Wheels or Skids

[MalMac 1,332]

I have been going through the post on using snow blowers on gravel. I have two gravel drives one 300ft and another at 100ft plus need to make paths to and around are out buildings. After reading and looking at all the options people have done I am trying to decide should I go with skids or wheels. What I have been encountering up until this last super cold spell is the drives never really freezing good and hard. What has happened is the skids do not slide along the gravel the weight of the blower especially when I had the 2 stage. but even my single stage now will dig in. So I have been looking at options of attaching wheels or casters VS. putting on a very large skid. I know I can use the dial a height control but I really don't like the manual lift supporting all the weight all the time. Two other things that concerns me is with wheels will they hurt or impede the maneuverability? Then one of the problems I encountered this time around with the weather we just had was instead of the skids digging down the blower seemed to want to ride up. Will larger ski type of skids make this problem worst? Maybe with the blower riding up, I might have had the helper spring adjusted to tight. With the super cold weather being the abnormal anymore I need to approach this with the mind set the drives will not freeze hard. For the most part I use a blade but when the deeper snows come it's nice to hook up to the blower. Just trying to decide which method would work best.

Edited January 12, 2014 by MalMac

[AMC RULES 37,146]

Mine came to me with these beefy skid shoes on it...

might help to enlarge yours to keep from digging into your stone drive.  

 

[MalMac 1,332]

AMC, that's kinda what I had in mine. Think some that size would help keep things floating instead of digging. To me the skids that come on it from the factory seem rather small.

[WH nut 553]

On gravel I make sure I drive on the snow and get a good 2 or 3 inch pack before I use the blower. Out buildings you are just going to have to adjust the height

[Rick_in_CT 156]

My drive is 550' of blacktop now, but it use to be gravel.  We also have a high water table, so during the freeze thaw cycles it could be tricky to use the blower on the gravel.  I would think that wider skids like AMC has would be worth trying.  I don't think wheels will be much help on gravel.  I see them sinking in if they are not wide enough, and possibly breaking off when trying to make turns in the gravel.  The increased surface area of the bigger skids should help the blower float over the gravel surface. 

 

Take a look at snowblowerskids.com, they have something called amorskids for gravel driveways.  Food for thought.

[can whlvr 993]

I blow a lot of area,non is paved,i made these skies years ago and they work great,even in reverse

[MalMac 1,332]

I am leaning toward a much larger skid. I think that will help it float on top and support the weight and help it glide along easier without it wanting to dig in.

[dbartlett1958 96]

Malmac,

 

I too have a large gravel driveway. On my Single Stage, I modified the original shoe by welding another piece of bent flat stock directly to the original skid. It gives a much larger footprint and does not dig in.

[Hydro 131]

I'm for the wider skids MalMac.  I'm thinking any wheel you will choose would be too narrow to give you any advantage.  If you go too wide then you will have a problem with the cut.  Craig and Don have the right idea for gravel in my view. 

[cleat 7,030]

Wider shoes are good as long as they don't stick out too far and hit things on the edge of your driveway. On my old Ford LGT 2 stage I widened the shoes towards the inside. Also make sure your springs are in place to take most of the weight of the blower. My old ford and my current Wheel horse 520H both with the 2 stage I can easily lift the blower from the front with one hand. Less down pressure means less digging in.