I could see it more like a cowcatcher on the front of a locomotive. It's not going to move massive amounts of earth or grade out the land, but it pushes smaller obstructions away rather than letting them get under the skirts (or under the narrow, low traction wheels on a locomotive) to jam up the works. Also, a cheap prow can take the minor dings without damaging the expensive vehicle - like a push bar that can be spray painted over taking the dings to keep the shiny chrome bumper (or plastic fairing) in better shape.
I'd be tempted to make it an inverse, where you have the cow catcher style, but like the prow of a boat so the hovercraft slides over the items, rather than trying to push them out of the way. The thrust from a hovercraft is in the form of fans or jet engines, vs treads/wheels.
slightly off topic: but what about a hovercraft towing something? ... I know it would be limited by the motive type of the towed unit, but a wheeled or tracked trailer being pulled down a main supply route by a hover vehicle at 14 hexes at 151 kph/95 mph is kinda funny.
For towing, I'd require that any trailer being towed must have the same or worse traction than the towing vessel (so hover can only tow hover, wheeled can tow wheeled or hover, and tracked can tow all three). The terrain limitation is the worse of the entire chain, i.e. a treaded vehicle towing a hovercargo platform will lose the cargo if it goes into terrain where hovercraft cannot. Similarly, a treaded vehicle trying to tow hovercargo over water will go gurgle gurgle really quick (unless it is environmentally sealed and air-independent). If the treaded vehicle can do it though, I predict the driver putting on
music.
The nice part is that hovercargo should get a speed bonus (similar to hovercraft getting that bonus). So a wheeled vehicle might only be able to tow 100 tons of cargo on a trailer with wheels, but might be able to handle 200 tons on a hovertrailer. The problem is that if the wheeled vehicle has to stop suddenly, the cargo won't (unless you turn off the skirts and let it scrape to a stop).
Of course, the fun part of towing cargo with a hovercraft is where all the exhaust air is pointed directly at the cargo. Hope all of the trailer cargo is low, dense or well-secured.