# On the skids !



## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Waddya y'all think? Just made these two sets of skids out of HDPE. 1/2" screwed together to make 1" skids. 1 set is for a Toro and the other for my Ariens. They're by no means show quality but my blower isn't being entered in any contests.  I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. I cut out a bunch of blanks; probably 10 sets. These ought to last a lifetime though. This is the kind of stuff you do sometimes, when you're retired but not tired. :biggrin:


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## uberT (Dec 29, 2013)

Nice! I see a busy opportunity !!


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## nwcove (Mar 2, 2015)

do you ship up north ?


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

uberT said:


> Nice! I see a busy opportunity !!


Nah. I retired for a reason and it sure wasn't to make skids. But, I'll get rid of these and that'll be the end of it.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

nwcove said:


> do you ship up north ?


You pay the shopping and I'll ship 'em to Mars. :icon-hgtg: You want/need a set? After these are gone they're gone. Wasn't thinking when I cut them all out. A fella gets his saw set up and just starts cutting not really considering what to do with this stuff. :huh:


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*MAZEL TOV on that 1. there BROTHER JOE!!!!!!!!!!!!:wavetowel2::wavetowel2:*


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## Cardo111 (Feb 16, 2015)

Nice handiwork I'm sure they will work very well.


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

i have made similar for my 84 cub cadet but i used 1" thick UHMW polyethylene
and they wear better than steel and glide nicely over my concrete driveway.


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Nice work Joe. Thanks for the pictures too. Pretty much a how to series. I know you've probably covered it before, but where do you get HDPE for those inquiring minds that want to know?


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

bwdbrn1 said:


> Nice work Joe. Thanks for the pictures too. Pretty much a how to series. I know you've probably covered it before, but where do you get HDPE for those inquiring minds that want to know?


He gets old breadboards from garage sales.:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

bwdbrn1 said:


> Nice work Joe. Thanks for the pictures too. Pretty much a how to series. I know you've probably covered it before, but where do you get HDPE for those inquiring minds that want to know?


I did a craigslist search and found it. All they are are old restaruant cutting boards. Guy had a bunch of them and I bought 4 of them. Ebay has it too, but it's pretty spendy. 
Carl posted he used 1" Thick UHMW which is even better but that stuff is crazy expensive as far as I've found. However, I managed to snag a small piece and I made skids for my Toro out of it. I'm sure the HDPE skids are pretty close to UHMW and they'll wear for a very long time. I'm sure I'll be happy with them.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

I forgot to mention that either of these plastic/acrylic/polyethelyne compounds can be cut and worked with regular shop equipment. I cut them out on my 10" table saw using a 60 tooth blade. I've also used my 10" miter saw as well. Regular drill bits. For making the bolt slots I bought a router bit and set my drill press on the highest speed and it worked very well. 
There is a little bit of a learning curve working with plastics.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

CarlB said:


> i have made similar for my 84 cub cadet but i used 1" thick UHMW polyethylene
> and they wear better than steel and glide nicely over my concrete driveway.


+1 on that
I used my Toro last year with the HDPE skids I made and yep, these types of skid shoes are way better than the steel.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

POWERSHIFT93 said:


> *MAZEL TOV on that 1. there BROTHER JOE!!!!!!!!!!!!:wavetowel2::wavetowel2:*


Pkg. headed your way, Todd.


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

when i bought the uhmw from amazon 4 years ago it was 20 dollars for a 12x12 sheet. Today it is 40 dollars.

I was able to make 4 4"x12" or two sets of skids for 20 dollars so that wasn't bad. 

Using the cutting boards i am sure is much cheaper and will wear very well.

I have had the set on my snowblower for 4 years and have used it quite a bit and they show virtually no sign of wear at all.


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## GtWtNorth (Feb 5, 2014)

Just bought a nice chunk of black UHMW 1" x 4" x 21" from fleabay for $20. Enough to make 1 set for my machine. Thanks for the pics & inspiration.

Cheers


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## jermar (Dec 10, 2014)

I'm with Carl B. I tried skids made from cutting boards, but they wore out quickly. Then I cut a set from UHMW polyethylene and I'm going on two years of smooth sailing. The higher cost is offset by not having to make another set in the middle of snow season.


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## skutflut (Oct 16, 2015)

micah68kj said:


> You pay the shopping and I'll ship 'em to Mars. :icon-hgtg: You want/need a set? After these are gone they're gone. Wasn't thinking when I cut them all out. A fella gets his saw set up and just starts cutting not really considering what to do with this stuff. :huh:


i know what you mean. I have about 8 pairs of wood slides for my Incra 90 degree router jig, in case I nick one with the dovetail cutter.


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## skutflut (Oct 16, 2015)

micah68kj said:


> I forgot to mention that either of these plastic/acrylic/polyethelyne compounds can be cut and worked with regular shop equipment. I cut them out on my 10" table saw using a 60 tooth blade. I've also used my 10" miter saw as well. Regular drill bits. For making the bolt slots I bought a router bit and set my drill press on the highest speed and it worked very well.
> There is a little bit of a learning curve working with plastics.


Plastic smells way different that wood when it overheats ::smile:


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