Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I recently purchased a used 1995 Toro Power Shift 824 and this is the first snow thrower I have ever owned or operated. It did not come with a manual but I was able to download one from Toro's website. However the manual doesn't provide very detailed information and more specifically the info that I'm looking for. It took me quite some time while using it to figure out that when I have selected a reverse gear I do not have to constantly hold my right hand on the gear shift to keep the reverse gear engaged. I was able to figure out that I have to select the reverse gear and hold the shift control back only until I engage the drive control and then I was able to release my grip on the gear shift. Is this normal? When I pull my gear shift back into a reverse gear it springs back into the normal postion. Should it "stick" and engage the gear without me having to keep it in position until the drive control is engaged? If so, I'm surprised Toro would have the user engage the drive control and put the machine in backward motion while the operater momentarily has only one hand on the handlebars (for lack of a better word). Is this some sort of safety feature to prevent me from backing over myself? Does any of this make sense?

Additionally, I find that during operation the chute tends to vibrate out of position causing me to periodically reach over and rotate it back to the desired position. I looked in the manual for any instruction on adjusting the chute or other advice but there was nothing there except describing how to rotate the chute.

Once again I thank anyone who has read this far. I look forward to any advice that may be offered.