Do I need skid shoes?

[snmhanson]

I just bought a Bush Hog 3506 rear blade to use mainly for plowing snow on ~1200' of gravel drive. My first attempt worked in the end but was not pretty. We had around eight inches of wet snow which was not a challenge at all for the blade or tractor, however, the operator did have some technical diffuculties. My main problem was that I dug up almost as much gravel as I did snow. Everytime the pitch of the driveway changed even just a small amount the blade would either dig in or be too high up in the air. The only way I could keep things under control was to go extremely slow and make constant adjustments. In the end it all worked out but I would like to find a better way. Will skid shoes keep me low to the ground but not digging in? If not is there a different method someone can suggest? Thanks.

Matt

 

[ELMO67]

Until the ground is frozen, turn the blade 180 deg. and plow with the convex (back) side of the blade. It won't dig in and ruin your driveway. I've been doing that for 5 winters now and it works "OK". When the driveway is frozen, turn the blade back around and go for it!

 

[fishhead]

my guess is that your ground may not freeze too quickly, if at all, there- just got a pair of skid shoes for a land pride 1572 yesterday-will try to get them on and let you know- I'd be curious as to how well the backwards blade would work in heavy slop- the trick is probably in the set-up

 

[snmhanson]

Yeah, it is really quite rare for our ground to freeze. When we get snow it is usually heavy and wet but never really ices up too much. Even the stuff that gets packed down isn't impervious to a blade. I'll try reversing the blade and see how that works. I do that occassionally with my landscape rake when I don't want it to dig in too much. The only thing I am worried about with that is it will float over some of the snow and allow it to build up. Fishhead, I am very curious to know how your skid shoes work, ecpecting snow anytime soon?

Matt

 

[fishhead]

tried the skid shoes, they help but they require some fiddling with. I think that they will be great when it freezes and they help with it un-frozen but I think in your situation you may want to look into having a bigger skid made- I read on a board somewhere about a guy who had problems with conventional shoes digging in and had some made that were more like a short double ended ski-more flotation to keep them from digging it to his un-frozen road. Good luck and let us know if you find a solution

 

[RoyJackson]

If your rockshaft lever (controls the 3PH) has some kind of position control, you can raise the rear blade ½"-¾" off the surface. That will prevent the blade from digging in (even the convex side will move some gravel). My rear blade doesn't rotate 180°, so unless I run in reverse (which I have done), raising the blade is my only option. It works quite well, I must add...
Biggest downside of doing this is the potential of the ½" to ¾" of snow melting, then freezing. Then you've got ice to contend with. Hasn't happened to me, but it is possible.

 

[CTyler]

Turning the blade around as suggested really helps. You can change how aggresive it is by making the top link longer or shorter. I have an HTL which makes this really easy to do.

If its starts floating I just tip it back, lengthen the top link. If it starts pulling rock then shorten it, this usually isn't much of a problem anyway.

 

[Freds]

I used skid shoes my second winter and they helped, but still dug trenches until the ground froze. Do a search for guage wheels, quite a few of us have adapted our landscape rake ga. wheels or purchased wheels and fitted them to our back blades. They work quite well to prevent digging in, but you can still peal off loose layers of gravel from the snow curling.

 

[QRTRHRS]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( my guess is that your ground may not freeze too quickly, if at all, there- just got a pair of skid shoes for a land pride 1572 yesterday-will try to get them on and let you know- I'd be curious as to how well the backwards blade would work in heavy slop- the trick is probably in the set-up )</font>After digging up to gravel, I put the shoes on my Land Pride blade. Once you get them set up, they make a big difference until the surface freezes solid and then I raise them up or remove them. The shoes are round concave disks maybe 5 or 6 inches in diameter.

My driveway is all on a hill so it is nothing pretty to look at depending on how much rain we have had. If you are more concerned about looks, the shoes may not be good enough for you.

The use of a wheel kit is a good idea. You see that with those grader blade setups for ATV's.

 

[JimMorrissey]

I tried a rear blade for snow....generally useless regardless of frozen ground or not. Might work OK on paved surfaces. I'd get a snowblower for the rear if you have to struggle with frequent snow or get a blade for the loader.