beaches, or just hope for wind perfectly perpendicular to the beach, so that i can ride the 1M strip of hard packed sand along the shore.

this past saturday, with strong 18mph+ winds, i was unable to get my buggy (a libre special with standard wheels), moving.

the winds were blowing from the west along the east/west running beach. to be able to have gotten it going, i'd have to tack up and down the beach (to and away from the shore). although the winds were plenty strong, the sand is so deep and soft that it was impossible to move, even with the tires deflated (different levels). instead, the buggy would just burrow and plow, and the kite would sometimes yank me out the front. i could occasionally move forward a bit, but never enough momentum to keep moving across the wind, no matter how hard i worked the kite... very frustrating.

this was the same problem i was having my first time out too, trying to buggy on the softer sand on the beach, even though i was on a wide, flat area. this past weekend however, i tried to start at the shore, then get going away from shore onto the softer sand, but the beach isn't even relatively flat, it's got a steep angle up, then a sort of little sand cliff, made by the high water mark, not easy to get up, not possible at all with my setup.

i have seen many buggies with them enormous bigfoot wheels, yet i doubt even those would make much of a difference on the beaches i have to deal with here. can anyone shed some light on this situation for me? anyone else have experience with extremely soft, deep sand beaches, and some helpful tips? is it possible the bigfoot wheels could really make that much of a difference that i could easily cruise around all of the beach? or will i have to just wait for the combination of free time + good wind, in the right direction, and decent weather? which brings the probability of good buggy days dismaly low ::sigh:: missing the dry lake beds again...

michael

Bigfoots will make a great difference, but are quite expensive. You are never going to have perfect conditions on that surface. Im curious to know what kites you have in your bag? I didnt quite understand about your beach, but if you can stay low to where the sand is hard packed, its much better even though tough sometimes to stay in that small band of stuff.

Scoop

hey scoopy, your reply makes me ask the next question, where to get cheap bigfoots?

didn't understand the beach? ok, it's like this; steep, as in, the grade from the shore to the road , goes up (naturally) at a rather sharp angle. then, when the tide comes up, it cuts a steep "cliff" into this inclined beach, which is another obstacle which is not easy to get over, in fact i am currently not able to get over that at all, MAYBE with bigfoots, maybe. then there is the super deep, soft sand.

this is not a problem if the wind is blowing directly onshore, that way, i can buggy along the thin strip of hard pack, but the last time i was out, the wind was blowing parallel to the shore, like this-> == the top line is the wind, the bottom the shore; so, to move, i catch a little wind and go down along the shore, then, i have to go across, UP the ramp, er, beach, then, there's the deep soft sand which tries to swallow my buggy; all this before i even get to "the cliff", which is the high water mark, so, i'm getting stuck on the relatively hard sand of the beach.

maybe i just need to get little tank tracks for the buggy.

mykl

3m little devil
libre special

Scoopy,

yes with bigfoots it will be much better but also in soft sand the resistance will be very big. You are able to get your buggie moving, but not at en great speed. The advantage is that you will not get stuck in the soft sand again.

Cheap bigfoots www.buggywielen.nl

Do not know if the ship to the states.

More important, your buggie must handle much bigger stesses. So it hase to be build rugged outerwise you will ruin it

Hey Scoopy,

Took a trip to Daytona beache they are flat packed sand low tide had to be 100 yards from water to the sand dune. You can drive your car to were you launch your kite, I used just the standard flexi tiresand they halled a$$ had to go when the beach started to fill up,
(did not want to cut any ones head off).
I will give you a call I have a question on tires and bearing sizes.

Blue Skies All!

Will let you know soon when I will be in your neck of the woods, things are not good with Bena,s aunt.