# Need New Skid Shoes - Best Options



## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

Thinking snow here in the upper Midwest. I have a Deluxe 28 that is 4 years old and it does what I need it to very well. I have a nice color and stamped concrete patio I blow off as well as a regular broomed concrete parking area and sidewalks that I keep clear… I like to take care of my concrete. In addition to the concrete surfaces, I also blow off a long gravel driveway and trails in the yard.

In order to keep my concrete looking great, I purchased a set of these oversized high density plastic shoes 2 years ago:

Arnold 490-241-0010 Universal Snow Thrower Slide Shoes
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MRM6KQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They worked well for the last 2 years, but are now making me wonder if there’s a better solution out there. They do not bolt very well to the box and are not completely flush to the side of the box… see photos. I also had to add a bunch of washers and really have to crank on them to try and prevent them from moving upward after heavy machine use. It’s to the point now where the bolts and washers will not hold them where I want them. At the end of last season the bottom of the shoes were about level with the bottom edge of the box sides and the scrapper bar had about zero clearance… the auger blades were very close to contacting the ground but never did.

The photos show the shoes after I recently adjusted them but they will not stay this way and with use will bottom out level with the box sides and the scraper bar will be touching the ground again.

I’m looking for suggestions on how to best remedy this. Do I get the actual Ariens brand no-mark skid shoes? Anybody have experience with these? Will they actually stay at the set elevation well and stand up to good use? Or do I go back to the steel shoes? Will the steel shoes scrap up my concrete?

A 6 inch snowfall takes me about 3.5 hours to clear so my machine gets a lot of use and some of it pretty heavy.

Thanks for any input.


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## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

I see they now have 2 no-mark shoe options...

(1) Ariens Company 726003 Snow Throw Skid Shoe Kit

(2) Ariens Non Abrasive Skid Shoe Kit 72603100


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## e.fisher26 (Nov 6, 2016)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

maybe, most likely, not to ur liking, but my cheapass solution, they didnt budge in the first season of using them.
ymmv


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

White Out said:


> Thinking snow here in the upper Midwest. I have a Deluxe 28 that is 4 years old and it does what I need it to very well. I have a nice color and stamped concrete patio I blow off as well as a regular broomed concrete parking area and sidewalks that I keep clear… I like to take care of my concrete. In addition to the concrete surfaces, I also blow off a long gravel driveway and trails in the yard.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


Those long skid shoes need a 1/4" rectangular spacer between the skid shoe and the bucket sides to clear the ribbed strengthener. Then you can adjust the height of the scraper bar as required. I liked them but found that they wore out in a couple of months (gone by Christmas). My Platinum SHO has a lot of weight on the bucket so probably a factor in wear rate. Then I tried the Ariens steel skid shoes and quickly found out that AutoTurn does not like them at all, but they did not mark my pavers or one of my neighbours paver driveway. Went back to my 4 year old Ariens plastic skid shoes. 

I have a new set of Ariens 72600300 which will replace my 5 year old 72600300 some time this season. I have seen a different Ariens plastic skid shoe on this forum where the attachment looks different. Since there were some complaints I did not pursue that model and my dealer only stocks the one model. The Ariens plastic skid shoes are designed for our machines and they fit within the ribbed strengtheners on bucket sides and stay in place perfectly.

I have never tried the wheeled skid shoes. I regularly turn the machine with the skids on the pavement so there is side wear on skid shoes, and I slide the bucket sideways in some manoeuvres to change direction rather than lift the bucket and so could flat spot wheels. But I don't know, just a concern.


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## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

Thanks for the replies.

I'm think I do far too much maneuvering for the wheels to work. I'm on gravel, concrete, grass, in the woods, etc. They look like they would be great for just down and back on a paved drive.

I like the DIY skids. Actually thought of that using some 3/4" poly material I can get through work. Might still try that. Thanks for the video.

Town - the other Ariens plastic skid shoe you saw was model 72603100. I would go with the 72600300 over those as well.

I also found that ARMORskid makes a shoe spacer for Ariens models that might work well to fit in between the box ribbing so that would open it up to trying other shoes as well. I really like the concept of the ARMORskids for all the "off-road" blowing I do, but I'm assuming they will scrap my concrete pretty bad?


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

White Out said:


> Thanks for the replies.
> ....
> I really like the concept of the ARMORskids for all the "off-road" blowing I do, but I'm assuming they will scrap my concrete pretty bad?


I used steel skid shoes on my Craftsman for 10 years or so that included paver driveways and no scratching of paver driveway. Also tried the Ariens steel skid shoes on my Platinum SHO and no scratches either, and the SHO has a heavy bucket weight. Pavers are a mixture of smooth and uneven surfaces.

The video posted by @vinnycom shows a lot of scratch marks on a smooth paver driveway from the original skid shoes that may have a sharp edge. But I have never seen scratches like that with good steel skid shoes. I doubt the ArmorSkids would scratch your concrete surfaces since they are wide and long and should just float along the surface. The website seems to offer a lot of help to users and prospective users so I would ask for their assessment for your needs. They probably have a wealth of info regarding their skid shoes performance on concrete and paver driveways.


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## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

I'm going to go with the Ariens 72600300 poly skids and see how they perform for me. I'm hoping they don't move much and stay set in place well. If I have issues with them I'm going to take a look at the ARMORskids. Thanks for all the feedback.


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## malisha1 (Nov 16, 2018)

Roller skids


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## knu2xs (Jan 6, 2015)

White Out said:


> I'm going to go with the Ariens 72600300 poly skids and see how they perform for me. I'm hoping they don't move much and stay set in place well. If I have issues with them I'm going to take a look at the ARMORskids. Thanks for all the feedback.


I do a lot of "off road" snow blowing and like the ArmorSkids because they slide up and over uneven surfaces.

I tried the Ariens Poly Skids and the thing I didn't like about them was that the washers behind the nuts that hold them on sank into the poly and created washer shaped depressions. If I do a "full session" of blowing, not just the driveway, I change up the height of my scraper bar at least once and sometimes up to 3 times. The washer shaped depressions in the side of the shoes created uneven areas that prevented the washers from laying flat against the shoes when changing heights.

I also deal with a long stretch, 200 yards, of drift prone areas and found that 20 lbs. of weight on the bucket of my 28 Pro Hydro kept the ArmorSkids from climbing the drifts.

I've said this before in other threads but I firmly believe that I couldn't do what I do without ArmorSkids…….


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## enigma-2 (Feb 11, 2014)

knu2xs said:


> I tried the Ariens Poly Skids and the thing I didn't like about them was that the washers behind the nuts that hold them on sank into the poly and created washer shaped depressions. If I do a "full session" of blowing, not just the driveway, I change up the height of my scraper bar at least once and sometimes up to 3 times. The washer shaped depressions in the side of the shoes created uneven areas that prevented the washers from laying flat against the shoes when changing heights.
> 
> I also deal with a long stretch, 200 yards, of drift prone areas and found that 20 lbs. of weight on the bucket of my 28 Pro Hydro kept the ArmorSkids from climbing the drifts.
> 
> I've said this before in other threads but I firmly believe that I couldn't do what I do without ArmorSkids…….


Hi knu2xs, I use the Ariens hard plastic skids and never had the problem of the washers digging into the sides. Apparently here are different versions of skids available.

There have been times when I thought about adding weight to the front of the housing, but the cost of the Ariens steel bar is ridiculous. What are you using?


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## knu2xs (Jan 6, 2015)

enigma-2 said:


> Hi knu2xs, I use the Ariens hard plastic skids and never had the problem of the washers digging into the sides. Apparently here are different versions of skids available.
> 
> There have been times when I thought about adding weight to the front of the housing, but the cost of the Ariens steel bar is ridiculous. What are you using?


For weights I went the Ariens route and agree the price is up there!


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