Gauge Wheels for JD 54 Inch Snowblower

[Runner]

" In MO, you can just wait for it to melt."

Yeah, but that's no fun...

 

[defed]

I can't figure out how you guys running blowers with skids on gravel keep from throwing your whole driveway into the yard. I tried it and didn't get 10 feet before it sounded like the world was coming to an end and the blower was sunk into the gravel. And, that was with wider skids, twice the size of the stock ones, set at about 2 inches off the ground.

Maybe the problem is that it doesn't get cold enough for the ground to freeze hard around here. We will have 50 degrees one day and 12 inches of snow the next, so the ground stays soft.

if the ground is wet, then yeah, it will be ugly. when i made the bigger skids for my 3pt 60", and tested it, the gravel was wet and it sunk right in.

in the early snowfalls, i will often use the 48" blower on my D series wheelhorse with wide shoes. it is a little easier to control and weighs less so it tends to sink in less. once i get a couple good layers built up, then i bring out the tractor and the skids float on the hardpack.

i had so much hardpack built up that i almost got stuck in it when the temps got to 40 the other day. probably 3 inches in some places!

 

[Dutch445]

I can't figure out how you guys running blowers with skids on gravel keep from throwing your whole driveway into the yard.
Maybe the problem is that it doesn't get cold enough for the ground to freeze hard around here. We will have 50 degrees one day and 12 inches of snow the next, so the ground stays soft.

That is what the difference is. We normally stay cold, and the driveways freeze hard, even harder than the yard because it's cleaned off and driven on.(drives the frost deeper). Once the drive is frozen, it's no problem to scrape if needed. As mentioned, sometimes the snowpack/base can get 3-5 inches thick, or more depending on the weather/snowfall/blowing habits.

the problem we do get, is when it does warm up, that base can turn to
glare ice, and when it re-freezes it can be bad. add a little rain, and
things can turn a bit sketchy for sure.

I have had good success installing extra plates of steel on the shoes of
3ph snow blowers for customers that have soft driveways or are going over softer ground with
their blowers. we have even used skid plates from a mower conditioner!

 

[Stache]

As everyone knows, snowblowers tend to dig into gravel drives. So, I tried enlarging the skids on my 54 blower, but it didn't help. Then, I decided to add wheels to the skid plates.

To do this, I cut some pieces of 3x5 angle and 5/8 round stock. Welded onto the skid shoes as shown and added some 8 inch wheels from HF. Did a test run on the drive today and it looks like they're going to do the job. Now, we probably won't get any more snow this year....

-I'm guessing that Runner may have encountered some snow at least once since 2007. I wonder how his gauge wheels worked out? -I'm going to be blowing snow off from a lot of crusher-run gravel next season, and unless I find a way to bury it, off from about 50 feet of #2 stone as well. I'm looking for ways to be sure I fling as little gravel as possible...