# HS80 skid shoes, auger housing sides worn away



## rminnehan (Nov 21, 2013)

I just bought a Honda HS80 track drive. I had another one last year in addition to a couple of HS50's. The skid shoes on the one I just got are behind the auger housing and it appears they were never adjusted properly because the scraper bar is worn down a lot. Also the bottoms of the sides of the auger housing have been scraped down quite a bit. I seem to recall something about skid shoes being mounted on this machine. There are 2 holes and nuts on each side so it looks like skid shoes could be mounted there but it doesn't seem the metal is strong enough, especially now. Yet with the skid shoes behind the auger housing it wouldn't provide as much protection for the housing as if they were mounted on the sides. At this point if I mounted skid shoes on the sides I would have to reinforce them significantly. As it is I am going to have to add some steel strips to the bottoms because they are worn down so much. Can someone fill me in about these things? What is the best way to mount the shoes? I looked into replacing the sides of the auger housing but the best I could find is one side for $50 plus shipping.


----------



## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

When the sheet metal is light gage to begin with, and then it is worn at the bottom, you are right to question the strength sufficient to support shoes and the weight of the blower. I think the only acceptable fix would be to weld a section of sheet metal on top of each of the existing shovel sides, drill new holes and mount your shoes. MH


----------



## RoyP (Oct 16, 2014)

I did this on my old Wheelhorse and it worked great. Since you have the skid shoes, bolt swivel rubber caster wheels on to them. Why machines don't come with wheels instead of steel skids, is something that I never understand.


----------



## Dodge (Sep 13, 2014)

*Wear On Side Panels And Wear Bar*

There are lots of HS 80s with worn sides. I repair them by removing the side pieces and welding 1/4 inch round bar along the bottom edge following the wear line. This stiffens the skirts. At the point where the skid shoes lay against the skirts keep the 1/4 inch round a bit to the inside or just dress with the grinder or both. When the two mounting bolts are tightened the skid shoe will lay very close to vertical.

Having a bolt on side panel makes this much simpler than working on a 728 or a 928 style.

The HS80 wear bar is reversible. Remove it and dress the worn edge a bit with a grinder. Remove the two end studs if they are off the center line and use cap screws as replacements. Clean it up, paint it black, reverse and remount. You will need to drill one new hole in each end of the bar using the adjusting slot in the housing end panel as a location guide.

You can see a picture of a skirt repair in the last pic of my idler bushing repair post here:
http://www.snowblowerforum.com/foru...-idler-wheel-bushing-bearing-replacement.html


----------

