Chip,
Sorry it takes me so long to get back, I just do this at work on my lunch.

Your gouging will probably always be a problem when your work piece contact area is wider than your plane iron. However, if you round off the corners of your iron, you will eliminate the step caused by the corner of the iron. The iron's corner then can be adjusted up into the sole of the plane and will not gouge.
The other option is to get a plane wider than the work piece contact area. Hope this makes sense. - Scott