I find it a bit ironic that once we purchased a snow thrower, we’ve had little to no snow accumulation this winter. I’m not asking for a lot of snow exactly, but I’ve been sitting prepared for a storm that hasn’t come.
We had one storm come through that resulted in about 4 inches of snow, so I fired up the Vortex to make sure it worked in an actual storm.
The first problem I encountered was not being able to lower the front of the machine. FYI, Troy Bilt shipped it raised in the front, which is the same height you would use if one had a gravel driveway. If you have a paved driveway (like we do), then you need to unscrew the bolts securing the skid shoes, lower them, then tighten again.
Except I couldn’t lower one side. No matter what I did, the bolt wouldn’t budge. So with one side lowered, and the other side higher than I wanted, I fired it up and drove it around. It wasn’t has hard to use as I initially imagined. There seems to be only one task – You need a strategy or plan on how you’re gonna push it around the driveway.
Clearing the sidewalk? Easy. Keep the snow chute aimed toward the yard, and downwind. Otherwise the snow just blows back in your face. Driveway? Not as clear cut. This first time out, I kept having to clear out some prior sections as I ended up throwing snow back on them. Still, it was faster than shoveling.
Except that I still had to shovel some areas! Why? Because the right side was too high, and left snow on the driveway. After that particular storm, I’ve since gone to Home Depot to purchase a socket set, which I hope will be more effective to loosen that bolt.