# Sick & Tired of sidewalk edges, wheels the answer?



## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

I am sick and tired of protruding sidewalk edges! The scraper bar hits and boom the snowblower stops or bounces forward leaving snow. I'm tired of the toll on the machine and on me.

Would wheels such as skateboard wheels or bearings completely solve this problem? Would there still be bouncing, minimalized, or almost non-existent?


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

do you means caster wheels instead of skids? It may help a little bit, but anything protruding from the paved surface will probably hit part of the bucket regardless. 

Just part of snowblowing, I guess . . .


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## knu2xs (Jan 6, 2015)

Armor Skids.........they help you ramp right up on raised edges, which I deal with all of the time. The dirt you see on the skids is from raised dirt edges alongside our driveway.


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

I have the Ariens short plastic skids and I have that problem when the skid goes over the sidewalk and dips to the road when travelling parallel to road. I cannot fix that except by being more careful running the sidewalk edge. The other case is missing sidewalk just as it rises from the lower driveway side to the full height of the sidewalk. The short skid drops into the missing sidewalk and the scraper hits the edge of the "hole". A longer skid may resolve that but I have not tried them.

I cannot see wheeled skids helping at all, but a higher mounted scraper would help but then more snow left behind.

I just suffer through the bump since the machine is so strong I just get a rolled edge to the scraper that I clean up annually. 

Good luck.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

As has already been said, get the Armor Skids from Bob at SnowBlowerSkids.com


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## knu2xs (Jan 6, 2015)

Here's a short video put out by Bob at SnowBlowerSkids.com


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## aldfam4 (Dec 25, 2016)

JLawrence08648 said:


> I am sick and tired of protruding sidewalk edges! The scraper bar hits and boom the snowblower stops or bounces forward leaving snow. I'm tired of the toll on the machine and on me.
> 
> Would wheels such as skateboard wheels or bearings completely solve this problem? Would there still be bouncing, minimalized, or almost non-existent?


I hear you load and clear my friend. My neighbors sidewalks are like a moon surface, just brutal. It was beating up my 10 HP Craftsman. Like a few have suggested, I got a pair of Armor Skids, wow they absorb the bumps like nothing else, really worth the investment. I plan on getting another pair for 10 HP Ariens. The one downside is that they cause your blower to ride up on that heavy snow the plow leaves in front of your driveway.


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## jburson250 (Oct 25, 2017)

Your salvation:

Snowblower Skids For Sidewalks and Gravel Drives

All these SBF members can't be wrong!


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## Bob E (Jun 9, 2014)

In front of one house around the block it looks like somebody took a grinder to the sidewalk to smooth out the ledges. :devil:


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Bob E said:


> In front of one house around the block it looks like somebody took a grinder to the sidewalk to smooth out the ledges. :devil:


There was a house in the neighborhood thawed was a flip. He took a diamond blade in a grinder and did the same, leveling the edge of the protruding sidewalk. It's a great idea.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

I can visually see the wheels responding the same way as a skid shoes. Seems like ArmorSkids are the way to go. I'm going to make my own this week.


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

Bob E said:


> In front of one house around the block it looks like somebody took a grinder to the sidewalk to smooth out the ledges. :devil:


I've not seen it in progress, but I've seen the tripping hazards ground down by what I assumed was the local municipality. 
Probably used something like this.


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