wheels vs skids on blower

[emery]

I have a paved drive and am contemplating replacing the small skids on my 3pt snowblower with heavy duty swivel casters. I would mount them on the 2 channel frame members just behind the auger box.
Has anyone already done this? Anyone see any potential problems?
The benefit would be less wear/tear on blacktop with wheels versus skids. The only problem I forsee is less functionality if I wanted to clear nonpaved areas.

 

[Thomas]

I would think wheels would be better for the pavement,for skids do leave heavy marks when turning and the wheels would turn if keep well lube.

 

[BillRT]

I wonder if something like a plastic lawn mower mowing deck caster wouldn't work out as well - i.e. 4"-5" diameter one-piece jobbies (non-rotating axis) that are on some of the higher end LT decks (lawn striping?). Might allow a more simple/compact mount, and be just as blacktop friendly without rust. But, I guess the big issue here would be wear.

 

[snowman]

I'd think that the casters or wheels would stop rolling pretty quickly due to them getting clogged up with snow and ice. I think you'd just end up with non-rolling rubber/plastic shoes, which would probably wear down pretty quick on a paved surface.

I run a front blower and a rear blade on a paved surface with no shoes on either; they leave very little markings and don't dig into the pavement at all.

Since you have a 3pt blower, you should be able to raise/tilt it a bit with the top link, an adjustment that I can't do with a front blower. This would pull the edge of the blower off the pavement so that it wouldn't scrape or dig.