Yes, there are companies that make a rubber bottom for your blade. I looked into them last year but the thinnest rubber was 1 in...made for truck plows, however they will make to suit and install holes to your measurements. I feel 1 in is to thick and stiff so I plan on making my own this year. I don't plow unless I have a few inches of snow, just blow off the sidewalks. We have a farm store near us that has horse stall mats about 1/2 " thick or a little thicker that I am going to try. To have one made starts around 150 bucks and a stall mat is less than 40 and I can make a couple of sweepers from one mat. My research says they work great on gravel drives, so I am going to find out this year. Search the net, there is a lot of info on this subject and even how to make them!

 

I have a 6" rubber flap bolted to the top of my plow to keep snow from flying up in my face. One of those bolted to the bottom of a plow might work, but maybe it's not thick enough.

ETA: It came off my old plow. I turned it around because it was too narrow on the back where I cut it to the 50" width of the old plow. The front was as wide as the side shields at the point it came out to. I just turned it around, drilled new holes in it, bolted it on, and cut a triangle off each end that was sticking out. It looks kind of odd being 52" wide for a couple of inches, tapering down for a couple more, and then being 50" wide for the last couple of inches in the front, but it works.

 

Don't you guys laugh! lol but I put skies on my old craftsman snow blower in order to slide over the gravel driveway, over 30 yrs ago, and just replaced them 2 weeks ago because the weight of the machine finally wore through the thin aluminum, made from roofing drip edge, that I had used for skies. Worked great and you can push it forward in deep snow with ease/one finger! How it works is the plow blades only cuts through the ice/snow within a quarter of an inch above the gravel, since the skies are at that height, plus there's no churning/digging into the gravel since the wheels set on top of the skies, leaving a clean/soothe surface with very little snow above gravel! So you know what I'm thinking.... you got that right? I could put skies on the plow blade (i think I've seen this somewhere before, now that I'm thinking about it) that could work much the same way as my blower skies work, where the plow blade won't be able to dig any deeper than the ski height over the gravel and snow. This just might work, as long as my new deep aggressive tires won't plow up the gravel, but still the plow goes through the snow first before the tire tracks, even if the driveway hasn't frozen hard yet? I don't mind if the gravel is a little churned up as long as It's done after plowing clean gravel free snow first, leaving behind any mess the tires leave behind! Eliminating gravel mixed in with snow, where I then would push it out over the lawn, and hopefully gravel free!!
I'll get on this right away and i'll send pictures of my old trusty snowblower on skies, and hopefully the plow w/ skies, and then lets pray for SNOW to try em out lol I'm really getting excited for my first atv plowing experience!!

 

Here's a few plow skids I found this morning on internet looking for plow skid blade and on ebay for about $50 a set. I'm still going to try my hand at building my own just for the experience but if they don't hold up for some reason, I might consider buying a set. I think by putting the skids just behind the plow blade you wont run the risk of ramming them into curbs, banging them up, since the plow would be protecting the skids from damage more, in my opinion, just saying/thinking before my time rushing into this build. I don't want to drill into this new plow, in case I decide a plow may not work for my use, and end up selling as in a newer condition. The full length skid looks to me to do a better job of keeping the ground more level without skids digging ruts
this style looks most practical plus seeme's like it will help pack down gravel with plow pushing snow! such a simple idea!





$50 on ebay

 

Having done most of the things you,describe already, I can tell you what worked for me. I am assuming your blade does not have feet on it already?? Most do, some feet are quite small, and need to be made larger. My blade is very heavy and has adjustable puck style feet like a commercial plow blade. These work well but can dig into soft gravel drive that is wet and not frozen. The full length skid plate will ride up over a hard pack snow, can only be used for light fluffy snow unless you have extra reinforce which many commercial blades have. The blade type foot like a snowblower has will dig in due to the extra weight of the blade, they work great on my snowblower but not on a snow blade. The rubber bottom on a blade is about the best idea I have found. Not perfect but better than other fixes. The real trick is getting the correct thickness of rubber for the weight of your blade. My blade weighs almost 200 lbs so I need at least a 1/2" thick rubber, commercial blades for pick up trucks can use a 1" rubber and large city trucks use 1 1/2" up to a 2" thick rubber. If your blade is lighter in weight you might get away with 1/4" or 3/8" rubber. The rubber needs to flex enough to fold slightly under the bottom of the blade to hold down the gravel but not lift the blade up over the snow. Hope this helps Steve... let us know.. .

 

The item you posted as most practical requires added down force to keep the blade from riding up over the snow. Light fluffy snow is ok but hard packed snow needs extra down force. Darn little buttons on my phone didnt come out right on my previous post

 

Some how my reply got stuck with your posting lol First time this has ever happened before! Its like I hijacked your mail lol
Anyways thanks for the help, and Its going to be a lot of trial and error trying to adjust my condition with the type of surface I have, and different ground temperatures, which is going to be different with each individual's road condition/material makeup/temp. might even need to have 2 different blades going from warm to cold or frozen which would be a little much, unless it were more for a plow contractor/business where they have so many different driveway surfaces to contend with.
HEY, ALL YOU GUYS HAVE A VERY HAPPY T-GIVING and lets thanks SNOW!!
we have about an inch since this morning on grassy areas

 

Quote, Kymco 450i "The rubber needs to flex enough to fold slightly under the bottom of the blade to hold down the gravel but not lift the blade up over the snow." That's what I was thinking when I mentioned the snow flap on top of my plow blade. It's probably too flexible but if it was narrower than 6" it might work. The only way to know for sure would be to try it, or find someone else who has.

 

i know it also has a lot to do with the hardness or durometer of the rubber too. I remember this from ordering rubber parts for a pump co. I worked for, where we used large round rubber wipers that were used for pushing/pressing down into barrels/drums to force out materials as loose/lite as paint, to as hard as very thick adhesives for automotive/construction use. Also the depth of rubber from the bottom of the blade to ground as you just mentioned, and the thickness of material from 1/4'' to 1/2'' or more? , also the surface, where if its on a hard concrete type would need more firm/harder, and less of a flexible wiper blade, and less depth. Where like in my condition, where I just added new pea gravel to low areas in driveway, its going to be sooooo soft now, where i'll need the extreme opposite of a concrete rubber wiper's. As Kymco 450i was saying it could get mighty costly for trial and error's, with so many variables involved, that i'm not sure where to start for my use!? There's wipers for around $50 all over the net, but how many might need to be purchased trying to find the right fit for my use?
I just thought of something!! If the wiper is too soft I could add a metal backer behind the rubber to help stiffen it like soft flexible coil stock, that should flex back like a spring, and adding as many as needed until i find the perfect wipe/firmness, also depending on the temperature outside where i could change out adding or removing aluminum strips. You know what, I just talked my self into trying this out and feel pretty confident it just might work! I'll order the cheap $50 blade and stiffen er up if too soft! Sounds pretty sexy as well lol I'll get back after i get the rubber wiper, and installed, and hopefully by then we'll have enough snow to hopefully give it a good try/review

 

If you have a farm store in your area, go check out horse stall mats. They are quite cheap and you could make numerous wipers from one mat and still have less cash invested. Others have also had success with them, I am not the one with the original idea. Putting on and taking off backing plates would be a real pain. Yep your gonna get a few stones in the grass but so does my snow blower. I just live with it or pay the neighbor kid to rake them back in the spring. My drive is wide enough that I dont push all the way into the grass anyway