Did I get stuck on the beach in the FourX wheelchair?
- Contact Moventuras
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
Most powered wheelchair users never even try the beach. And with good reason. A narrow tyre sinks into soft sand. The motor starts to whine, the wheel just spins in place. Add a slope, and you're properly stuck.
I wanted to know whether the FourX would end up the same way. So I drove down to the spot where most people turn back.
Sand is a bad surface – a slope makes it worse
On tarmac the tyre carries. On soft sand it doesn't: a narrow tyre digs in, pushes a little ridge of sand ahead of it, and stops. The harder you push the throttle, the deeper you bury yourself.
A slope makes this nasty. The weight shifts to one side, and grip disappears from exactly the wheel that should be pulling you forward. Uphill you need torque, downhill you need control – and on both, the ground slides out from under you. This is the combination where a lot of so-called all-terrain wheelchairs get embarrassingly stuck..
Here's the surprise: the FourX runs narrow tyres
You'd assume soft sand only lets you through on huge off-road tyres. That's what a lot of all-terrain chairs do: they fit wide, chunky knobby tyres, often 5 to 6 inches across. The idea is to buy grip with size – the wider and chunkier the tyre, the better it floats on top of the sand.
The FourX comes with 3-inch (about 7.6 cm) tyres as standard. In many cases barely half the width of a typical off-road chair. And it still got up that slope.
Why? Because grip doesn't come from tyre width alone. It comes from the whole package: enough torque at each wheel, a low centre of gravity, and a balanced, light build that won't tip on a slant or press too heavily into the sand. The tyre isn't doing the job on its own.
And that's the whole point. Wide off-road tyres cost you back in town: a big, coarse tyre is clumsy indoors and belongs in the forest, not a shop aisle. Plenty of all-terrain chairs end up outdoor-only for exactly that reason. The FourX's narrower tyre takes you to the beach and into the city on the same setup – the shop, the lift, a restaurant table. No swapping wheels, no separate indoor chair.
The test
I picked the worst spot on purpose: dry, loose sand your foot sinks into, on a slope. So not the firm wet sand at the waterline, where just about anything gets through.
I drove in and waited. For the wheels to start spinning. For the momentum to die and the chair to settle in, digging its own hole.
It didn't
That moment never came.
See for yourself – here's the video, with the FourX moving through soft sand, slope and all:
The beach wasn't a barrier after all. It was just a place you can reach, once the machine is built right – and then drive straight into town on the very same chair.
Want to try the FourX on your own terrain? Get in touch and we'll set up a test drive.
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