I had my side skids on and have been using it for the last three snow clearings. I thought I report back my observations with this setup.
With the side mounted skids, the bucket is more stable and feel more planted on the ground. They now 32 inches apart, versus 24 inches with the rear skids. Because the side mounted skids are towards the outside and nearest the auger, there is less chance of the auger making contact with the pavement because the skids it goes up and down with pavement irregularities. I have uneven pavement where the my driveway apron and the street meets and I am always fearful of striking the auger on the 1 inch concrete lip. I still lift the bucket when going over this lip.
As many of you know, tracks are not smooth when rolling at high speeds. In fact there is quite a bit of hop when going at max speed with the bucket down. With the side skids, the hopping is reduced significant. It's still there, however.
After experimenting with different heights, I have finally got a setting that works for my pavement. I have the side skid shoes set to allow 1/8" clearance for the scraper bar. The rear skids shoes are still on, but they are 1/8" higher than the side skids. Most of the time, the side skids shoes are supporting the bucket. The rear skids are there to provide some protection when I back up and when I go forward with the bucket hanging over the curb.
One of the negative of using side mount skids is that you lose the ice scraping mode. Tilting the bucket only puts more weight in front but does not put the auger any closer to the pavement. However, this is useful when cutting into the EOD pile as all this weight on the bucket eliminates any lifting or riding over the snow.
This message was modified Jan 22, 2009 by aa335
