54 " Blower fan observation?

[PILOON]

As to skid shoes on your 54" blower.

Been there done that! (on my 60" rear blower)
Suggest that adding 2" X 8" to the BOTTOM of existing shoes is plenty.
Bottom (to keep stresses centered) and more will simply just float too much and you will probably regret it.
Since my base is now good I have removed all shoes otherwise the base will become one huge pile of slush come spring.

 

[Mercmaniac]

jgayman, pm sent

 

[superbear]

jgayman, pm sent

Sorry we can't help you being ours was new and under warrentee we figured we would pay them to do the install of the steel impeller so if they screwed up it was on them, it took them over 3 hours and they were suppose to know what they were doing Wish you the best of luck figuring it out. Let me know how it went. Eric

 

[Runner]

I'm in the process of modifying my snow blower shoes as they seem to dig into my gravel a lot. I am going to add another identical piece of 2 1/4 x 8" x 1/2" flat bar to the side of the existing runners - effectively doubling the surface area. I plan to get started on it this weekend. I hope it helps.

I wouldn't mind seeing a photo of the new shoes you had made.

I tried increasing the area of the shoes as described and it still dug in, so I decided to add wheels to large angles that bolt to the bottom of the shoes. Seems to do the trick.

 

[superbear]

I had the oppertunity to check out my "new shoes" last night and they did a great job although I wish I would have gone another 2 inches wider which I still may do. The shoes I had fabricated are exactly the same as the "stock" shoes but longer instead of 3.75 inches on the ground I have 8 inches and it definately kept them from digging in to my gravel driveway. which I will cap with another few inches of D1 come spring and compact it, since now what I essentially have is at best 1" minus material with a binder that has washed down after 3 years leaving some nasty loose rocks for the blower to digest, by leaving a solid 2" of snow base down and the new shoes I didn't pick up one rock last night. Eric

 

[jgayman]

I will post a photo of my shoes when I install them this weekend. I made them exactly twice the surface areaof the existing shoes by adding an 2 1/4" x 8" skid opposite the existing skid. Of the 8" on the original skid I would guess about 5" touches the ground.

 

[Henri88]

I tried increasing the area of the shoes as described and it still dug in, so I decided to add wheels to large angles that bolt to the bottom of the shoes. Seems to do the trick.View attachment 298075View attachment 298076

Never seen a set-up like this before, but hey, if it works good for you. :thumbsup: Up here the ground is frozen solid usually from Dec. to end of March, so not a problem. Have to say that I'm not to sure of the position of your hydraulic hose in front of the auger.

 

[Karl2]

Have to say that I'm not to sure of the position of your hydraulic hose in front of the auger.

Yeah looking at those hoses made me a little nervous too

 

[jgayman]

I installed the new blower shoes today. I guess I will have to wait until our next snow to see if I made any improvement. Below are a few photos to show what the new shoes look like. I simply added an additional skid to the side of the existing skid.

BTW, does anyone know why JD put the two holes in the original skids?

 

[bigtiller]

I installed the new blower shoes today. I guess I will have to wait until our next snow to see if I made any improvement. Below are a few photos to show what the new shoes look like. I simply added an additional skid to the side of the existing skid.

BTW, does anyone know why JD put the two holes in the original skids?

I don't KNOW this but they may be locating holes for the welding fixture when the two pieces are welded together

 

[Runner]

"BTW, does anyone know why JD put the two holes in the original skids?"

No, I don't, but I used them to accept the bolts that hold my oversized shoes/wheels.

I have used them to mount extra sacrificial wear plates in the past. Replacing the shoes gets expensive, but you can bolt a piece of 1/2 inch plate under there, and it will last a long time.

 

[jgayman]

Replacing the shoes gets expensive, but you can bolt a piece of 1/2 inch plate under there, and it will last a long time.

I know what you mean. JD wants $50+ for each shoe. But the shoes are super easy to make. If you are able to cut off the old skid a new chunk of 2 1/4 x 1/2 x 8" steel is only like $5.00 and it would last a long time. The hardest part for me was bending the ends. I can't imagine it costing more than $15.00 to make a whole shoe from scratch - that's materials cost of course assuming you are doing the cutting and welding yourself.

 

[PILOON]

"BTW, does anyone know why JD put the two holes in the original skids?"

No, I don't, but I used them to accept the bolts that hold my oversized shoes/wheels.View attachment 298731

I have used them to mount extra sacrificial wear plates in the past. Replacing the shoes gets expensive, but you can bolt a piece of 1/2 inch plate under there, and it will last a long time.

My guess,
To bolt on wider and or longer optional shoes, might have been an option.

 

[Falcon900Pilot]

Another thing I did was remove the cutting edges on both blowers. I replaced them with a length of 1 1/4" schedule 40 steel pipe. The pipe has 3 tabs welded to it. A tab at each end with 2 holes and a tab in the center with 3 holes. It bolts right up using the bolts from the cutting edge. I only used the blowers a couple of times last season and 3 times this winter so far but I really love them pipes!! Here is a pic of the liner. EricView attachment 295943

Just curious, do you have any pictures of how you welded the tabs to the 1 1/4" pipe as well as pictures of how you attached it to the snowblower?

Thanks! :flag-airforce::airplane:

 

[Drtumolo]

I know this is a very old thread but has anyone tried the stainless steel liner that was mentioned in this thread. Seems like it would be an excellent addition to a blower.

 

[beenthere]

"mentioned in this thread"

Point to where it was mentioned.. like reply # tks

 

[Drtumolo]

Sorry. first page of thread, post #9