I'm a long time four wheeler, but just got my first quad... actually two... a Foreman ES and Rancher AT. Mostly I'll be on the dirt and rocks, but I take my family to Pismo Dunes a couple times a year also. I know my quads will be still be a blast with the stock tires in the sand... but do any of you utility quad owners switch out the rear tires for paddles when you visit the sand?

 

I do. We have a set of Skat Trak 26x12x12 8 paddle Extremes that I can run either on our Rhino or one of our Grizzlys. They are mounted on Douglas 12x10 aluminum wheels, and the are super light weight. The sand paddles and wheels together weigh less than just the regular utility tires alone, so they really help put the power to the sand. They make a night and day difference. And with such wide wheels they really increase flotation, and the wheels also tend to stretch the tire out somewhat, to make it shorter than it otherwise would be. That means the 26" Skat Trak paddles are actually the same height as a normal 25" front tire. I use Maxxis 25" 2 ply front tires in the sand that are also super light and mounted on matching Douglas wheels. I think the front tires are called "All Pro", or something like that.

We have the paddles mounted on the Rhino right now, and its on the trailer waiting to go to the dunes tomorrow.

DV

 

Thanks for the info. I might eventually pick up a set for sand then... especially if a quick tire/wheel swap makes such noticable difference.

 

I put 20" sand snakes on the rear of my Suzuki Ozark 250 utility quad. This replaced the 22" stockers. It made a huge difference. My wife wanted to keep the stockers on her Ozark. Big mistake. With my sand tires, I was able to get up sand hills that she got stuck on.

 

We had "problems" with the Rhino at the dunes this weekend, although I think the problem happened on the last ride, which was at a motocross track getting some pretty huge air. The left front axle clip that hold the Lonestar axle in the inner CV joint had came off, and that let the axle slip part way out of the CV, and stripped all the splines off of the axle. So when we got to the dunes and had to back up a small sand hill to get off the trailer I found out before I had gone ten feet that we had no front drive on the Rhino. That sucks, when you unload your Rhino at the dunes and find out that you are going to be in two wheel drive all day.

I'll tell you what, ... I'm real glad we had those big 26" tall and 12" wide Skat Trak paddles on the back end [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]. I was amazed, the Rhino did great all day long. There were only two dunes the Rhino wouldn't do in two wheel drive, and one of those is 700 feet high, so it probably wouldn't have done it even if the four wheel drive had been working. But other than those two big dunes the Rhino went everywhere in two wheel drive. We even went out into the big bowls, and ripped around them for a while. I put 45 miles on the Rhino's odometer that day, and all of it was in the big dunes.

Love the big paddle tires. They make a huge difference compared to stock tires. Or rather, there is no comparison to stock tires. The Rhino wouldn't have went anywhere with stock tires on it and only two wheel drive.

DV

 

I have a set on a outty 800 they work well

 

Took the quads out to Pismo this weekend. What a blast! Can't say that I felt like I was hurtin' for traction... but I was using 4WD most of the time and the tires were brand new. I'll have to keep my eyes out for a good deal on some paddles. Thanks for the replies.

Scott