Snow Attachments Snowblower skid shoes for a gravel drive.

[LittleBear]

These are 6"x20" and made of steel and UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene).

 

[PILOON]

While the idea of oversize shoes is the correct way to go, I would have made turned up tips (like ski tips) and opted for T1 (hardened steel)
over Teflon as Teflon is soft and will wear away fairly fast.
IMHO, even regular steel is better than Teflon for this application.
On my blower I have 2 X 10" skids made from T1 and the have withstood 4 yrs of constant usage so far.
I agree however that you are on the right track.

 

[LittleBear]

While the idea of oversize shoes is the correct way to go, I would have made turned up tips (like ski tips) and opted for T1 (hardened steel)
over Teflon as Teflon is soft and will wear away fairly fast.
IMHO, even regular steel is better than Teflon for this application.
On my blower I have 2 X 10" skids made from T1 and the have withstood 4 yrs of constant usage so far.
I agree however that you are on the right track.

I just may do that! I will give these a try and see how they hold up. I can always weld some turned up lips on these if that looks like the way to go. Thanks for the idea.

 

[drizler]

The big thing is being careful until it until after the ground is fully frozen. After that I never saw that any sort of shoes really mattered. I have plow sculpted the drive a couple times before I figured out though. The big thing I would worry about with a blower is highly protruding frozen in rocks sticking up. Those really ring my bells with the thick plow on occasion while it might just bend your unit if it caught right. That reminds me I have to go tune my drive before it freezes.

 

[PILOON]

For my oversize shoes I simply cut across the width about 1/2 way thru to make bending easy and then welded the slit closed.
I made about 30 deg bend and used a hand grinder for that cut.
Mad the bends at both ends of the skids as occasionally we do drag our blowers B4 lifting.

 

[LittleBear]

The big thing is being careful until it until after the ground is fully frozen. After that I never saw that any sort of shoes really mattered. I have plow sculpted the drive a couple times before I figured out though. The big thing I would worry about with a blower is highly protruding frozen in rocks sticking up. Those really ring my bells with the thick plow on occasion while it might just bend your unit if it caught right. That reminds me I have to go tune my drive before it freezes.

Checking and clearing the drive of big rocks is a great idea. My main concern is down by the road where the county snow plow can deposit some large stuff. I plan to check it, but I have a large supply of shear pins with the correct wrenches stored on the blower in the owner's manual compartment.

 

[LittleBear]

For my oversize shoes I simply cut across the width about 1/2 way thru to make bending easy and then welded the slit closed.
I made about 30 deg bend and used a hand grinder for that cut.
Mad the bends at both ends of the skids as occasionally we do drag our blowers B4 lifting.

Thirty degrees sounds about right. I have adjusted the upper link on my hitch so I have a slight upward cant. Still, next year, depending on how these work, I may try and build a pair like you describe.

 

[PILOON]

Note that I only use the oversize shoes early to get my base set up or until the ground is well frozen.
Then I remove them for the balance of the winter.
\Has been years since I needed to rake back any gravel.

 

[smfcpacfp]

Those like some serious skid shoes! I just use the one that cam with the tractor and have worked well for 8 winters of 15' to 30' of snow. Maybe I should consider seeing how much wear they have next summer.

 

[LittleBear]

Note that I only use the oversize shoes early to get my base set up or until the ground is well frozen.
Then I remove them for the balance of the winter.
\Has been years since I needed to rake back any gravel.

I may have over done it when I built these shoes. The ground may not freeze hard here in Ohio until January, but you can still get plenty of snow before then. Still, I don't see a disadvantage to having wide skid shoes. I will report back on how well they work and wear.