Actuatable plow blade ground support method and apparatus

A vehicle configured for moving a material, comprising:

• a material moving implement connected to the vehicle and configured for moving the material from a surface, the material moving implement has a front surface and a rear surface;
• and
• a ground support apparatus, including:
• an actuating system including at least one skid shoe actuator fixedly attached to the rear surface of the material moving implement;
• at least one skid shoe, including:
• a first end directly coupled to said at least one skid shoe actuator;
• a middle stem slideably attached and non-rotatable relative to the rear surface of the material moving implement;
• and
• a second end fixedly attached to the middle stem and configured for contacting the surface;
• and
• manually-operated skid shoe controls operably connected to the actuating system and operable to actuate the at least one skid shoe actuator, wherein the at least one skid shoe is vertically slideable and non-rotatable, by the at least one skid shoe actuator, relative to the material moving implement.

A method of adjusting a ground support apparatus for a material moving implement configured for moving a material from a surface, the material moving implement has a front surface and a rear surface, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing the ground support apparatus, including an actuating system including at least one skid shoe actuator fixedly attached to the rear surface of the material moving implement, at least one skid shoe including a first end directly coupled to said at least one skid shoe actuator and a second end configured for contacting the surface, a middle stem which is slideably attached and non-rotatable relative to the rear surface of the material moving implement, the second end is fixedly attached to the middle stem, manually-operated skid shoe controls operably connected to the actuating system and operable to actuate the at least one skid shoe actuator, at least one GPS receiver configured to sense a location, and a CPU/display unit located on the vehicle and operably coupled to said at least one GPS receiver and said actuating system, the at least one skid shoe is vertically slideable and non-rotatable, by the at least one skid shoe actuator, relative to the material moving implement;
• arriving at a desired location;
• and
• one of:
• manually adjusting a height of said at least one skid shoe by an operator manipulating the manually-operated skid shoe controls to actuate the at least one skid shoe actuator to raise or lower the at least one skid shoe;
• and
• automatically adjusting a height of said at least one skid shoe by said CPU/display unit actuating the at least one skid shoe actuator to raise or lower the at least one skid shoe according to a type of the surface associated with said location sensed by said at least one GPS receiver.