47" Snowblower Question

[psdx]

I want to order some better skid shoes for my John Deere 47" snowblower before it arrives to cut down on the overall wait time. Could someone that has this snowblower measure the distance between the skid shoe mounting holes? Thanks in advance!

 

[rsewill]

The skid shoes are pretty sturdy. I suppose you could weld a plate on the bottom of each shoe for longer life.

There are quite a few models of the 47" but they may all use the same shoe. Get the serial number of your blower and order that way.

 

[bradkramer]

My 2011 47 blower is 4.5" between the holes.

 

[psdx]

My 2011 47 blower is 4.5" between the holes.

Thanks. I'm going to try a set from snowblowerskids.com. I like the larger runner for staying on top of the gravel. Thanks again!

 

[bradkramer]

Thanks. I'm going to try a set from snowblowerskids.com. I like the larger runner for staying on top of the gravel. Thanks again!

I hadn't heard about snowblowerskids.com; but now just ordered a pair for my JD 47. That's what I've been looking for, since I have over 300' of gravel and more when I go do the neighbor's place.

I'd think that going from a 6" to a 12" skid will help. For $37 it's worth a try. Sometimes I think a blower that wide should have some type of a center skid that extends forward. (most of us with gravel have the scraper bar up an inch anyway). Haven't seen anything like that, however.

thanks for the tip.

 

[psdx]

....hmmmm.... Based on another post, I think the 47" snowblower that bradkramer was kind enough to measure is different from the snowblower I was referring to. The 47" blower for the current x500 series is belt driven. The version for my x575 (predecessor to the x700 series) is PTO driven. As I understand it, this same blower is used on a number of different current and recent vintage large-frame garden tractors and SCUTs. I believe (again as I understand it - I am new to John Deere hardware) the blower is near universal in its application and the quick hitch and PTO shafts are based on the tractor frame being used with this blower.

So I'm still interested if someone would be so kind and to let me know the spacing of the skid mounting holes in this blower I would be most appreciative. Thanks!

 

[Gittyup]

I think the only difference in those blowers is the drive system and mounting hitches. Shoes should be the same.

 

[psdx]

I think the only difference in those blowers is the drive system and mounting hitches. Shoes should be the same.

I picked my snowblower up today. You were right.

 

[psdx]

I put this together and installed it today. It sure seems noisy - kind of like a whine. But I've never owned a snowblower like this before so I don't know what's normal. I lubricated all the zerk fittings and the chain. I checked the gear box to make sure it had oil. For those of you that have a John Deere snowblower, do they have a bit of a whine? Normal or not?

BTW - this is a 47" and it has the plastic fan.

 

[rubadub]

I just had this brain flash tonight for gravel driveways.

I just went out and raised my 47'' blower up about 4 feet in the garage and took some quick measurements and notes.

This blower

Rob

 

[rubadub]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I went in the other room and had the bride type it up for me.

If I had a gravel driveway, I would take the scraper bar right off
my snowblower. My blower is 47" wide and it has nine holes for the
scraper bar.

Buy or make 3 more skid shoes, go into the 3rd, 5th, and 7th holes
and put a skid shoe at each hole. You'll have to cut off the side
plate of the skid shoe so you have the shoe itself.

The skid shoes have 2 holes already drilled in them. 2 3/4" hole
to hole. So you have 2 holes in the skid shoes and one hole
already in the snowblower that the skid shoe can mount on. You
only have to drill one more hole in the blower for that skid.
You are adding 3 skids and only have to drill 3 holes.

The reason this will work, is because you have 4 other shoes to
support the blower when one shoe runs off the driveway.

The skid shoes on my blower are 6 1/2" long, 2 1/2" wide and
1/2" thick.

I just know this would work really good and a guy could do this
at home.

Rob
__________________
CHEVELLE

 

[psdx]

Ok. This may or may not hold up on the gravel driveway. Time will tell. But it's cheap and requires no modification to my expensive new snowblower. It's a 1x48" piece of galvanized pipe attached to the factory skid shoes with grade 8 bolts. Here's a picture.

 

[beenthere]

Will be interesting to see how that works out for you. Hope you give a shout back to let us know.

 

[psdx]

I'll remove the two bolts when I run this on concrete - should take about 60 seconds. I am guessing that since the weight of the snowblower is spread all across the pipe that the pipe won't wear too awful fast. And I would think that once there's a little snow on the driveway the wear should be minimal. But I guess that's what I'll learn from experimenting. And if it wears too fast, I'll try ABS pipe. I'll post an update after I've tried this.

 

[DIYr]

Pretty good idea. I have a couple of concerns. Is the bolt head recessed into the pipe? My concern is the bolt held wears down and the pipe goes into the blade. My other concern is the pipe digs down into the gravel and feeds stones into your machine.

 

[North585]

psdx, to your question about a whine, yes there is a noticable whine in mine. Once you start the pto, similar to starting the deck, there is a whine, that doesn't go away, however once into the heavy snow, it isn't noticable. I have the metal vs plastic.

 

[psdx]

Pretty good idea. I have a couple of concerns. Is the bolt head recessed into the pipe? My concern is the bolt held wears down and the pipe goes into the blade. My other concern is the pipe digs down into the gravel and feeds stones into your machine.

Yes - recessed into the pipe. About the pipe digging in - I will post an update once I've tried it. But whatever it does it will be less likely to roll stones up over the cutting edge than when riding on the skids. Once the driveway is frozen it may be academic. I will try it both ways and report relative differences.

 

[Gittyup]

Interesting idea. Should hold up OK on stone. Post back to let us know how it works out.