# Height Adjustment Question



## BigFrost (Nov 19, 2015)

Ok, so I am new to snow throwers, having just purchased my first one, it's a Poulan Pro PR241, 208cc engine, with a 24'' wide capacity bucket. My question is, how should I set my "skid shoes" on the side of the basket? Right now, the basket is on the ground, and I am wondering if I should get it off the ground maybe 1/32nd or 1/16th of an inch and adjust the skid shoes to keep it there? Thanks for any help you guys can provide, we're expecting our first snow tonight in Chicago, so I just want to get my thrower ready in case we have any actual accumulation. 

I apologize if I'm using the wrong terminology for parts such as the "bucket" or "skid shoes."

In the pic I am attaching, you can see it's resting on the ground completely...


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

:white^_^arial^_^0^_

It should be up a little but it really depends on your blowing area.
Is it gravel? Paved? Is it a sidewalk with upheavals?

Edit, whoops I did not open the picture.
I would raise it just enough to get it off the ground.
The more you raise it the less you will pickup. 
But it is a scraper bar, but if it is all the way down you might be jumping around a little if you snag something and putting more wear on the bar.
I raise mine just enough to clear the pavement, my area is smooth concrete and smooth asphalt.


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## Elt31987 (Sep 6, 2015)

For a paved driveway the bucket should be 1/8" off of the ground. You can use 2 paint sticks under each side, loosen the shoes so they fall flat on the ground, tighten em and then obviously remove the sticks.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

you seem to have a nicely paved driveway 1/8 probably no more than 1/4 an inch for the skids


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## BigFrost (Nov 19, 2015)

Thank you all for your quick reply's! Yeah, the driveway is nice and flat, and even the sidewalks too, for the most part, with your normal sunken slabs every so often, so I will definitely get it raised a bit when I get home! And Elt31987, thank you for the tip on just how to get it done!


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

Some of us (at least I do) blow the lawn also.
I do this so I can get around the house for getting to the gutters or something.

I clear a path all winter so I don't have to snow shoe it around the house.
If you do.
Make a map of obstacles now that you might want to avoid before the snow covers them. Look at your map before you blow.
Eventually you get to know where not to blow but the map helps in the beginning.

Be on the lookout for limbs that might be under the snow or newspapers in the drive.

I see you have some brick, are they all down nice and tight?
You wouldn't want to suck one of those up!

I am jealous, I have to wait for some snow to fall before I can play with my blowers.


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## BigFrost (Nov 19, 2015)

Big Ed said:


> Some of us (at least I do) blow the lawn also.
> I do this so I can get around the house for getting to the gutters or something.
> 
> I clear a path all winter so I don't have to snow shoe it around the house.
> ...


Good spot on the bricks, and no, they are starting to come up, so I will not use the blower on them, as that area won't need to be in use until Spring.

I do like the idea of blowing a path through the lawn in back for the dog, so I will definitely try that!


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

I have a snow rake to keep clear some problem spots on the roof, that is the main reason I started doing that. It is a lot easier then standing in 2 or 3 feet of snow while raking the problem spots.
I also like to make gutter rain runoff paths in case it rains on top of all the snow to get the water away from the house.
Most of the time we get a storm then a thaw with rain.

The storms suck here in Jersey! At the end of a nice storm it seems like I always get an hour of rain afterwards and it that turns all the nice snow into a slushy mess! 

Good reason to do it for Fido too.
Just try to see that there are no tree branches under it when you do.


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## 1894 (Dec 16, 2014)

Elt31987 said:


> For a paved driveway the bucket should be 1/8" off of the ground. You can use 2 paint sticks under each side, loosen the shoes so they fall flat on the ground, tighten em and then obviously remove the sticks.





BigFrost said:


> Thank you all for your quick reply's! And Elt31987, thank you for the tip on just how to get it done!





BigFrost said:


> I do like the idea of blowing a path through the lawn in back for the dog, so I will definitely try that!


For the lawn you may want another height setting. A piece of 1/2" plywood or a 1X ( 3/4 " ) board . It is very easy to loosen the 4 bolts and adjust the skids from one setting to the other and re-tighten them


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

1894 said:


> For the lawn you may want another height setting. A piece of 1/2" plywood or a 1X ( 3/4 " ) board . It is very easy to loosen the 4 bolts and adjust the skids from one setting to the other and re-tighten them


Good ideal, then your not scraping up the grass too.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

my skids are set at about 1/3 of an inch and I haven had a problem with the grass I have to clear to get the blowers out of the garage


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## DickR (Jan 27, 2018)

*Quick-adjust skids?*

When I was picking up my new Husqvarna SP-227P Monday, I suggested to a guy behind the counter that a good idea for the skids (shoes?) would be to make them quick-adjust, so that by pulling a lever or something the bucket would be lifted up some preset amount. That would help when finished with a paved surface, with the scraper bar down close, and you have to go over a gravel or grassed surface, like out to the woodshed. He paused, then suggested maybe replacing the two nuts on each skid with a lever of the type used to fasten the front wheel of a bicycle to the fork. Has anyone done this? I can't believe nobody with a snowblower has ever wanted to do this.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

DickR said:


> When I was picking up my new Husqvarna SP-227P Monday, I suggested to a guy behind the counter that a good idea for the skids (shoes?) would be to make them quick-adjust, so that by pulling a lever or something the bucket would be lifted up some preset amount. That would help when finished with a paved surface, with the scraper bar down close, and you have to go over a gravel or grassed surface, like out to the woodshed. He paused, then suggested maybe replacing the two nuts on each skid with a lever of the type used to fasten the front wheel of a bicycle to the fork. Has anyone done this? I can't believe nobody with a snowblower has ever wanted to do this.


Most track drive machines actually have a setting that does just that.

I remember seeing a picture somewhere of someone that put lawnmower wheels on theirs so they could adjust them.


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