# Roller Skids



## robs9 (Sep 5, 2018)

Has anyone used roller skids on their Toro snowblower? Didn't know about them until just recently.

Also drift cutters dont have any on my Power Max 1028. Am missing anything ?

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## SnowCat in Bend (Feb 10, 2017)

I put these on a 324 Husqvarna last year. So far they have worked fine for what I need. I have an unusual driveway surface that's sloped and I'm on the side of fairly steep hill.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

I installed them on my Honda HSS1332ATD and so far I'm a fan! Had to use adapters to get to the Honda's hole spacing.


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## 132619 (Nov 20, 2018)

like them also! only i made my own using steel roller bearings


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## 132619 (Nov 20, 2018)

robs9 said:


> Has anyone used roller skids on their Toro snowblower? Didn't know about them until just recently.
> 
> Also drift cutters dont have any on my Power Max 1028. Am missing anything ?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


as to the drift cutters,i have not missed anything with mine, simple to make out of 1/4 inch flat plate steel if you want to try them


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## robs9 (Sep 5, 2018)

Thaks for all your responses. Looks like Prime here we come. 

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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

33 woodie said:


> as to the drift cutters,i have not missed anything with mine, simple to make out of 1/4 inch flat plate steel if you want to try them


I have several lengths of garage door angle. It is strong, light and full of holes. That is all I have ever used until a friend (detdrbuzzard) gave me a set for my Toro 521. Garage door angle works really well. 
As to roller skids.... Well..... This topic has been gone over in here time and again. For me it will pretty much always be my home made poly skids. Personally I don't see or feel the need for rollers but if they work for you go for it.


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

My home made ones from concrete/asphalt in-line skate wheels, works great.


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## robs9 (Sep 5, 2018)

Quoted micah68kj, As to roller skids.... Well..... This topic has been gone over in here time and again. For me it will pretty much always be my home made poly skids. Personally I don't see or feel the need for rollers but if they work for you go for it.

What did you make yours out of?

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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

robs9 said:


> Quoted micah68kj, For me it will pretty much always be my home made poly skids.
> 
> What did you make yours out of?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


I made some sets out of HDPE (cutting.board) andthey work very well but they do wear somewhat. My last.sets I made.from.... I can't remember the specific letters but it is a harder mateial and more expensive.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

micah68kj said:


> I made some sets out of HDPE (cutting.board) andthey work very well but they do wear somewhat. My last.sets I made.from.... I can't remember the specific letters but it is a harder mateial and more expensive.


 Maybe UHMW? Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene? It's the next-level version of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). 

Having recently getting my driveway sealed, I think the rollerblade wheels approach is interesting. That way you don't have steel rolling/sliding across the pavement. But I bought the Ariens poly skids a few years ago, they've been working well so far. They have worn down a bit, but they have an awful lot of life left in them, even before I have to flip them over.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

You got it, RedOctobyr
I knew it began with a U but was not sure of the rest of the compound. 
UHMW works very well. Slick, long lasting, no.marks or residue.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Yes, there have been multiple threads on this topic over the years..
If you need rollers for a specific purpose, like rolling your snowblower across the lawn to get it in and out of storage, or maybe for rolling around the garage floor, then ok, rollers might have a purpose, in rare circumstances..

If you think you need them for actual use while blowing snow, IMO its 99% likely you dont actually need them, and they will probably be worse than the stock skids..




sscotsman said:


> IMO, these roller skids are a bad idea..
> Because they could freeze up and lock up, then they wont turn, and you will wear a flat spot on them, making them useless..
> 
> also, IMO they are "a solution without a problem"..
> ...


Just one previous thread:
https://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/general-snowblower-discussion/619-roller-skids-4.html


Scot


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## Rob Okray (Nov 30, 2018)

The wheel is great in principle, though if it stops rotating it now becomes a skid. So, I guess I'm a fence sitter until I have to replace mine. UHMV may be the ticket.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Rob Okray said:


> The wheel is great in principle,


but..is it really? 
why is it great?

sure, people are free to mod their snowblowers however they like, nothing wrong with that..
but im still not seeing why its "great" or deseriable in any way..

can anyone give us a real-world benefit of rollers over regular skids?
im genuinely curious..

thanks,
Scot


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

sscotsman said:


> can anyone give us a real-world benefit of rollers over regular skids?
> im genuinely curious..


 If we assume that they keep spinning (vs locking up and dragging), then they effectively won't wear down, and therefore will not need the periodic adjustments to maintain your desired scraper bar height. And they also won't need to be replaced very often, even if you were using the machine a lot (maybe commercially). 

Now, for longevity, I'm thinking you probably want to use sealed bearings, to reduce damage to the innards of the bearings from water and salt. 

The rollerblade wheels might do a little better at keeping themselves rolling, vs bare-metal bearings? They'd try to conform a bit to the ground, maybe giving them a little more grip, to help encourage them to spin, vs drag. If they did start to drag, unfortunately, they'd more-quickly develop flat spots, ve a bare-metal bearing.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

RedOctobyr said:


> If we assume that they keep spinning (vs locking up and dragging), then they effectively won't wear down, and therefore will not need the periodic adjustments to maintain your desired scraper bar height. And they also won't need to be replaced very often, even if you were using the machine a lot (maybe commercially).
> 
> .


That is a good point..thanks.

Although im not sure the wearing and adjusting of skids is that big of a concern..
I adjusted my skids and scraper bar height on my '71 Ariens when I first got it..10 years ago. 
They are still fine, after 10 years of Western NY lake effect snow belt winters.

Scot


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

My 55 cents, I'm expensive, but fair.

I believe roller blade wheels would work better than bearings, imo, the larger the wheel, the better it will roll. Let's try trailer tires and wheels! Seriously, for the wheel to turn, you need traction, you need friction. Without friction to turn the wheel, the wheel will slide. And it's easy for the wheel to slide, it's snow! If it's sliding, then that's what skid shoes do. However, there are areas that are bare asphalt or concrete. In those areas, wheels would work and I believe roller blade wheels would roll the easiest.


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## russ01915 (Dec 18, 2013)

My own opinion, wheels will work great on dry pavement where it makes full contact and will roll nicely. Not so sure on snow and ice? It seems more sliding than rolling. Definitely not on gravel!


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

RedOctobyr said:


> Maybe UHMW? Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene? It's the next-level version of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene).
> 
> Having recently getting my driveway sealed, I think the rollerblade wheels approach is interesting. That way you don't have steel rolling/sliding across the pavement. But I bought the Ariens poly skids a few years ago, they've been working well so far. They have worn down a bit, but they have an awful lot of life left in them, even before I have to flip them over.



I put scooter wheels on the lil blower I like them alot
They work good slighty bigger then roller blade wheels
They are a GREAT help for relocating the machine if someone has a bad back it moves so easy


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

sscotsman said:


> can anyone give us a real-world benefit of rollers over regular skids?
> im genuinely curious.


 OK, here goes... First off, in my experience over 2 winters, they don't lock up, they continue to roll. The current design is Version 2.0; Version 1.0 DID have issues with ice accumulation and the design was changed to eliminate this issue.

So, the real-world benefit is that THEY ROLL, they don't SKID. Therefore, they don't wear down and the set auger height does not decrease over time.

Here's what the inventor, engineer Bill Raftery (who was kind enough to send me a set as a gift!), said about the genesis of the Roller Skid. MTD Products licensed his ideas, so I'm guessing they thought they had merit, as well:
"To make a long story short, I turned 60 and bought a snow blower thinking it was going to be like mowing the lawn. Wow, was I in for a surprise! I was faced with going back into the house after only half an hour and confessing to my wife that I just got my butt kicked. I was exhausted! That's how it all started. I spent the entire Winter mocking up quite a number of solutions that resulted in the Roller-Skid...

... to continue, I found that most of my exhaustion was caused because I was constantly fighting with the machine to keep it moving in a straight line. This was because the steel skids were scraping, grabbing and pulling me from side to side depending which skid was encountering the most resistance. This was because of areas on my driveway that had more or less snow covering the surface. Heaven help me if the right skid hit a bare concrete and the left skid was on ice. 

The original fix I came up with was simply attaching a wheel where the skid was bolted onto the side of the auger box. This was great until I hit just ice and snow... and then I missed the skid! It was at that time that it occurred to me: WHY NOT HAVE BOTH?!

Fact is, I'm not only trying to make my life easier... but I'm also aware that by rolling over the surface, I'm not damaging the surfaces any more. I learned this by talking to some contacts I made at Ariens. (Great folks by the way!) They informed me that equally important, the roller-skid design I was working on would protect surfaces. This was becoming increasingly important with all the stamped, decorative concrete driveways and walkways out there."​


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## SnowCat in Bend (Feb 10, 2017)

tabora said:


> OK, here goes... First off, in my experience over 2 winters, they don't lock up, they continue to roll. The current design is Version 2.0; Version 1.0 DID have issues with ice accumulation and the design was changed to eliminate this issue.
> 
> So, the real-world benefit is that THEY ROLL, they don't SKID. Therefore, they don't wear down and the set auger height does not decrease over time.
> 
> ...



What he said!

They work great for uneven surfaces.

And, as an added bonus, it's very easy to move your snowblower in the off season.


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## Rob Okray (Nov 30, 2018)

sscotsman said:


> but..is it really?
> why is it great?
> 
> sure, people are free to mod their snowblowers however they like, nothing wrong with that..
> ...


I dunno, just one of the best inventions of modern man is all. However, they tend not like snow or sand as much as solid ground. Unless of course you go through the trouble of re-inventing the wheel, at which point a good argument for staying with skids can be made. However, if some bright fellow figures out how to make a wheel play nice with loose granular surfaces that can be bolted to a snowblower and offers superior performance with lower replacement and or maintenance intervals at a low barrier to entry, why not?


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

RedOctobyr said:


> The rollerblade wheels might do a little better at keeping themselves rolling, vs bare-metal bearings? They'd try to conform a bit to the ground, maybe giving them a little more grip, to help encourage them to spin, vs drag. If they did start to drag, unfortunately, they'd more-quickly develop flat spots, ve a bare-metal bearing.


Mine are going through their 5th winter, same wheels same sealed bearings, they still spin and never drag. Of course I kept the original skids but they have barely a scratch. It has saved the bottom of the sides of the auger housing from filing itself flat which my old 524 eventually did.

Just now...


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## kemlyn (Oct 16, 2018)

Polyurethane skids are also an option. They are non marring to a sealed driveway and seem to wear much slower than steel. Mine were simple to install and don’t promote rust to the bucket or leave nasty rust stains on the garage floor.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Those look like my Ariens plastic skids, which I bought a few years ago. Per their site, https://parts.ariens.com/Ariens-Non-Abrasive-Skid-Shoe-p/72600300.htm , they are polyethlene. They don't get more specific than that on the specific material, but they might be UHMW, Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene. That's a popular choice for wear-resistance.


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