John Deere 47" snowblower skid shoes

[mikefamig]

Can anyone tell me what is the logic behind the instructions for adjusting the JD 47 snowblower skid shoes?

They call the four height settings A, B, C and D. The owner's manual for the blower says that the shoes have to be mounted on the inside of the cabinet on the lowest (A) setting and outside the cabinet for the highest (D) setting. What's up with that? The shoes fit either way at any setting on my blower and I can't see any advantage to mounting outside the cabinet. It just makes the machine wider.

Here's a link to the online manual .....go to the skid shoe adjustment section and you'll see what I'm talking about.
OMLVU18040_K5

Mike.

 

[jgayman]

Hmmm... you have me puzzled. I have the 54" blower and I see those same instructions in my manual. Never noticed that before. I modified my shoes to make them wider so they didn't dig in as much on my gravel driveway. Mine are bolted in position-C and mounted on the inside. I see no reason why they cannot be bolted to any of the settings inside or out. Below is what my modified shoe looks like.

 

[Jtschnel]

I was reading the same thing yesterday before adjusting my skid shoes. May sound bizzare but the only reason I could think of was with the C and D setting you'd more likely be going over surfaces other than concrete or asphalt such as gravel. Maybe with the potential of picking up gravel, keeping the shoe on the outside of the housing gives more auger side clearance in the interior of the housing.

One reason for keeping the shoes on the inside when blowing driveways or sidewalks is to ensure the shoe is on the hard surface when blowing all the way to the edge of the sidewalk, etc. If it were on the outside it could be riding off the hard surface edge such as the yard adjacent to the sidewalk.

Ok, that might be stretching, but that's all I could come up with. Way too much thought on it!

I do have a question though. Mainly I use it on paved surfaces and set the adjustment of the skids so the blade rested on the pavement. Where did others set theirs?

 

[mikefamig]

I like what you did with the skid shoes. I've been watching ebay for a second set so that I can use two on each side, one inside and one outside. I'm also thinking about lining them with high density plastic so that it doesn't scrape up the driveway.

Mike.

 

[mikefamig]

I was reading the same thing yesterday before adjusting my skid shoes. May sound bizzare but the only reason I could think of was with the C and D setting you'd more likely be going over surfaces other than concrete or asphalt such as gravel. Maybe with the potential of picking up gravel, keeping the shoe on the outside of the housing gives more auger side clearance in the interior of the housing.

One reason for keeping the shoes on the inside when blowing driveways or sidewalks is to ensure the shoe is on the hard surface when blowing all the way to the edge of the sidewalk, etc. If it were on the outside it could be riding off the hard surface edge such as the yard adjacent to the sidewalk.

Ok, that might be stretching, but that's all I could come up with. Way too much thought on it!

I do have a question though. Mainly I use it on paved surfaces and set the adjustment of the skids so the blade rested on the pavement. Where did others set theirs?

I can see your point. The shoe could potentially collect gravel and feed it to the auger. I have mine set at D setting which is as high as tey go. I also cut a length of 1" pvc lengthwise and hammered it onto the blade to prevent it from digging.

I'm doing everything I can to make it safer over gravel.

Mike.

 

[jgayman]

Hmmm... you have me puzzled. I have the 54" blower and I see those same instructions in my manual. Never noticed that before. I modified my shoes to make them wider so they didn't dig in as much on my gravel driveway. Mine are bolted in position-C and mounted on the inside. I see no reason why they cannot be bolted to any of the settings inside or out. Below is what my modified shoe looks like.

View attachment 349603 View attachment 349604

I was able to finally try the new skid shoes this weekend and I am not real happy with the way they worked. The ground still isn't quite frozen and they seemed to dig in. I'm going to look into something different.

 

[Dutch445]

that can be frustrating when the ground hasn't set up yet
more surface area would be the solution, but as you
freeze up you won't need it. some guys make them so
they can be pinned on and quickly removed.

 

[Mechanos]

I've been thinking of a gauge wheel setup for my 59". I have some grass areas that I would like to remove "overburden" of snow while still leaving light blanket of snow.