Urethane skids and scraper on a snow blower?

mjribeiro · May 12, 2011

I'm putting in some fancy sidewalks and worried about scraping the surface with my snow blower. Has anyone replaced the scraper blade with a plastic or rubber one? Also - how about the skids? I do see many 'universal' non-marring, side mounted skids I could bolt on....

dennisgw · May 12, 2011

I have changed from skids to wheels to minimize scraping, etc. There have been a few posts from years back on this. I used large angle iron to mount the swivel wheels. Wheels are set to keep the scraper blade slightly above contacting the surface.

mjribeiro · May 12, 2011

I saw those Dennis - looks like a good 'non wearable' solution. I'll still need to use a softer scraper. These 'natural looking' concrete pavers look bad once you expose the aggregate by scraping off the high points.

tcartwri · May 12, 2011

Google UHMW Polyethylene. It's what we use on skid plates etc.. cuts and machines like wood. Very tough.

KBL3830 · May 13, 2011

There are other threads that discuss using cut sections of heavy rubber stall pads for snowblowers and bucket edges to avoid damaging/digging up the surface, tried it on my 3830 FEL and it worked great! Going to add one to the snow blower for next season, might not work for skid plates though

minnebota · May 13, 2011

I have had good success with a set of custom made skid shoes for my BX2750 blower on my BX24. Like you, I did this to protect the surface of my paver brick drive, patio, and walkways that I keep clear in the winter.

To fabricate the skid shoes I made a pad from polyurethane to bolt directly on the stock skid shoe. The polyurethane came from Fall Line ( FallLine Corporation | Specialists in Urethane Technology and Manufacturer and Distributor of Custom Molded Products and Ski, Construction, Snow Removal, and Sports Recreation Industry Products ) and is a standard snowplow edge. Since the material comes as 1" thick stock I cut the piece to the outline of the skidshoe and then used a bandsaw to resaw the pad to a 1/2" thickness. The material works easily with standard woodworking tools. I then drilled and tapped four holes in the skid shoe and countersunk the matching holes in the polyurethane. Using stainless steel flat head screws I then bolted the pads to the skid shoe. With the 1/2" pad, the front lip on the skid shoe, and with the skid shoe adjusted all the way up, this gives me a clearance of about 3/16" between the scrapper bar and the pavers. This has been adequate to remove snow without damaging the pavers. I also have a 1" thick rubber blade installed on my rear blade to use for plowing on the pavers. This combination has worked well.

I have used this set of polyurethane skid shoes for 3-4 years and there is very little wear. In addition to my drive I also clear the neighbor's drive so these polyurethane pads have been used on concrete pavers, asphalt, and concrete. Being in Minnesota we do get our share of snow.

I hope this helps give you some ideas of options. If you have any questions, please ask.

mjribeiro · May 14, 2011

Minnebota, I have looked at Fineline for the urethane edges, And buying their 60" one will give me some extra material for the skids. Do you find the rubber is stiff enough? I'm also thinking about the caster idea that others had - absolutely no friction point there. Where did you source the rubber edge?

AHNC · May 14, 2011

I've purchased the UHMW material from Lee Valley. They are a good vendor:thumbsup: i've used it successully all over the shop and for jigs. It's pretty tough stuff. You will probably eat it up in your ap, but I bet it will do the job well

minnebota · May 14, 2011

mjribeiro said:
Minnebota, I have looked at Fineline for the urethane edges, And buying their 60" one will give me some extra material for the skids. Do you find the rubber is stiff enough? I'm also thinking about the caster idea that others had - absolutely no friction point there. Where did you source the rubber edge?

I do find the rubber edge I use to be stiff enough. I mounted it to my 5 foot rear blade by sandwiching it between the steel moldboard and the rear blade frame. Keeping the steel moldboard on gives me some additional weight for added down pressure. I drilled the holes in the rubber edge off center so that the rubber edge would extend about 1 inch beyond the moldboard. Keeping the protrusion of the rubber edge to 1-2 inches helps maintain the rigidity of the rubber edge. I used the 725 psi 1 inch thick by 6 inch wide rubber edge from Rubber Cal ( http://www.rubbercal.com/Rubber_Snowplow_Blades_725psi.html ). I am still on the first edge after 4 years of use. I can still turn it around and flip it over to get fresh edges if needed. The one thing I would probably do different would be to purchase the 1" by 8" blade. That way with my 6 inch moldboard I could drill the holes in the rubber edge on center and still have it protrude the desired amount.

When I purchased the polyurethane edge from Fall Line I picked up the 6 foot blade with the intention of making the pads for the skid shoes and then using the leftover as an edge for the rear blade. However, the rubber blade has held up so well I have not yet had to resort to this. I do recall from speaking with the folks at Fall Line that they indicated they sometimes have short remnants. If you do decide to try pads for the skid shoes you may want to call them to see if there are some lower cost scraps that would suffice for your use.

mjribeiro · Aug 31, 2011

I finally got around to upgrading my snow blower.

I bought the UMHW at Interstate Plastics

I was able to get several different sizes and widths for a few different projects all for under $60..I think one set of parts for the tractor was around $20.

I used 1/2" material for the skids. I beveled the material countersunk the holes and bolted it through the skids. I was going to drill and tap the steel, but then I noticed the skids had a bend to them that gave clearance for a locknut. I got a little lazy.....

Installed:

The blade is 3/8" thick material and beveled both edges so I can flip it around if it wears out. I made slots with a mortiser instead of holes so I can get the adjustment right. Make the blade wider than the stock one to make up for the added height of the skids.