Tired of having your snowblower banging into each uneven section of sidewalk, catching on every crack in the driveway? This replacement set of skids allow you to avoid damage and keep smooth control over cracks and other uneven surfaces.
What makes these skids different?
Superior Design over original skids
Superior Materials
Made in America with American Steel
1a) Poor Design of stock skid: Standard skids are designed for absolute lowest cost. They are stamped out of very thin metal and are less than 5 inches in length. The short length of the skid forces them to have a very steep angle to the skid itself, almost 60 degrees. This makes for a harsh upward jolt every time a bump is encountered. Attempting to use them on uneven sidewalks and driveways makes for a rough ride.
1b) Superior Design of Heavy-Duty Skid: The replacement snowblower skids are made from 1/4 flat bar, more than twice as thick as the stock skids. They are wider and more than twice as long as the original skid as well, a fact I'll get back to in a moment. The steel is much better at taking a beating than the unknown recycled 'metal' of the stock skids.
By Designing my skid over 12 inches long, I can make the angle of the skids much less - at 22 degrees its less than half that of the original skid. For every bump the skid encounters, it has twice the distance to lift the snowblower up over the bump as a stock skid. My replacement skid has the ends of each skid turned up slightly steeper to handle bumps up to almost 2 inches. You may have bent your stock skids, but you're not going to bend these.
2) Superior Materials: Low cost was the driving force behind the design of your stock skid, which was definitely made overseas and probably out of a combination of melted-down scrap with truly unknown metalurgy. I use nothing less than heavy flat bars of Hot-Rolled A-36 American Made Steel for my skids. A-36 steel, well known for it's superior strength, ductility, and weldability, is the same steel spec'd for the I-beams in high-rise buildings. For the mounting plates I use 1018 steel, which has a slightly higher resistance to bending forces, and promotes a slightly smoother finish as well.
If for any reason the skids ever do wear out, they can easily be rebuilt by any local welding shop.
Skid Photos: Stock Skid vs. Heavy-Duty Skid
My Skid below, with the stock skid on top: Bump Point-of-contact is moved WAY forwardwhich helps protect the auger housing. Much lower angle of my skid makes for MUCH smoother ride.Thickness of steel is quite evident in this photo.
Closeup of Angle difference - Stock Skid vs. my Skid:
End of Skid - Stock vs. Mine:
Pictures of Skids prior to painting:
Batch of skids primed and being Painted:
Build Details and Key Measurements: I custom make these skids to exactly fit your brand of snowblower. Different brands of snowblowers have slightly different mounting patterns, and the pattern can vary within a brand as well. When you order a set of skids I need the make of snowblower (MTD, Craftsman, Ariens, Deere, etc.) and I need two key measurements, Listed below
Key Measurement #1: Most typical skids have two mounting slots, I need to know how far apart they are. Please measure from the center of one slot to the center of the other slot. Typical distances are 2.5 inches, 2.75 inches. or 3 inches.
Key Measurements #2: How wide are the slots themselves? Typical slot widths are 5/16 or 3/8. A good way to measure this is to take a skid to the local hardware store and see if a 5/16 bolt fits in the slot. Then try a 3/8 bolt and see if it fits.
Build Time: It takes me about 7 days to make each batch of skids. A portion of this time is related directly to the time it takes to get the paint to dry.
Price and Payment: I'm asking $28.95 for a set of 2 skids. Please see the order page for ordering information through Google Checkout. I also take paypal.
Local Pickup: Local pickup is always encouraged whenever possible. Please contact me for details.
Shipping: I ship all boxes out through the post office. Typically it takes 2-3 days to Wisconsin Michigan indiana, illinois, and probably about 5 days to either coast. Costs to ship are between $7.50 and $11. Guarantee: If you don't think they're the best skids you've ever seen, just call me and I'll cheerfully refund your money.
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