# Got my new shoes, Armor skids



## liftoff1967 (Jan 15, 2014)

Posted this in the Ariens section, but thought I would post here as well. Being I'm new to the joint, not sure if this is a legal move on my part or not.

I have a 2014 Ariens deluxe 30 with Auto Turn. 

Review here if interested





Got my new Armor Skids yesterday. Weather guesser is talking about 4" of snow tonight/tomorrow with winds (of course). Thought I better get cracking, only 5 degree's so not real motivated, non heated garage also. I dumped the factory carriage bolts, and put in hex head 3/8 x 1 1/2" grade 8. I was a little worried about bolt head clearance in the bucket at first, but there is room.


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## fronos4 (Jan 29, 2011)

Congrats, and thanks for the pics. Based on some of the other posts on these skids owners are satisfied. I probably would've bought a set of these, but jumped the gun on poly skids instead. I'd be curious to hear your experience after a few runs.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

nice looking machine and the armor skids are a good upgrade over the stock skids. its too bad that armor skids don't come in poly


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## UNIMOG-GUY (Dec 11, 2013)

detdrbuzzard said:


> nice looking machine and the armor skids are a good upgrade over the stock skids. its too bad that armor skids don't come in poly


Why poly? What advantage does it have over the armor skids?


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

It's like waxing your skis. MH


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## liftoff1967 (Jan 15, 2014)

Just got in from a full hour of bonding with my blower.

Thoughts on the Armor skids are:

They "slide" better than stock, more surface area
Provides a smoother transition from the bottom of the drive to the street where I have some ice build up
I was worried about havin an extra 4 inches hangin of the outboard sides of the bucket catching along the edges of where I already blew. No issue


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## uhall (Dec 17, 2012)

I bought a pair of Armor Skids a couple years ago, and couldn't be happier. They glide over uneven surfaces beautifully. Worth the money.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Skids*

I also put a set on the Searsasaurus along with a couple of machines I've sold. They work great and I feel they greatly enhance the functionality of the machine on rough surfaces.


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## Runner50 (Jan 21, 2013)

liftoff1967 said:


> Just got in from a full hour of bonding with my blower.
> 
> Thoughts on the Armor skids are:
> 
> ...



I bought a set of the Armor skids & they do work great on the my uneven, gravel driveway. Well worth the money.
Nice looking Ariens...congrats. Just a quick ?. Why did you dump the factory carriage bolts in favor of hex head ones? Just wondering.


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## liftoff1967 (Jan 15, 2014)

Well, where do I start. 

Factory carriage is not long enough for the armor skids, being the side of the bucket has an area recessed out for the factory shoes. 

After 2 trips to the hardware store, I ended up having to dump the stock carriage bolts. It was either zinc plated carriage bolts, which I purchased, only to find out the square shoulder protruded thru the bucket, (factory ones did not) and the washer would not rest flat. I was not to sure if zinc plated would be strong enough anyway. Lot's of force and torque going on down there. So, back to the hardware store and get the only thing in grade 8 they had, which was hex head bolts. No carriage. Fastenal by me is not open on Saturdays.


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## Brucebotti (Feb 10, 2013)

liftoff1967 said:


> Well, where do I start.
> 
> Factory carriage is not long enough for the armor skids, being the side of the bucket has an area recessed out for the factory shoes.
> 
> After 2 trips to the hardware store, I ended up having to dump the stock carriage bolts. It was either zinc plated carriage bolts, which I purchased, only to find out the square shoulder protruded thru the bucket, (factory ones did not) and the washer would not rest flat. I was not to sure if zinc plated would be strong enough anyway. Lot's of force and torque going on down there. So, back to the hardware store and get the only thing in grade 8 they had, which was hex head bolts. No carriage. Fastenal by me is not open on Saturdays.


 I had the same issue with the square shoulder sticking through the bucket. I solved this by putting a fender washer before I put the nut on to secure it to the bucket.

I don't think that you need Grade 8 bolts. There's not really a lot of stress going on down there. A standard hardware grade bolt would be just fine.

Bruce


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## Runner50 (Jan 21, 2013)

I found stainless carriage bolts from one of my local Ace Hardware when I installed the Armor skids. No fit issues at all with them.


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## Jay (Jan 24, 2014)

Armor skids work great. Way better flotation than stock skids. Wider foot doesn't seem to catch on as many knick points of concrete sidewalks and driveways. Works well in rocks too where they can be lowered to a wide arrange of heights.


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## fishrman (Oct 19, 2013)

liftoff1967 said:


> Well, where do I start.
> 
> Factory carriage is not long enough for the armor skids, being the side of the bucket has an area recessed out for the factory shoes.
> 
> After 2 trips to the hardware store, I ended up having to dump the stock carriage bolts. It was either zinc plated carriage bolts, which I purchased, only to find out the square shoulder protruded thru the bucket, (factory ones did not) and the washer would not rest flat. I was not to sure if zinc plated would be strong enough anyway. Lot's of force and torque going on down there. So, back to the hardware store and get the only thing in grade 8 they had, which was hex head bolts. No carriage. Fastenal by me is not open on Saturdays.


Hmmm, my new armor skids fit fine with the factory bolts. I did have to shim them out about 2 washer widths but used the same bolts. I have to say after using it today on my 2014 Platinum 24 they improved the autoturn 110%. It is a pleasure to use now. Why don't they come standard with these skids??


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

i put armor skids on my toro 826 right after i bought it a couple years ago but had never used the machine until today and forgot about having armor skids on it. i guess i'm use to them having them on my 521


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## AverageJoe (Feb 19, 2014)

fishrman said:


> Hmmm, my new armor skids fit fine with the factory bolts. I did have to shim them out about 2 washer widths but used the same bolts. I have to say after using it today on my 2014 Platinum 24 they improved the autoturn 110%. It is a pleasure to use now. Why don't they come standard with these skids??


Ditto here too re: the factory carriage bolts. Just put my armor skids on yesterday and had to shim them out with a couple of washers as well. Will probably have to wait until next year to try them out? Hoping the 24" Platinum Ariens will track better with them installed.

One thing i noticed is that one factory bolt is longer than the other....front/back????....can't remember which one?


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