Antique snow blade shoes/ skids

flgudmusic · Dec 15, 2015

Hullooo!
This is my first post here, in fact it's one of my first forum posts ever, anywhere, soooo, I'm not even sure where I'm supposed to be posting. I've acquired a Farmall 200(1955) as my very first tractor and am now on a mission to deal with it correctly.
I know nada about ag tractors BUT have spent a large portion of my working life operating construction equipment/ tractors, etc.. My tractor has a 6' snow blade on the front which has 1 broken & 1 deformed plow shoe/ skid. I live in the 'lake effect' snow belt of upstate ny, and have a neighbor who insists that I should keep & use the machine to plow my very long driveway. OK, sounds good but then he walked away, leaving me to wonder how in heck I'm gonna be a tractor owner/ operator, never having been one before.
The snow/ dozer blade skids are shot and he told me how he fabbed some for his 'cubby', and walked away again. AHEM!..... I neither have the ability nor the facility to 'fab' plow shoes or anything else for that matter!!! He also mentioned another time that I would need tire chains and again walked away leaving me wunnerin' where to get THAT knowledge in order to procure said chains. Needless to say, I haven't a clue where to start, inasmuch as he & his son while wearing their tractor hats n shirts kinda smirk as they watch me stumble and wallow in my own ignorance, waddling back to their smug-a**ed world.
NOW I come here hoping maybe someone can give me an idea where to start as far as making my grand ol' red machine a functioning part of my own world.
I'm going to post a pic of the distorted/ bent-up remaing plow blade shoe/ skid and ask if anyone has ever seen these before and are they something that I could buy somewhere or are they a critter that I have to have someone 'make' for me. Any answer beyond the haaalf-a**ed neighbor thing would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx, Pat aka flgudmusic

oh yeah, IF I AM in the wrong forum, would someone please direct me in the right direction? Thanx Again

Rustyiron · Dec 15, 2015

Welcome & you are in the right place. You may not need the skid shoes, but if you have gravel, they might be helpfull until you get a little snow pack on your lane. I sound's like you are a little uncomfortable with your neighbors, but a friendly visit with a 12 pack might "break the ice" and he might just help you out. If not, a local welding shop can fix you up. For the chain's, there are places on line that will send them right to your door, all you need is your tire size.

texas42 · Dec 15, 2015

Where I grew up we had the previous model to your Farmall 200. It was a Farmall Super C. It also had the front mounted blade that was raised and lowered with the rocker arms on the tractor. Yes, you will need the skid shoes and as Rustyiron said, find a local welding shop to fab some up for you, and yes, you will need chains. Good little tractor.

Fallon · Dec 15, 2015

Tirechain.com is where I got mine & they are highly recommended on this forum.

I'd hire a local welder to fan something up in your shoes. I bet it would be under $100. But as was already said, you might not even need them. You primarily need skid shoes to prevent the blade from moving gravel. If the ground is frozen up rock usually stays put.

This is definitely the place to lurk to learn about tractors & owning/operating yours. I'd recommend reading through the forums a bit. The first step is to learn the terminology & start figuring out what you don't know but want to.

flgudmusic · Dec 16, 2015

Re: Antique snow blade shoes/ skids (response back from Pat)

Thanx folks,
I appreciate your responses to my questions. I'm thinking of calling Tirechain.com and speaking w/ their people. Tell 'em what I've got and follow their lead on what to buy. I was hoping when the neighbors were giving their 'advice', that maybe I'd learn enough to buy some used chains and maybe get some help installing them w/ their knowledge & tools, BUT... their help seems to be to tell me what they did or what I need & then, grinning, leave me exactly where I started when I asked them things. Hehe, I'm sure I can return the favor when they ask about doing septic system work or other excavating and I answer by saying they'll need a back hoe, etc., as I chuckle and waddle/ shuffle away to MY backhoe, leaving them w/ no offer of help or decent solution to THEIR situation. Haha, sometimes I feel like Oliver Douglas on 'Green Acres', being mocked by the locals.
Sooo... it's looking like I'll wind up going new & depending on the pros which means having to buy the tools as well. I'm also going to check into a local fab shop/ welder, I guess but because the remaining shoe/ skid is warped out of shape, I'm not sure what bends to recommend to the metal worker. That's kind of why I was hoping that maybe these were actually sold as OEM items by somebody, somewhere.
Thanx again folks, Pat aka flgudmusic

kevin37b · Dec 16, 2015

Do those bolt to the back of the blade ? Never liked skids behind , it is too late when they arrive . Think about a rubber edge bolted on . Very forgiving and no teethmarks on steering wheel . I had a neighbor like yours . He informed me that he would like to see his house burn while he was gone to work . I thought about helping him out .

flgudmusic · Dec 16, 2015

Me Again,
Hi Kevin, and thanx for your input. I don't have a paved driveway, any part of the 100 yards+, all well packed, no crown gravel. Due to my requests around the different forum sites, I've seen lots of examples of these skids on rebuilds of classics and other Farmall models, such as the Cub(thanx DJ54) etc.. Now at least I have some pics that I can manipulate to show a fab guy along w/ my measurements, all of the needed bends and such. As to your insight about the backside mounting being a drawback Kevin, yeah they WERE on the back of the moldboard & cutting edge, but if I can get 'em made to the exact contours, I'm gonna mount 'em in the same direction but on the FACE of the plow, letting the shoes lead the way and taking any strain off the mounting bolts and putting their lift BEFORE the blade.
I failed to mention earlier that I retired after 34 years as an equipment operator that had moved snow w/ every imaginable device from a snow shovel (light equipment operator) to road plows, backhoes, pickups w/ plows and even a John Deere 744G front end loader w/ a 6 1/2yd bucket (2 buckets to a 10 wheel dumptruck).
I've pushed, plowed, lifted, piled, sno-blown, melted, swept, tunnelled through, kicked, actually been stuck trying to walk (bull through) shoulder deep drifts DURING a storm, shoveled it from roofs as well as being buried after falling from said roofs, spent 12 - 16 hours a day repeatedly shoveling the same railroad switches & cleaning the same crossings, hand dug out HIGHWAY v-snow plows w/ twin wings, cursed the snow gods, sometimes spent pleasurable periods at the window looking out at white nothingness while drinking beer (vacation...hehe) AND ahem.... have also 'marked my territory' by 'writing my name' on/ in mega snows for my entire life and now am gonna add an antique farm tractor w/ a 6' front mount blade to my arsenal of snow battling shtuff to clean my driveway etc.
I appreciate all the help you folks have lent, 'cause I really had no idea where to start as far as this tractor's concerned. I now have an idea how to take my own shtuff along w/ youse folks' input and make the 'old red girl' work for me at home.
Thanx Pat

airbiscuit · Dec 16, 2015

If it was me, and this was my first year of putting the package together, I would just fab something up out of wood. Glue a couple of 2x8s together, saw a contour and bolt em on. After the first or second plowing, you will be taking them off anyway. That gets you off and running, and you can refine your set up next year.