Plow shoe problems

Hedgetron · Feb 24, 2009

Hello all,

I am hoping for some wisdom regarding my plow shoe problem. I have the standard size plow blade (48 inches?) on my Ingersoll 4120. I purchased new stock plow shoes and a replacement blade from Bhildreth hoping to get a few seasons out of them. As you may have heard, it has been snowing like crazy in Michigan this winter and I have already ground the shoes down to nothing. The blade is ground down to the fasteners too, so I hope it stops snowing soon so I can fix everything. I don't know if I am doing something wrong or if these items are just working like they are supposed to and not lasting as long as I hoped they would. Are there alternatives that would hold up better?

A little more info:

I set the shoes up so that they touched the ground before the blade by about 1/8"

I always put the blade in the "float" position so I am not applying un-necessary pressure to the ground.

I have a concrete driveway that is about 20K sq. ft. and have plowed it fully at least 8 times this season.

I usually leave the blade angled to the left as far as it will go (right front edge leads).

Thanks for any help.

Mike

Bart · Feb 24, 2009

Mike,

The blade edge itself can be flipped over so you will get more wear on it. I haven't used my plow enough to have the shoe problem but I have worn down a number of skid shoes on the snowblowers. Rather than replace them all the time I just weld a piece of 1.5" x .25" bar stock on the worn shoes. You can probably do the same with the plow shoes and you might also weld a couple of beads with a hardened steel rod to improve the wear rate. If you don't have access to a welder this is something that a local welding shop should be able do inexpensively.

Bart

Magnum RT · Feb 24, 2009

Hedgetron said:
Hello all,

I am hoping for some wisdom regarding my plow shoe problem. I have the standard size plow blade (48 inches?) on my Ingersoll 4120. I purchased new stock plow shoes and a replacement blade from Bhildreth hoping to get a few seasons out of them. As you may have heard, it has been snowing like crazy in Michigan this winter and I have already ground the shoes down to nothing. The blade is ground down to the fasteners too, so I hope it stops snowing soon so I can fix everything. I don't know if I am doing something wrong or if these items are just working like they are supposed to and not lasting as long as I hoped they would. Are there alternatives that would hold up better?

A little more info:

I set the shoes up so that they touched the ground before the blade by about 1/8"

I always put the blade in the "float" position so I am not applying un-necessary pressure to the ground.

I have a concrete driveway that is about 20K sq. ft. and have plowed it fully at least 8 times this season.

I usually leave the blade angled to the left as far as it will go (right front edge leads).

Thanks for any help.

Mike

Bart has it correct, though it does seem like rather rapid wear. I don't know what Ingersoll considers appropriate, but I would ask Brian.

I had to build both my plow shows and my blower shoes this winter, and turn my blower cutting edge.

I visited a friend today, who picked up a poly cutting edge of some type from a College where he teaches. It was a broken piece off a skidster plow that had busted the end on a curb. It had been on the machine for 2 years, and he was able to salvage 4 feet for his blower. It is still about 1 inch thick and he said, "Cleans the concrete very well, and will not cut the grass on the edges of his drive." Sounds like a winner to me, though it is expensive. I will be looking into it! He did have to change the pitch of his blower a little by drilling new holes in the mule.

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Argee · Feb 24, 2009

Ditto on what Bart and Magnum are saying. Get a piece of re-rod and cut a slice or two to weld on the bottom of your shoes. If your getting dwon to the concrete every time you plow...that's what's wearing your edge.

bhildret · Feb 26, 2009

I have not got direct experience with that much concrete ... mostly asphalt. But still, I am also surprised they've worn as much as you say when used in float.

I agree the idea of welded skid and/or hard bead on the shoes. I am personally trialing a pair of snowcaster shoes this year which were cores and now have a stainless skid on them.

Let me know if you would like to work with the welder over my way.

Brian

Hedgetron · Feb 26, 2009

Thanks for the advice all..

I think what I'll do is order a new set from Brian (shoes and blade edge) and then do some fancy welding to the bottoms of the shoes. That, or I was thinking of trying out some Delrin blocks on the bottom of the shoes. I have seen Delrin or Beryllium Copper used in other industrial applications for friction wear, but the concrete would probably just eat it up the same.

The one thing I was hoping to hear was that there were "disks" like on a vehicle based plows available to retro-fit onto the Case set-up. I thought I had read that somewhere here before, but I can't remember where. The Case set-up puts a lot of wear on a relatively small area at the bottom of the "J" shaped bar. Disks or spring loaded disks just seem like they would work better. I guess I could just epoxy coat my "grinding stone" driveway...

Plow shoe problems

Hedgetron

Bart

Magnum RT

Argee

bhildret

Hedgetron

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