Topic: Snow plow skids

[Don R]

 I have a Cub lawn tractor with a plow on it, I've been plowing the block long sidewalk but keep wearing out the steel plow skids that set the height of the blade. I have a spare set and have been mig welding them but occasionally the wear gets ahead of the welding and they get thin requiring more repair. I may add a 1/4" wear plate this time.  Any ideas?  I've wondered about a roller or a wheel, 

[calj737]

Get some hard facing stick rods, and pad the blade.

[Don R]

 When I was younger and broker and on the advise of someone else, I used some old wet 7018 low hydrogen rod with the flux knocked off for gas rod. It welded nice but you couldn't grind it at all. It just turned cherry red and mushed a little. I imagine a similar result to hard face bead. L0L!

[brewsky]

If you know anyone at the local DOH, might check to see if they use carbide insert blades (or UHMW-PE plastic blades) and see if they have any take-offs you could salvage.

I bought some UHMW U-shaped material to line my snowblower blade with to avoid marking up my driveway, and it hasn't worn at all after several uses. It is supposed to be more wear resistant than steel?

Here is the size I used for my snow blower, but they have thicker sizes:
https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=30241

Info on whole cutting edges:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/interstate-plastics-highlights-uhmw-snow-plows-and-scraper-edge-applications-300562506.html

[Don R]

 Wow that sounds like some amazing  plastic. Thinking back, I had some Teflon blocks left from a machine shop owning neighbor that kept me in mind for interesting left overs. Years later I threw it away to avoid thinking of myself as a hoarder. Now I can think of a use for it.  lol.

[Tracksnblades1]

Don,

Hope your enjoying the well deserved RR.

AR500 plate is what works well in high wear high impact pressures. AR500 is used in mining and abrasive dirt moving applications. It can last all year in quarry applications.

This link is for 3inch rifle ar500 target. Somewhat pricey though.
https://shootingtargets7.com/3-ar500-gong.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1vDJgvCu4AIVSLnACh027QU_EAQYAiABEgLW0vD_BwE

You can purchase AR500 from local metal suppliers too. However if purchased in large quantities, you shall be under the watchful eye of big bother (DHS) and big bother allays knows best. Military uses AR metals for amour plate.

If you decide on this route, the rules for welding varying. Generally speaking good results can be experienced from preheating base metal and AR500 to 400-500*. 7018, welds AR to mild steel base metals well with minimal undercutting. 10018, 11018 rods welds better when welding to higher tensile base metals like T1. These rods tensile strengths at 100,000 and 118,000 respectively mirrors or bests the tensile strength of better alloy base metals.

After welding, its suggested you re-preheat the finished work back to 400-500*. Wax sticks work well here. Wrap snugly in non-faced fibergalssed attic insulation. Let cool for 24hr and hopefully it won't snap off when hitting a bump.

Or a more economical path, source used Dozer blade's cutting edges.
Generally these are still at or over 1/2 thick when replacement is necessary.
There should be plenty of flat usable material between the bolts holes. Road graders have concave blades.

Forgot to mention the Stoody hard facing rods. Available for arc, wire, mig, tig, and bare boron rods for brazing. The boron rods primarily used in metal to metal extreme pressure contact applications. Quality hard facing rods cost are generally between $2-10$ per rod retail. Many 1/8 rods weigh just under 1oz.

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