# Photo comparison: Ariens poly skid vs. OE skid vs. Armor Skids



## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

I wasn't planning on purchasing these poly skids but, due to the massive snowfall we received over the past week, I'm afraid I'm going to have to run the machine on our deck to get some of the snow off before we have problems. I've used the roller skids before on the same deck and found the result (lack of damage) was better than I expected.​


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

I shimmed things up slightly higher than before. I guess we're expecting some snow over the next two days and then a storm beginning Sunday night to add to the 46" we already have!


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

I used the machine with the poly skids last night for about 45 minutes. There's quite a difference. I guess it's an improvement but I'm not 100% convinced of that.

The steel skids tend to cut through to the asphalt. The poly skids tend to glide/skate over a thin layer of snow all the time. So, the coefficient of friction of a poly-snow interface vs. a steel-asphalt interface is going to be _very_ different. One wants to dig in while the other is gliding smoothly (and not activating the Auto Turn). 

I do notice that the tires rarely slip going up my hill. This is very different compared to the steel skids.

I tend to lift up on the handle bars to get the scraper to cut into the car tire tracks. I think I may have lost this capability with the poly skids. However, my steel skids are showing significant wear already. This machine has a total of about 9 hrs on it:











And then I changed the oil:


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Your steel skid looks like it wasn't quite flat and that is what caused the wear. Wonder if that was part of your problem with it.


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## Ryan (Dec 13, 2013)

The Steel skids get bent up and dinged up quite easily.


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

Shryp said:


> Your steel skid looks like it wasn't quite flat and that is what caused the wear. Wonder if that was part of your problem with it.


I was wondering the same but I'm pretty cautious when setting them up.

No reason one couldn't shim the leading edge of each metal skid with a dime or something thin. That might minimize the wear I get when lifting up on the handle bars. Regardless, it still looks like a lot of wear in a very short period of time.


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## 1894 (Dec 16, 2014)

What are you running into that is also chewing up the front angle part ( I'm assuming ) of the steel skid ??


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

We have a very low curb along one side of the driveway and granite curbing on the street. It comes with the territory, I'm afraid. 

We have a new mail man all of a sudden and he hasn't been leaving the mail at homes unless he has e-z access to the mail box. I'm very good about cleaning as close as physically possible to the curb. I guess I use the skid as a "curb feeler".


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

I looked at my other OE metal skid - - the wear pattern is uniform from side to side.


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## Normex (Feb 21, 2014)

uberT said:


> I was wondering the same but I'm pretty cautious when setting them up.
> No reason one couldn't shim the leading edge of each metal skid with a dime or something thin. That might minimize the wear I get when lifting up on the handle bars. Regardless, it still looks like a lot of wear in a very short period of time.


 As Shryp mentioned your wear look like in one area suggesting the skids were not flat when tightened or course you can try the dime on the front but I doubt you raise the back enough to press the front of your skids as the blower would tend to spin if raised too much. Normally there is always snow for your skids to ride on unless you had bare asphalt then had a heavy and wet snow so the asphalt was not frozen. Just saying and Good Luck


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

Thanks, Normex. I'll fly with the poly skids for a while and check them again today to ensure they're level.


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## SnowGuy69 (Feb 12, 2014)

Any difference with the auto-turn with the different skids?


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## hallm (Feb 9, 2014)

When I purchased my first MTD blower about 15 years ago I used the steel shoes that came with it for a few weeks. Then I started to notice the marks they were leaving on the concrete driveway. 

I made some long poly shoes for it and noticed an improvement in how the unit operated on the sidewalk and driveway. The first blower was also the Zamboni for the kids rink and the poly shoes were great on the ice.

When the new Ariens arrived I knew right away it was going to have poly shoes based on my previous experience so I made a set of similar poly shoes for it as well. All seems to be working well so far this winter.

Here are the poly shoes that I currently have on my Pro 28


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## Ryan (Dec 13, 2013)

uberT said:


> We have a very low curb along one side of the driveway and granite curbing on the street. It comes with the territory, I'm afraid.
> 
> We have a new mail man all of a sudden and he hasn't been leaving the mail at homes unless he has e-z access to the mail box. I'm very good about cleaning as close as physically possible to the curb. I guess I use the skid as a "curb feeler".



Ditto. I tend to use the skid the same way, as I have to blow much of the snow in the church parking lots that the plows leave along the sides of the curbs, especially in the handicap parking area. So it does get scraped up considerably. And then having to climb and go off of curbs/walks onto the parking lot, the skids take a beating.


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

SnowGuy69 said:


> Any difference with the auto-turn with the different skids?


Yes, as others have said, things are better with the poly skids. No question about it.


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## fixer5000 (Nov 3, 2013)

i put poly skids on my 28 yesterday after an oil change. blew about 6 inches of fresh snow this afternoon and they do seem to work better to me so far. ill be interested to see how they wear compared to the metal ones which were worn more than i thought they would be so far


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## enigma-2 (Feb 11, 2014)

I put on poly skids last summer and only had had to use the blower three times so far this year. Had only one good snow so far this year, very unusual. 

I completely agree with the comments left by uberT about the poly skids. The do slide over the driveway and street easier. Much less autocorrect needed.

I never used the Armor skids, considered them because of my uneven driveway, throught they were expensive so I had my driveway leveled instead. (I'm a exMarine and we tend to move the mountain rather than go around, it's a little hard to explain sometimes). 

Only negitive I would venture is, they are a little wider than the steel and tend to hang when I hit the side of my front porch. It's completly minor point and would recommend the deluxe skids over the OEM any day.


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

The poly skids paid for themselves over the past couple days. I had to get the snow off the back deck with all the new incoming snow! I had some drifts that had built up to 7'  The Ariens was undeterred by the task


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

*I think I'm suffering from snow fatigue tonight*


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## bkwudz (Jan 14, 2013)

Well after trying the armor skids with this last night storm, I took them off and went back to the stock steel skids. The armor skids road up too much on the snow. Didn't like them at all.


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

Yeah, I experienced the same with the roller skids last year. I don't like that effect, but some seem to.

I find the poly skids tend to float above vs. cutting thru the layers.


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## Jason B (Jan 28, 2015)

SO what's the verdict. Armor Skids?


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

bkwudz said:


> Well after trying the armor skids with this last night storm, I took them off and went back to the stock steel skids. The armor skids road up too much on the snow. Didn't like them at all.


This is the point I'm at too. The ARMORskids are very long and do ride up too much. I didn't have all that much experience with them due to lack of snow. I "think" the poly skids are going to be the best compromise for me.


Jason, the ARMORskids are in the FOR SALE section of this forum now. I think they're probably a good solution for someone that has dryer snow and less icing than my region.


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## Jason B (Jan 28, 2015)

uberT said:


> This is the point I'm at too. The ARMORskids are very long and do ride up too much. I didn't have all that much experience with them due to lack of snow. I "think" the poly skids are going to be the best compromise for me.
> 
> 
> Jason, the ARMORskids are in the FOR SALE section of this forum now. I think they're probably a good solution for someone that has dryer snow and less icing than my region.


Hmm, well, I'm in PA and we get all kinda of snow, dry, wet, ice, etc... Maybe I'm better to take the stock skids to the grinder and re-shape them?


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

What do you not like about the OE skids?


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## Scrounger (Nov 27, 2016)

What do you have to do to see the images. They're all telling me to update my account to see third party images. Update my Snowblowerforum.com account?


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## Jason B (Jan 28, 2015)

uberT said:


> What do you not like about the OE skids?


Well, they are old and worn down and get caught on concrete expansion joints on driveway. Some concrete pads are higher than the others when snow blowing and it hits now,.


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## DriverRider (Nov 20, 2016)

uberT said:


> This is the point I'm at too. The ARMORskids are very long and do ride up too much. I didn't have all that much experience with them due to lack of snow. I "think" the poly skids are going to be the best compromise for me.


Most machines are light in the front end nowadays and could benefit from additional weight.


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## knu2xs (Jan 6, 2015)

For the record, the Armorskid design changed in 2016. 


Those pictured previously in this thread are the old design, which did ride up pretty badly, for me at least. The new design allows them to be mounted with either the wide (old style) or narrow end (new design) forward. I run mine narrow end forward and while they still ride up a little bit on hard packed drifts they are much better than the wide end.


Everybody's situation is different and my conditions are what can only be described as rough and I know I couldn't do what I do without the Armorskids. Their length allows me to go over surfaces that my stock, or poly, skids wouldn't (I have used both.)


Here is the newer design, which does have a little dirt on the edge from running along a drop off from my lawn to the driveway. Because of this dirt the taper doesn't look as long as it actually is.........


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

knu2xs, thanks. I didn't realize they had tweaked the design and it's working better. Don't get me wrong, the product is a work of art in today's age...they just weren't helping me.


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

Scrounger said:


> What do you have to do to see the images. They're all telling me to update my account to see third party images. Update my Snowblowerforum.com account?



No, it's not you, it's Photobucket. They shut down everyones' account earlier this year unless a $400 ransom was paid.


I'll see if I can re-post them.


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

OK, it was a major hassle, but I was able to pull back a couple photos from Photobucket. Restored to the first post of this thread.


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