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

Does anyone have any experiance with setting the skid shoes on a honda snowblower. I purchased the commercial skid kit and I was wondering how you set it. I have a 1000 ft stone driveway and I want to keep about a half inch of snow on top of the driveway. Do I have both front and rear skids touching the ground together or set different?  Thanks for any advice.

Place the machine on a solid level surface like a concrete garage floor or sidewalk. Put a 1/2" thick piece of anything under the scraper blade to space it 1/2" off the ground.   Loosen the nuts for the skid shoes and let them drop to the ground with the machine resting on the spacers under the scraper, when you tighten the bolts on the skid shoes you will have 1/2" of clearance under the scraper blade when you are done.

I would suggest having the rear skids touch the ground first, then the side skids 1/8" or 1/4" off the ground.  This gives me the best setup as the rear skids allow easy turning, the side skids to keep the bucket stable.

Also, the rear skids have more surface area so they're more gentle on driveways surface.

Great thanks guys. I did exactly that! I set the machine in the middle position and dropped the rear skids to touch the floor. After they were touching I lowered the front skids. I guess we will see how it works out. O-yeah just a side note. I purchsed the commercial skid kit for the 1132 and it does not work with the 1332 per the instructions. I had to use the existing weld nuts on the front to get it to work and that doesnt allow much drop. I'll test it out the way it is and if I dont like it I'll just buy a second set of rears and place them up front.

MIkecr250 wrote:
This is not making any sense.  Read the instructions that came with the commercial skids shoes, they mount on holes you drill above the weld nuts.  Don't forget the spacer.

If you need more drop on the skid shoes, use the highest bucket position.

Rear skids and side skid shoes are not interchangeable.

Something changed on the 1332 versus the 1132?  Can you post pics of your side and rear skids?

MIkecr250 wrote:
The Commercial Skid Shoe kit for the HS 928 TAS machine warns NOT to use the weld nuts on the hood for mounting, and to drill holes to mount the skid shoes using the template provided.   I'd be surprised if that were any different on the next size larger machine ou own.  The weld nut will break under stress evidently, and have so often the kit I have says don't use them.  I also notice the boilts they supplied were too large for the weld nuts anyway, though I swapped mine out for stainless steel.

New_Yorker wrote: Hi Guys, The commercial skids are not available for the 1336. If you look closely in the picts the auger housing was changed. It's not the same as previous years models including the 1132. I talked to a Honda rep on the phone about it. Also, the rear skids are different than last years as well and they can be used up front on the sides. After looking it over, the housing looks to to be beefed up from previous years. My thinking is this. If the rear shoes which are about the same size of last years commercial kit can be moved up front, than the commercial kit should be fine mounted on those existing weld nuts.

Honda problems  !     Does it ever end?

royster wrote:
Depends on when the loose nut behind the steering wheel gets tightened.

May I ask why you want to leave 1/2 of snow? I am thinking about buying a SS unit cause I dont like how my two stage leaves snow behind.......I can get 26" of snow and buy the next afternoon I am down to dry pavement! IMO its only a matter of time before someone falls.....

I am also curious. Maybe this is due to the intricacies of a track-drive unit. But on my 2-stage, with wheels, I've always set the scraper to touch the ground. The last time I replaced the skid shoes and scraper bar, I set the shoes just slightly off the ground (put thin shims under them, while adjusting everything on a flat surface). That way I was guaranteed the scraper bar would be scraping. It would wear the bar down slightly, then the shoes would touch.

I have a smooth paved driveway. If I had gravel, etc, I would of course have to set it differently. I could see leaving 1/4", 1/2," under the scraper bar with a surface like that. But for something smooth, without fear of sucking something into the augers, wouldn't you want the scraper bar riding on the ground, to clear as low as possible? At least for a wheeled unit?

stresst wrote:

My driveway is 1000ft gravel

MIkecr250 wrote:
I would put the bucket as high as you could get it for the first couple uses. Then drive your car/truck on it as needed. Get a good base set up get that gravel froze in there good with some on top. Before setting up to leave the 1/2 inch for the rest of the winter. You can set it up for a regular hard surface drive once you get a base set up.  1000 ft going to be a very good work out with a small walk behind