TROY-BILT Storm 2620 Snow Thrower 26" Two-Stage Snow Thrower

I've owned the Troy-Bilt 2620 snow thrower through six months of Denver winter, and put some hard hours on it. The best feature by far is the joystick chute control. It's an easy, one-handed, one-second job to swing the chute from full-left to full-right, or vice versa - no more bending over, reaching under the handlebars, and crank-, crank-, cranking to swing the chute around.

The push-button electric start works great. I've tried the pull-start a few times, and it's always started on the first or second pull, warm or cold. The choke is a bit heavy-handed. Half-choke seems about right when starting cold. It hasn't used a bit of oil yet, but it's still new.

The "one-handed operation" is true, but a bit of an over-statement. This is a heavy beast, and between the dragging skids and possibly a bit of uneven pull from the drive wheels, you'll want both hands on the handlebars most of the time. Still, you can one-hand it with your right hand and swing the chute around with your left, without stopping.

The six forward gears are overkill for me. I use second gear most of the time when throwing snow, first gear if the snow is deep and heavy. With 6 HP this baby tears up deep, dry snow incredibly well. I use third gear if I'm just walking the thrower, rather than throwing snow. Maybe fourth, fifth and sixth gears are for joggers. The two reverse gears are of little use to me; both are much too slow. The might be really handy, though, if your lot isn't as flat as mine. When I want to back up I find it much quicker just to yank the thrower backwards.

And it is a heavy beast. I find it no easier than shoveling, but about four times quicker. I can do my lot and most of my neighbors on both sides in about half the time it took me to shovel my own lot by hand. The 26" swath is a good width. It clears my sidewalks in two passes, with some overlap to pick up spillover. And it takes care of my double-wide driveway without requiring too many passes. The 21" intake height has been fine for me. The most snow we've had has been 16", and the 2620 chewed right through it.

I've only broken one shear pin so far, but you'll probably want to buy extras. The thrower comes with two spares, but the last thing you need is to run out in a storm when the roads may be impassable, traffic is miserable and/or the local hardware store may be closed. In fairness, the auger is in four parts rather than two, so when you blow a shear pin you only lose a quarter of your auger. I ran for a half-hour with a broken shear pin before I even noticed it was gone.

The skid shoes have been my biggest headache. The skid shoes are L-shaped pieces of metal. The vertical bar of the L bolts to the side of the auger chamber. The horizontal bar of the L drags on the pavement. By loosening the bolts and sliding the skid up or down, you lower or raise the height of the auger chamber. You'll want the back edge of the chamber about 1/2" off the pavement, to avoid catching every crack in the sidewalk. You'll need a deep-well socket to remove the skid-height adjustment nuts, because the bolts stick out too far for a regular socket. Use a half-inch socket driver. I broke two 3/8" socket drivers before I pulled out my half-inch drive socket set.

For me, the horizontal bar of the right skid wore out incredibly quickly - in less than a half-dozen uses. This left me with nothing but a vertical bar on that side, cutting into the pavement like a knife. It also creates incredible torque, due to the uneven drag. Once again, this thing is a beast, and with the added torque it's a man-killer. It's all I can do to keep it going straight.

I'm still looking for replacement skids. Lowe's sells Troy-Bilt snow thrower parts, but it's lawn mower season now, and snow thrower parts are no longer on the shelves. I really wish I'd bought some replacement skid blocks back when they were on the shelves. I've also sheared one of the skid-height adjustment bolts, so you may want a couple spares of those, too. And as long as you're buying spares, you might want a spare chute shovel. I haven't broken mine, but I can already see the day when I'll get over-enthusiastic with the little plastic chute shovel that comes with the thrower. And you do need the shovel, at least when dealing with wet snow. The wetter the snow, the more the chute clogs up. It can be a real pain, digging the chute out over and over.

The 15" tires looked like overkill when I bought the thrower, but it turns out they are none too big. In deep, wet snow they tend to spin a bit. The headlight is useful if you lose the sun while still working, but really, with snow on the ground there's usually plenty of ambient moonlight.

I think the next model up (2840?) has hand-warmers built into the handlebars. I discounted the idea when I first heard it, but when I was helping the whole neighborhood with wet gloves for hours after the last 16" snow I was really wishing the 2620 came with hand-warmers. I have yet to try exercising the two-year warranty. I doubt I'll have any problems with the engine, but I've already sheared a skid-height adjustment bolt and destroyed a skid, in only six months. I should give Troy-Bilt a chance to make good, and see how they do ...
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