# HSS 1332 Skids



## MinnesotaDave (Dec 13, 2018)

I just purchased the HSS 1332 and on my first trip down my driveway scratched the paint off the front of the housing. 
I watched John Franco's youtube video on adding side skids to avoid this happening. He installed the Honda OEM skids
so that they float just above the surface, and only come into contact in "dig in" mode.
I ordered the Armor skids instead for the sides and am wondering:

Would anyone advise running the Armor skids alone? Or is this too much stress on the front of the auger housing?
Because the Armor skids are thicker than the Honda OEM, if I leave the Honda skids on the rear and install the Armor 
skids on the sides, can I still lift the handlebars to dig into hard packed snow? 

Any advice is much appreciated! Dave


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## relaycruz (Sep 14, 2018)

I have mine like John Franco, and it works flawlessly. I don't like Armorskids because they make the bucket ride up over everything, but they do work well for some people. Armorskids will not allow you to put it in digging mode because they are too long. I couldn't get my Ariens Pro 28 to lift into service mode with them at all.


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## LDRider (Jan 24, 2018)

Yes, you can run Armor skids (or any bucket side- skids you want) alone, without the OEM rear skids being used at all. 

Once you put skids on the bucket, it will basically defeat rotating the bucket further than the depth you set on those skids. The way Honda sets up these machines is that the bucket basically rotates around the rear skids, at least somewhat, and that is what allows a lower, more aggressive mode to be used without adjusting the skids. But because the side skids are so much further forward, they will prevent the bucket from getting any closer to the ground. So the best way to set them up is to set them with the scraper bar as low as you ever want it to be set. 

You can put a tremendous amount of down- force on the front end of a tracked Honda by opening the bucket adjustment valve, picking up on the handles and then releasing the valve. That will set the machine up so that the bucket is lower than the front of the tracks, transferring a log of the machine's weight from the tracks onto the skids or cutting edge, depending on how you set the skids. You do not and should not have to maintain any up pressure (or pressure in any direction) on the handlebars of a Honda tracked snowblower, that is why the entire machine rotates and locks into a position in the first place- to maintain that front- end pressure without you having to apply it manually.

Brian



MinnesotaDave said:


> I just purchased the HSS 1332 and on my first trip down my driveway scratched the paint off the front of the housing.
> I watched John Franco's youtube video on adding side skids to avoid this happening. He installed the Honda OEM skids
> so that they float just above the surface, and only come into contact in "dig in" mode.
> I ordered the Armor skids instead for the sides and am wondering:
> ...


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