Grading skid pads for blade

[ket]

I have a 5ft grader blade on my 1802d and want to put some type of skid/hiegth pads on so I dont remove all the gravel from drive when clearing snow this winter anyone have any good designes that work well in gravel

 

[kayssupply]

I had thought about this myself. I was going with some kind of caster wheel like on a mower deck. I figured it would do the least damage even for leveling gravel or dirt. I just haven't followed through and done it yet. Thanks for reminding me.

 

[kayssupply]

They wouldn't even have to be adjustable. Set them to where they barely touch when the blade is staight up and down. Then if you use your top link to move the angle it will apply them more or cock it forward and they won't touch at all for heavy scraping. Or not. Just a thought.

 

[ket]

hmmm wheels I didnt think of that ,, that may be the best I hate move all the bluerock over to the grass when pushing snow. when warm weather gets here I then have to hand rake it all back . now all I have to do is find some wheels .. I dont want solid rubber .I could weld tubes on side of blade and ,maybe transfer wheels off of finish mower for snow season

 

[kayssupply]

That's a good twist. My Caroni uses 1" pipe for spacers so I could use a bracket with 1" pipe to except the wheels. Who ever gets it done first post a picture for the other.

 

[EFC]

We tried that idea last winter and after 20 min the casters would get all clogged up and leave two big drag marks. Went back to good old fashioned round bottom skids and haven’t had any problems since. Easy and cheap to build also. Uses removable washers to set depth.

 

[Trev]

Take a look at the mushroom-shaped skid pads they put on the front blades.. you might be able to use those on the back too. It would mean welding, but it sounds like you can handle that part. Mine just slide through a channel and are pinned in place at the desired depth. The only downside to these is when the ground isn't frozen yet.. in which case sometimes the skids just dig a couple of ruts down your driveway. Can't win 'em all. Hopefully our driveways will actually be frozen this year, unlike our last non-winter when all we had was mud for the whole season. <grumble>

The wheels are an interesting idea too! I hadn't thought of that either. Maybe when my skids wear out I'll see if I can get some little wheels instead.

 

[jimstractors]

One friend of mine made some out of leaf spring leaves. Since they are bowed at a slight curve they work great. He cut them to about 10 inches long, & made mounts for them so the blade rides about 1" above the ground. Cheap to make and last a long time.
Jim

 

[EFC]

great idea!! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[pennwalk]

Some of the big plow trucks have plows with wheels so there is a way to do it. Maybe it works different if you are plowing paved streets instead of gravel drives?

Chris