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

Anyone have a slick idea for variable height skid shoes? I have a Ariens Deluxe 27 and am getting of tired getting the impact wrench out to constantly change the height. Most of my driveway is mixed gravel and I set the height to max and the other part is concrete which I set to minimum. Any ideas for a quick change mechanism would be appreciated. thanks

I've heard you can mount mower wheels to your bucket, then you can just flip the little lever on the wheel to whatever height you need.  I haven't tried it, though.

I am currently using the Ariens composite shoes on my blower, but they are wider than the stock shoes and tend to ride up on the snow rather than cut through it.  By the same token, I would think you would want as narrow of a wheel as possible.

I like the idea of the adjuster from the front wheels of an old mower, but replace the wheels with pieces of round 1/4" plate. Make them large so they don't get stuck between rocks. Alternatively, make new skids. Use a good hard steel for the bottom and they'll last almost forever. Instead of slots for adjustment, drill holes at the two heights. Since you won't have to tighten them down to stop from sliding in the slots, you can use wingnuts and hand tighten them for a tool-less change. Use lockwashers so they don't vibrate off. Pic: .............. http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/1619/drawing1i.png ................ edit - For some reason I seem to no longer have the toolbar to insert a URL - just cut & paste that link into your browser.