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utility blade skid shoes

7075 Views 18 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  Mjoe7
Winter will be here before you know it in my part of michigan. I am will be preparing my 222 for snow duty soon. I have replaced the wear blade on my j50 plow, however I am missing the skid shoes ( they were not there when I purchased the tractor). This will be my rookie year as far as snow removal is concerned, and was wondering what the consensus is among those who use a plow to remove snow. Should I locate/install the skid shoes or not? Thank you
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You will need the skid plates if you have a soft driveway { gravel/stone}. Not so much if the driveway is paved. oldfrank
The shoes protect the sides of the housing. Don't leave home without them.

New pair are around $75.00 or so. It's not hard to fabricate your own if you have the tools.
Housing? This is a blade not a snocaster, or am i missing something? Conecrete driveway by the way
oldfrank said:
You will need the skid plates if you have a soft driveway { gravel/stone}. Not so much if the driveway is paved. oldfrank
ken222 - I have to agree with oldfrank :thumbup: . Since you've stated you have a concrete drive the concrete can wear the skid shoes not to mention you can leave skid scars on the concrete so maybe you could go without - then you wear the blade's cutting edge. I know of other LGT owners that use a front blade instead of a blower and put a thick rubber squeegee edge on the bottom of their blade. I can't remember right now just where they purchased that rubber but if I can find out I'll post it here. I've also seen the use of casters on the bottom of blades for solid surfaces such as a concrete drive. The answer to your inquiry is only limited by your imagination.

Kenneth
Not needed. On a dirt drive the skids just make ruts. On a concrete drive they are not needed. I dont use the skids for my blade.
ken222 said:
Housing? This is a blade not a snocaster, or am i missing something? Conecrete driveway by the way
No....you aren't the one that is missing something, I am. :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh:

I am officially retracting my post. :thumbsup:
OK But relating to plowing with a pickup or larger vehicle, the skid shoes are there to protect the cutting edge of the plow by adjusting the height the cutting edge cuts into material (snow). You go through many shoes before replacing a cutting edge when road plowing. When a shoe fails (destroyed) or is worn down, the cutting edge will rapidly wear down ruining the cutting edge or worse, damaging the plow itself. Why would the function of the skid shoe be any different for our tractor plows? I note the old style skid shoes were bell shaped just like the larger ones on road plows. Just my 2 cents.
:222: :446: Best Regards, Rich
KBear said:
oldfrank said:
You will need the skid plates if you have a soft driveway { gravel/stone}. Not so much if the driveway is paved. oldfrank
ken222 - I have to agree with oldfrank :thumbup: . Since you've stated you have a concrete drive the concrete can wear the skid shoes not to mention you can leave skid scars on the concrete so maybe you could go without - then you wear the blade's cutting edge. I know of other LGT owners that use a front blade instead of a blower and put a thick rubber squeegee edge on the bottom of their blade. I can't remember right now just where they purchased that rubber but if I can find out I'll post it here. I've also seen the use of casters on the bottom of blades for solid surfaces such as a concrete drive. The answer to your inquiry is only limited by your imagination.

Kenneth
You can purchase the rubber squeegee edges here:

http://www.rubbercal.com/Pavement_Maintenance.html

TSC also sells bulk rubber by the foot, I am going to try this on my scraper blade first. It is pretty inexpensive. I am not sure how long it will last. I used my rear mounted scraper blade last week with the storm we got in new england and it scarred the fresh driveway sealer.
If someone makes their own plow, it immediately has a "cutting edge". The actual plow blade becomes the cutting edge. But who wants to wear down their plow blade? In order to solve that problem, a replaceable plow edge was added, which we now call a "cutting edge". Cutting edges are there to protect the actual plow from wear and are therefore a disposable item. The skid shoes are there to solve a different problem. Plow damage.

One of the major problems encountered while plowing snow is the risk of bending or breaking the plow blade or the plow's harness. This damage can occur due to frost heaving of surface being plowed or from catch basins and manhole covers sitting higher than the roadway. The ski's allow the Operator to lift the cutting edge off the road surface in the hopes that it will pass over such obstacles damage-free. When plowing surfaces that are not paved, the ski's minimize the amount of road surface that is picked up the the plow. The Case and Ingersoll blades are equipped with a "trip feature" to help protect them from damage but you must remove the "trip pin" to enable this function and make the blade spring loaded.

To me, it all comes down to KNOWING the area you intend to plow and to deal with potential hazards to your plow long before winter sets in. If you have a gravel driveway, then regrade that driveway and make it as flat as possible. Set the ski's a half-inch or even one-inch lower than the cutting edge and don't sweat the snow that is left behind during plowing. If your driveway has a paved surface with curbing, then drive T-bars or wood stakes into the ground alongside the curbing and especially at any corners so that you know where the curbing is located even when it's covered by a foot of snow.

Ramming into hidden items can produce hidden damage to your lift cylinder, the anchor for the cylinder and all of the linkage between the cylinder's rod and the bell-crank that lifts the blade. You can also bend up your Snap Fast mount system and that will affect how well your deck cuts the grass next season. Plowing in Hi-Range and changing direction without coming to a gradual stop can cause the dreaded bolt breakage in the trans-axle and this is more pronounced if loaded tires, wheel weights etc are used.

If your driveway is free of any obstructions that would catch the edge of the plow, then there is no real need for the ski's or shoes. The cutting edge is there to clean the snow off the driveway all the way down to bare pavement. Don't worry about the wear on the edge. It's supposed to wear. Just keep an eye on that edge and replace it before the pavement can start wearing the actual plow.
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ken222 said:
I am missing the skid shoes ( they were not there when I purchased the tractor).
I agree with those who say do not use without the skid shoes because they will save a lot of wear on the (expensive) blade edge. I've made my own out of some flat bar stock, 1/4" x 1.5" if I recall correctly. They aren't difficult to make or have made, two bends and a couple of holes. If you want to make it easy to maintain them tack weld a piece of 1/4" stock on the wear surface then when that wears off you can just tack a new piece in place without replacing the entire shoe.
Ken222, unless you are doing the WALMART lot , don't fret too much about excessive wear, as long as there is a cutting edge on the blade now you will be just fine for the winter. { trust me } oldfrank.
KBear said:
oldfrank said:
I know of other LGT owners that use a front blade instead of a blower and put a thick rubber squeegee edge on the bottom of their blade. I can't remember right now just where they purchased that rubber but if I can find out I'll post it here.
Kenneth[/size]
A $40 horse stall mat from TSC yields 15 pcs of squeegee edge, whether or not it lasts without skid shoes I do not know. Will test when the snow flies ( or drops, as the case may be)
yeah frank, i just put a new wear blade on it, 5/16 thick and 2 in wide, specific wear bar material. much harder than mild steel. as far as the squeege route, i dont know how it will hold up, however i do have some hard nylon material about 1/4 inch this that i may try. i dont want to chew up my cement driveway.
InTroubleAlltheTime said:
You go through many shoes before replacing a cutting edge when road plowing. When a shoe fails (destroyed) or is worn down, the cutting edge will rapidly wear down ruining the cutting edge or worse, damaging the plow itself. Why would the function of the skid shoe be any different for our tractor plows?
I think it's because a road plow will push that blade a longer distance in one hour than most of us will doing our driveways in 5 or 10 years. The function is pretty much the same, the amount of wear is very different.
Alas, we don't get to throw mountains of snow every second like those triple bladers doing 70 MPH on Rt. 95 do either. That's an impressive sight, especially when they go in a group and feed each other.
Here's someone that was impressed too, but not very pleased. :sidelaugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUREsKL2pK8

ByCo
I am running the horse stall mats on mine for a cutting edge ran most of last winter on long asphalt and gravel drives shows some wear but I think I can get through this year before I flip it I made the holes in mine so I could just flip it over same way with my steel edge we will see how long it last on how much snow we have it really helps when your drive is not perfectly flat it clears it much better but does not do well on packed snow my parents drive is gravel and it has alot of frozen rock that sticks up was always tripping the blade but the rubber solved that problem
Bill.H said:
InTroubleAlltheTime said:
You go through many shoes before replacing a cutting edge when road plowing. When a shoe fails (destroyed) or is worn down, the cutting edge will rapidly wear down ruining the cutting edge or worse, damaging the plow itself. Why would the function of the skid shoe be any different for our tractor plows?
I think it's because a road plow will push that blade a longer distance in one hour than most of us will doing our driveways in 5 or 10 years. The function is pretty much the same, the amount of wear is very different.
Alas, we don't get to throw mountains of snow every second like those triple bladers doing 70 MPH on Rt. 95 do either. That's an impressive sight, especially when they go in a group and feed each other.
Believe me I know the difference. :thumbsup: Just using an analogy on what I believe is one of the skid's functions. As already said, if it is recommended not to use the skids I would just watch the cutting edge for wear. If it goes too far it will go through the bottom of the plow/bolts and damage the plow. BTW with the skids properly adjusted I get a reasonably close cut on concrete. JMHO
:222: :446: Best Regards, Rich
ByCo said:
Here's someone that was impressed too, but not very pleased. :sidelaugh:


ByCo
:sidelaugh: :lol: :sidelaugh: :lol: :sidelaugh: :lol: :sidelaugh: :lol: :sidelaugh: :goodpost:

I have the round type wear shoes on one of mine.
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