54 " Blower fan observation?

[PILOON]

As to skid shoes on your 54" blower.

Been there done that! (on my 60" rear blower)
Suggest that adding 2" X 8" to the BOTTOM of existing shoes is plenty.
Bottom (to keep stresses centered) and more will simply just float too much and you will probably regret it.
Since my base is now good I have removed all shoes otherwise the base will become one huge pile of slush come spring.

 

[Mercmaniac]

jgayman, pm sent

 

[superbear]

jgayman, pm sent

Sorry we can't help you being ours was new and under warrentee we figured we would pay them to do the install of the steel impeller so if they screwed up it was on them, it took them over 3 hours and they were suppose to know what they were doing Wish you the best of luck figuring it out. Let me know how it went. Eric

 

[Runner]

I'm in the process of modifying my snow blower shoes as they seem to dig into my gravel a lot. I am going to add another identical piece of 2 1/4 x 8" x 1/2" flat bar to the side of the existing runners - effectively doubling the surface area. I plan to get started on it this weekend. I hope it helps.

I wouldn't mind seeing a photo of the new shoes you had made.

I tried increasing the area of the shoes as described and it still dug in, so I decided to add wheels to large angles that bolt to the bottom of the shoes. Seems to do the trick.

 

[superbear]

I had the oppertunity to check out my "new shoes" last night and they did a great job although I wish I would have gone another 2 inches wider which I still may do. The shoes I had fabricated are exactly the same as the "stock" shoes but longer instead of 3.75 inches on the ground I have 8 inches and it definately kept them from digging in to my gravel driveway. which I will cap with another few inches of D1 come spring and compact it, since now what I essentially have is at best 1" minus material with a binder that has washed down after 3 years leaving some nasty loose rocks for the blower to digest, by leaving a solid 2" of snow base down and the new shoes I didn't pick up one rock last night. Eric

 

[jgayman]

I will post a photo of my shoes when I install them this weekend. I made them exactly twice the surface areaof the existing shoes by adding an 2 1/4" x 8" skid opposite the existing skid. Of the 8" on the original skid I would guess about 5" touches the ground.

 

[Henri88]

I tried increasing the area of the shoes as described and it still dug in, so I decided to add wheels to large angles that bolt to the bottom of the shoes. Seems to do the trick.View attachment 298075View attachment 298076

Never seen a set-up like this before, but hey, if it works good for you. :thumbsup: Up here the ground is frozen solid usually from Dec. to end of March, so not a problem. Have to say that I'm not to sure of the position of your hydraulic hose in front of the auger.

 

[Karl2]

Have to say that I'm not to sure of the position of your hydraulic hose in front of the auger.

Yeah looking at those hoses made me a little nervous too

 

[jgayman]

I installed the new blower shoes today. I guess I will have to wait until our next snow to see if I made any improvement. Below are a few photos to show what the new shoes look like. I simply added an additional skid to the side of the existing skid.

BTW, does anyone know why JD put the two holes in the original skids?

 

[bigtiller]

I installed the new blower shoes today. I guess I will have to wait until our next snow to see if I made any improvement. Below are a few photos to show what the new shoes look like. I simply added an additional skid to the side of the existing skid.

BTW, does anyone know why JD put the two holes in the original skids?

I don't KNOW this but they may be locating holes for the welding fixture when the two pieces are welded together