Simplicity snow blade improvement

I have a 1978 Simplicity Landlord with a 48" snow blade. I had to weld skis on each end of the blade to allow the blade to travel over the expansion strips on concrete driveways without catching on them and jarring the teeth right out of my head. This leaves a strip of unplowed snow between the skis about one half inch deep. I need an idea on something I could attach to the blade that would not break, but still flexible enough to go over the raised concrete. Hopefully someone else has solved this problem?

 

Either you hold the blade up to clear the concrete lip or the blade has to move somehow. Some blades have a strip of very stiff rubber or folded over conveyor belting along the bottom edge of the blade. On my blade the shoes are mounted off the back of the blade so the only thing they touch is snow that's already passed under the blade. But, if you're running shoes you've committed to leaving some thin layer of snow to pass under the blade.

 

Can you angle the blade horizontally or plow the driveway at an angle to the expansion joints

 

Picking up the blade is doable, but I do all my close neighbors, and I like to move fast, (does a better job at an angle) but even at an angle the blade still catches. I know where most of them are, but all it takes is one (hidden under the snow) to really rock my socks.
I like the idea of mounting a rubber squeegee like the conveyor belting. I will do a search for someone who might sell that.

Thanks!

 

I found a roll of tough rubber at Grainger, a bit pricey, but will probably work.

 

If you have a TSC nearby you might want to look at belting. Grainger and others probably have it as well, but I think TSC would have the most favorable price for something like that. Of course few things are going to flex as well in colder temperatures, and I imagine that anything that flexes enough to ride over joints is also going to ride over any packed areas, but nothing wrong I suppose with trying it. When I had a plow on my truck I set the shoes to give me ample space over uneven slabs, figured that I was still getting the bulk of it, so anybody who wanted it to bare pavement could get out their handy dandy shovel.

 

I agree with Pedro concerning Tractor Supply. I used to have an account at Grainger but as they expanded their catalog and network of sores they also severely increased their prices. I still check their website to see about the availability of things but I can almost always find the same item at a lower price somewhere else. In most cases waiting a few days more to receive it is preferable to paying a highly inflated price.

The downside of TSC, at least for me, is their website is so cluttered with "scripts" running in the background that it is extremely slow. I have a lot of trouble navigating the site and the frustration it causes is quite irritating. That and the fact that their closest store to me is still about a 30 mile drive.

 

You guys are both right about Grainger and TSC. the only thing Grainger had was out of the question price wise. The people I help have physical problems which make it a hardship for them to get the packed ice etc off the drive If I don't get it off of their drives before it freezes solid. I have a TSC Store that is very close. I will let them use their computer to find what I need.

Happy Holidays

 

It's just called belting, or maybe binder or baler belting to be precise, and will be in the ag parts area of the store. And it will be in a roll, so you'll probably want to roll it out on the living room floor or wherever, or cut off and roll out as much as you'll need, overnight anyway, so it's a little easier to work with. Then comes the fun part; are there holes drilled along the bottom of your blade to attach something like this? I don't know, but sort of doubt a smaller blade like that has a moldboard, so you'll probably have a fair amount of drilling to do. And you'll probably want a piece of flat stock with corresponding holes for along the backside of the belting. I'b guess holes about every 6".