More paddles mean more traction. Its obvious. But too many paddles bog down the motor. Also, taller tires have a larger footprint, so more traction. I run 20X10X10 8 paddle Skat Trak Haulers and they climb better than anything else I have tried(for my bike), except maybe for 22X11X10 haulers. Granted, a stronger machine could run more paddles.

 

Gearing can compensate for any height of a tire. A taller tire will float better and will dig less and gets "On Top" of the sand better.. More paddles is not better. Most quads I see are over paddled with either to many paddles or the paddle height is to aggressive for the machine. Dennis Packard builds 100-200hp machines and runs 12-14 paddle Gliders on most of his machines. His theory is more paddles each pushing less sand. It must be right. He is one of the most respected builders around. A good custom paddle is an 8 paddle Hauler/Glider combo. One of each on every other paddle. You want the quad to rev, which the Glider will allow, as well as good foward bite which the Hauler will do. Skat Trak will custom build them for you. I've ridden a DS w/ the little tiny paddles, about 20 of them. I can't remember the name of them, but they are around 350. Maybe Paddle Brats, I'm not sure. They worked very well on the DS I rode that had a carb and pipe. In my sig I have a folder w/ very high dollar Banshee's w/ 1500 dollar paint jobs. They both have a Hauler/Glider combo..

 

What are the paddle heighths on the Glider, Hauler, and Sand Devil? I went to GBC's website, and they have the paddle height listed as "33" with no units. 33 millimeters seems really tall, and 33/100 of an inch seems really short... I think the Glider is 5/8" and the Hauler is 7/8" if I remember correctly...?

 

Sandgod,

I think that DS probably had custom cut Sand Tires Unlimited Mini-Desert Traks. They cut them different ways. One of the featured project 250Rs on atvconnection had the 2 stroke comp cut Desert Traks. Also TheBom has a picture of the Desert Traks 2 stroke comp cut vs. uncut on his web page:

http://www.thebom.extremegarage.com/photo3.html

TheBom also has a set of Desert Traks that has all the "little paddles." None of them were cut off, unlike the 2 stroke comp cut.

 

A big key to getting moving in the sand is wheelspin. The faster they are moving the faster you will be going. With that said I have tried Sand Sharks on my stock rims and on aluminum rims. I must say the difference in weight is pretty enormous. When i switched over to the aluminum I was hitting the rev limiter alot sooner. I love my sandsharks and you can get them cheap.

 

I don't think I've ever seen anything but aluminum rims come stock on a sport quad... Maybe the stock ones are .190 thickness, and you switched to .125 thickness? That would be a significant difference I would think.

I wouldn't think you would ever need .190's in the sand. I've heard .125's can bend on jumps. I'm looking at going with .160 thickness Douglass black label's. They should be a good compromise for weight and strength.

Any thoughts on this?

 

I've bent 160's on sand. I run Ultimates. More money, but you won't be bending them and if you just bend one .160 rim the replacement cost will over ride the original cost of a set of Ultimates.. Remember Brad the originator of this post rides a 400ex.. Don't buy Sand Skates for a 400ex.........