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

My Honda 928 tracker has skid shoes mounted on the sides of the bucket housing, and also on the rear (near the outside)of the bucket. Why two different sets? Should I take off one set, or what? If so, which one? Any thoughts or experience from you folks out there?

I have both side and rear skid shoes on my wheel version.  I think they are there to save the bucket from wearing out too quick.  The side skids will help you to control how close you want to get to the pavement without wearing out the bucket.  The rear is also for similar purpose.  I am not planning to take them off as the bucket is very expansive to replace.  Maybe your track version is different.

I have heard the rear shoes are good for holding up the bucket when you drive off a curb.

MN_Runner wrote:

This was posted earlier this year by me:

"From my experience running both side and rear skids in contact with the pavement has too much friction.  It will be harder to turn and the bucket gets moved around too much when going across cracks and joints.  It is especially worse if you set the scraper bar real close to the ground, not enough snow to keep the rear skids gliding smoothly on.   I'm only using the side skids now."

If you're running tracks, the rear skids are better to use.  It makes turning easier.  The trade off is that you have no protection of the side skids when one side of the bucket drops below the pavement.

jrtrebor wrote:

It looks like I will wear out the bucket itself as there is not that much gap between the ground and bucket.  Sure you will wear out the cutting edge/scraper but they are relatively cheap to replace.

jrtrebor wrote:

I want to set the record straight:  jrtebor is correct saying you will wear out the cutting edge/scaper first and it is not likely to eat away the bucket.  I bought a set of commerical grade skid shoes as my old ones are worn out and hoping to resolve a pulling issue.  Not sure why the instruction says DO NOT use the nuts attached inside the bucket when securing new skids shoes but wants me take the nuts out and insert the screws from inside of the bucket.  Anyone knows why?  Are these commerical grade skids any better other than being thicker and longer lasting?

MN_Runner wrote:

I want to set the record straight:  jrtebor is correct saying you will wear out the cutting edge/scaper first and it is not likely to eat away the bucket.  I bought a set of commerical grade skid shoes as my old ones are worn out and hoping to resolve a pulling issue.  Not sure why the instruction says DO NOT use the nuts attached inside the bucket when securing new skids shoes but wants me take the nuts out and insert the screws from inside of the bucket.  Anyone knows why?  Are these commerical grade skids any better other than being thicker and longer lasting?

MN_Runner wrote:
The commercial skids are quite stout and will hold up well.  They are quite short and narrow, which prevents too much floating over snow and keeps the bucket and scraper bar close to the pavement  The downside is that there is a lot weight over a small surface area of the skids, it tends to catch on surface irregularities more often and changes the direction of the snowblower.  I'm currently trying out a different kind of skids, they are bigger and made out of UHDPE, thick and heavy plastic which glides more nicely, but probably will not hold up as well as the metal commercial skids.

When I first got my commercial skids shoes, the instructions left me a bit bewildered why there are extra parts and they don't want me to use the existing holes on the bucket housing.  Do follow the instructions drilling your new mounting holes and use the kit provided metal spacer plate and through bolts and nuts.  I wasn't too crazy about drilling 4 holes in a brand new bucket to install skid shoes, but I'm convinced it's the right thing to do.  The spacer plate provides are thicker and wider clamping surface for the skids.  Without them, the bucket sides are not thick and strong enough and will bend if you hit the skids on something.  Also, the original holes are too close to the edge of the bucket, it will only be a matter of time before it tears.

Shryp wrote:


Exactly the reason!  I have the bolt head on the inside of the bucket, threads and nuts on the outside.  Gives me more clearance to the auger.

The OCD in me went and got longer bolts in stainless steel, SS nuts, and SS fender washers.  Put the fender washers inside so that the bolt head is not gouging directly on the painted bucket.  Also put a light coat of antiseize compound on the holes on the bucket that I had to drill.  I think that would be sufficient to keep corrosion at bay. 

aa335 wrote:

I agree with you about why you have to drill new holes. The instruction also requires you to take off the rear skids. So Honda is saying with the commericial skids mounted you don't need have the rear skids bolted on.  Did you take your rear skids off?

I took off the rear skids and now using only side plastic skids. They are gentler on the brick pavers.

aa335 wrote:

How much clearance do you have between the pavement and your scraper bar?  We have gotten 8" of snow since last night and a 5mm gap between concrete and scraper bar seems not optimal.  I will adjust it for 2mm gap.

MN_Runner wrote:
I usually have the scraper bar set between 2-4mm.   It is set at 1.72mm now.

aa335 wrote:

Thanks.  I have my scraper bar at  2mm. There is another reason why you have to drill the holes when using commerical grade skids.  If you use the exisiting threaded holes, you cannot achieve 2-4mmm gap between the concrete and scraper bar.  We got close to a foot today. How about you in Chicago?

MN_Runner wrote:
You're right, makes sense.  I never tried to put the commercial skids on those existing holes to be aware of that limitation.

I got about 7-8 inches of very heavy wet snow today.  I used the 2 stage most of the time, and the Toro SS on the cleanup around tight areas.  On the Honda 2 stage with the poly skids, it worked really well with the 1.7mm scraper bar clearance (thickness of a US quarter coin).  The poly ones probably won't last as long as the metal commercial skids, but guiding and turning the huge 32" wide bucket is significantly easier.  It works much better than any other set up I have in the past.

If anyone is interested in the poly skids, it's the Robalon skids,  it is available for many models.  I would recommend getting proper fender washers that would fit in the slotted holes of the skids.