Anyone making homemade land / ice board?

[KitingKen]

Hey folks, wondering if anybody got tired of waiting for snow and decided to build something that rides well on bumpy ice??

Anyone try studding the tires of a landboard or anything? I'm imagining a set of fat, oversized, soft, tires on a landboard with studs to eat in to the ice. Yet wide enough to offer a little flotation over patches of snow. And half flat to absorb the bumps.

I'm tempted to give it a try but thought I'd seek some wisdom first if anyone else has it figured out.

thx!
Ken

[Schmidty721]

Don't have any advise on the board setup, but I have spent a lot of time riding my MX bike on the ice. If you need to stud up some tires, these are the ticket.

http://koldkutter.com/

[speedsailor93]

I have studded kitebuggy and landsailor wheels also using koldcutter studs. They work great but loose quite a few in high g turns. The tread on my tires is only deep enough for 3/8 studs and even with glue they work loose. I think harder compound and deeper tread tires with longer studs would be best. Thought about trying studs all way through tire with locknuts and then making tire tubeless with Slime but have not tried that yet. They do add some rolling resistance and make a lot of noise at speed but it does let you get out on this rough ice. Blades are way better as soon as it is smooth enough.

As for wheels on snow it needs to be very hard packed else there is too much resistance and no way to stop sliding out on turns. I have a Peter Lynn monster buggy and that struggles on snow whereas it handles sand dunes fine.

Waconia ice improved and usable now with blades

[Eric S]

Jerry S and I build something out of a Loaded Vanguard skateboard not too long ago... wait, it was 13 years ago! I can still smell the hot smell of sparks coming off the grinder wheel. Jerry S is a genius when it comes to figuring shit out. He's also willing to try to do things with just materials on hand or found at swap meets. I appreciate him for his friendship, mentor-ship and courage in the face of long odds over all these year

Here are some pictures from the project, maybe you can make larger blades and suspension!

It begins...
http://downhaul.com/icesail/030925/

It ends...
http://downhaul.com/icesail/031011/

In action!

[KitingKen]

Thanks for the ideas and sharing pics! Studs falling off seems to be a common challenge out there. Also buggy tires are maybe a bit too thin to really hold studs very well? So I'll try something new here and let you know how it goes. I studded three snowmobile clutch belts. Yes, kind of weird but hear me out... The screws go all the way through and are lock nutted on. So the screws are not coming off! Then I flattened my buggy tires, slid the belts over and pumped them back up. The belts are smaller in diameter than inflated tires so once pumped back up they're really tight. I suppose once they get wet and push hard from the side they may give way, but I gave them a severe beating with a hammer and jumped on them and they didn't budge. If all goes well, I can just take them off and won't have damaged the original tires - or myself.

Hoping for a successful test drive this week. Let's get that ice frozen back up and turn up the wind!

Buggy Studs Front 2.JPG (812.2 KiB) Viewed 6515 times

[Eric S]

good idea! I think it should hold a good amount of lateral force!

[KitingKen]

Okay I gave this idea a test run today and it worked pretty well. My first time in a buggy so I can't really compare to sand, but it gripped well and yet I could still give the back end a little slide without feeling like it was going to spin out. Nice option for the bumpy ice and patches of snow that we have right now. I put the parts that I used in the YouTube description if you care to give it a try. Cheers!

https://youtu.be/CE_L7fgXFFM

Buggy Snow.JPG (457.6 KiB) Viewed 6469 times

[Professor Robae']

Here is a story WCCO just did on me and the sport of snow surfing:
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/01/2 ... w-surfing/

I have several different boards besides the 'Russian style sled' in the piece: A 'turney board' which is like an iceboat with a pivoting forward deck that turns the front blade.
A crud buster which has skis with blades slotted in the back of the skis and a deck with foot straps. The 'all-terrain' vehicle.
There are defiantly a lot of different ways to play in the wind!

[Eric S]

HOW AWESOME IS THAT STORY. WTG ROBBIE~!!! I'm gonna share that link around