tail wheels

[herman pahls 9]

I am looking for a bigger diameter and width tailwheel than the hard rubber Maule tailwheel that came on my Kitfox.

I fly off of soft sand often and my current tailwheel leaves a trench dug in the sand.

Matco offers several choices of tailwheels from $250 to $650 and 3 and 1/2 inches wide to 5 inches wide.

Any experience or suggestions regarding these tailwheels for soft sand?

Thanks Herman

[4aplat 2]

I am looking for a bigger diameter and width tailwheel than the hard rubber Maule tailwheel that came on my Kitfox.

I fly off of soft sand often and my current tailwheel leaves a trench dug in the sand.

Matco offers several choices of tailwheels from $250 to $650 and 3 and 1/2 inches wide to 5 inches wide.

Any experience or suggestions regarding these tailwheels for soft sand?

Thanks Herman

[akflyer 1427]

I got the MATCO 8" wide for mine but have not had a chance to use it yet. It is WAY wider than the 6" MATCO I was running and it looks like it should do the trick. I went with the single fork 8".

[SuberAvid 617]

I changed from the 6" hard tired Maul to the 8" pnumatic Maul and it was a huge improvement but still cuts a trench in the sand. Last month at the EAA meeting with the SQ2 presentation they were using the 10" wide double forked Matco TW on these and said they were as good as the baby bushwheel/ Scott TW's and about 1/2 the price and held up well to the extreme abuse they were giving them. I think the 10" is way to big for our planes but the Matco 8" wide TW looks great for around $360 if I remember right. Both Jack and I are thinking about getting them.