Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Gentlemen,
I haven't posted here since last winter but I would like to thank Borat and the other regulars for their guidance and excellent advice. After much research I purchased a new Simplicity 24" 9 HP (B&S) snowblower. We had quite a lot of snow here in the Chicago area last winter and the Simplicity handled it flawlessly. I have an 80' concrete driveway with a mild slope. But, I live on a relatively busy street so when the city plow passes by I am left with a small mountain of snow at the end of my driveway. I learned NOT to plow the two feet or so closest to the street because small concrete chips and pebbles are dug up by the city plow and hidden in the plowed snow at the end of the driveway, and as a result my impeller and chute interior became very scratched. So I shovel the remainder of snow by hand.

Two things...a headlight was optional for my snowblower but none were in stock at the time I bought it. Sears has a universal kit for $59 which I though was rather expensive. So I purchased a "tractor auxiliary light" at Wal-Mart for about $15 and easily connected it to the snowblower's alternator lead. It works perfectly and looks factory original.

Here's my question...my Simplicity is equipped with Skid Shoes. I removed the shoes in the spring and sanded and repainted them. But after another season of use I will have to repeat the process as the shoes take a beating on the concrete. Wouldn't it make sense to install small, thin wheels instead of skid shoes? The wheels would roll smoothly along the surface as opposed to the friction and grinding of the skid shoes. Does anyone know if Simplicity makes wheels for this blower or could something be fabricated? Your suggestions?

The wheel idea sounds attractive but I doubt very much that it will work any better than the skids. Take a look at how the skids are mounted. There's two 3/8" diameter carriage bolts holding them on. There's a reason for that. Handling the side loads that occur. I guess one could build an axle mount that would be just as robust and use a thick, short bolt for the axle. If the wheel bushing and axle are stainless steel, they should resist corrosion. However, I suspect that the wheels would soon go out of round from turning/dragging sideways while repositioning the machine. I debated the wheel conversion a while back and concluded, in my own mind that there would likely be no real benefit. What I have done though is taken a piece of 1-1/2 inch wide by 1/2 thick hardened flat bar steel and bent it to the shape of the skid. Then I had it welded onto the skid. I'd say the skids should last easily fifteen years or more now. I only got two seasons on one side of the original skids. So, considering the skids can be turned over, that means, I'd get four years out of them. So, for the convenience of not having to replace the skids for fifteen to twenty years, the $30.00 for welding is well worth it. Not to mention the $20.00 for each set of skids I'd have to pay for.

Anything can be fabricated. If you're willing to pay for it, someone is willing to sell it. That said, the money you would spend on wheels vs the maintenance involved with keeping your skids looking new might be better spent elsewhere. Think about their role in the whole snowblowing process, and think about how appearances matter.

I like the way that you think though; maintenance matters. I am running a snowblower older than I am. I am 35, and my snowblower was made in the 1960's. It's on its third engine (that I know of). I oil/grease/adjust ONCE every year. Some guys on here deem to havr to do this every hour of use. I live in Atlantic Canada where a "storm" represents a national emergency elsewhere.

It's a machine. When the skids wear out, replace them.

Wheel Horse used cast iron wheels on some of their garden tractor snowblowers.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/wheel%20horse%20snow%20thrower/vwovw/wheelhorse/wheelhorse003.jpg

Wow, You blow the driveway, yet shovel the plow crap due to a few scratches? Couple cans of rustoleum in the spring would save

a lot of backaches I would think

Inline skates may be something to consider. But..

The wheeled skids idea is great on paper. I think it real life they would freeze up.

there are space age plastic skid shoe replacements. HD started selling Ariens for 39$ and universal ones for 29.

BTW, HD watertown mass started carrying Ariens belts and shear bolts.

AND....... it marked a lot of spark lugs, uncluding N4C,  to .50$

When I was a teenager in the 1970's our family had a Jacobsen snowblower. I remember that the frame was white and the auger was painted red. It had a crank-rotated chute, a manual choke and around 8 horsepower. But, instead of skid shoes, the scoop had 3" or 4" round by about 1/2" thick flat steel wheels mounted on either side. The drive wheels were traditional steel with rubber tires. This is where I got the idea for replacing the skid shoes with wheels. I remember that snowblower worked very well, so I was curious why modern snowblowers are not equipped with wheels. It seems to me that skid shoes create a lot of grinding and friction on a concrete surface where the wheels would roll right along.

Speaking of Jacobsen, are they still in business?

If it's worth the work and expense and parts can be found to do the job, give it a shot. Take some pics to show us how it turns out.

A co-worker of mine did that with a blower mounted on the front of his Ariens tractor.  He used some thin, heavy steel wheels.  I wish I knew more, but I do know they lasted quite some time.

http://www.samsbolens.com/images/726_parts_list_5.jpg

I just picked up an old Bolens 726 to restore. Take a look at the Optional Roller Set in the photo. You could always do something like that.

Looks similar to a skid mount arrangement but with a steel disk for a wheel. That would work. I think I'd just weld a bolt to a worn through skid to use as an axle mount for the wheel and try to find a couple super large/thick washers to use for wheels. Put a lock nut or drill a small hole through the axle and nut for a cotter pin to keep the wheel on. I've already welded some plate to the bottom of my skids, so I won't be doing this any time soon.

i just got an old craftsman 7hp 27inch..not sure how old it is but it has wheels where the skid plates are on modern machines..they are just steel discs..this is my 1st snowblower so i cant comment on how they work yet..although i think i might have to lower them because my driveway is in a bad way and changing shear pins does not seem like a good time! i've seen other older machines with these same wheels on them..i'd think they would be less likley to wear away..but being u dont see them anymore leads me to believe there is a reason they went away.

rob

"Steel Discs" is a much better term to describe the "wheels" I was referring to on the old Jacobsen. If my memory serves me, I used to push downward on the handles which tilted the scoop upwards onto the drive wheels in order to turn the snowblower right or left or 180 degrees. It would not turn on the discs.

Question: My Simplicity came from the dealer with the scraper bar adjusted to sit flat on top of the driveway surface. Would it be better to adjust the skid shoes so that the scraper bar sits 1/2" or 1" above the surface? This would leave a little snow on the driveway but the scraper bar would last longer and the snowblower would be less likely to pick up small rocks and pebbles. Your thoughts?

If you have an unpaved/gravel driveway, I'd go with half inch clearance or so. If your driveway is paved, you can set it to about 1/8-3/16 inch. I use a couple of paint stirring sticks to set my skids. I put the machine on a flat level surface, put a paint stick on each side under the scraper and make sure the machine is sitting evenly on them. I press down on the machine to get the machine in positive contact with the paint sticks then start to tighten the skids. Keep an eye on the skids while tightening. They sometimes will move out of adjustment when applying torque to the lock nuts.

There's another thread already started concerning wheels vs. skids.

Thanks Borat. I will make the adjustments according to your suggestion.

Hi.  I recently aquired a Toro 824 Power shift snowblower.  Great unit of course  but on my sidewalks the skids would jam up on every imperfection.  I came across this forum, didnt see anyone try this.  I swiped a pair of rubber wheels from my kids old razor scooters.   It mounted u pin one of the existing skid plate mounting holes with some washers and a longer bolt.  As is the auger blades were about 1/2" off the ground.  Fortunetely lowering the scraper did the trick.  It rides close enough for a clean job and the rubber wheels solves the "ride" problem.  I think to get a real clean sweep, Ill replace the metal scraper with a rubber one.

 

Very nice. Let us know how they hold up.

Very nice. Let us know how they hold up.

The wheels worked good but the scrapper was still a problem.   I ordered a set of snow thrower paddles for an old Toro. I cut slots in them where the scrapper bolts would pass through and fit the paddles under the scrapper.  Then push the scrapper all the way up and adjust the rubber paddles properly.    WE have no snow but theres plenty of sand on the road so I went out there to test it out.   It did a nice job cleaning down to the street.   I ran the blower over my uneven sidewalk and the rubber glides right over the trouble spots.  I expect it to work well when the snow returns !

final update
Plenty of snow this winter and the Toro chewed through all of it.  The wheel idea didnt last.  I wound up removing them all together and letting the rubber scraper do all the work, no skids and that worked great.

I like the idea of the rubber scraper.   I'm going to have to look into that. 

I modified my skids by welding a pieces of formed flat bar on the bottom to make them wider and with a more gradual bend in the curves so they'll be less likely to jamb.  They're also 3/8" thick will probably last for ten years or more before they wear down.

Borat,

Check out something NEW (Available November 1, 2010 at snowblowersdirect.com)... It's called a Roller-Skid... and it may be just what your looking for.

I saw those at Sears, they were like $30 or maybe a little less. I'd like to see how well the plastic holds up long-term. A steel wheel with a bushing, spacer and bolt would do the same thing and last a dozen years easily.

Thanks for that rafdog. 

Wonder why there's a need for the skid and a roller.   Unless, the roller breaks and the skid is for back up.  It will be interesting to see how long the rollers last.  Side to side movement of the snow thrower will certainly stress the roller if the front end isn't lifted high enough for the roller to clear the ground.

I have a couple concerns with these vs. regular skids.  First, everyone seems to forget that, outside of the bucket, these things are plowing through snow - may be an issue, may not be, guess it depends on the type of snow and other conditions.  Second, wider shoes tend to ride up on the snow rather than cutting through it - at least, that has been my experience going from the stock skids to the poly skids.  Third, I would imagine the wheels would easily get clogged with snow and get iced up, relegating them back to skid status.  Fourth, how will the bearing hold up since they will be bathed in snow/ice and likely salt for the better part of winter. 

Just my $0.015  <=== (deflation due to recession)

Good points longboat, I had similar concerns.  However, I'm not doubting Thomas and would give it a fair shake before coming to any conclusions.

For my application, the Honda snowblower bucket puts a lot of weight on the skids.  This is as much as 2x the weight of a regular wheeled snowblower.  The skids go through hell, taking abuse from side forces when turning, salt, sand, rocks, and pavement cracks.  Those little stainless steel pins and rollers may or may not hold up, but my real concern was the 1/4" or less molded polymer (plastic for the weak hearted) thickness that the pins are pressed into.  The videos showed the snowblower going through 1-2 inch of snow, on smooth blacktop pavement

Anyways, I hope the maker/designer have taken diligent steps to do long term test to smooth out the reliability wrinkles before putting this stuff on the market.  At the present, there is not a roller skid made to fit the Honda.   I'm not comfortable with drilling my bucket to fit it and become a beta tester for this product.  I don't mind dropping $30 to try it out, but I do mind drilling unnecessary holes into a $3000 snowblower.

longboat wrote:

Ironically this was a desired effect that I wanted. I use my snowblower at my cabin but still need to maintain ice trails for my sleds during the winter. The metal skids that came with my blower kept digging into ice when I didn't want them too. The poly's addressed this for me.