I've had a Honda HS624WA for over 10 years and have never had any problems, not even on EOD ice and slush. These units do not have power steering but are fairly easy to manuever anyway. The only time I've broken a shear pin is when I've picked up a rock or other foreign object and it got jammed in the auger. I think I've gone through about a 8 - 10 shear pins over the years. If you over tighten the shear pin nut you compromise the bolt and the pin will perform (shear in half) as designed. I have used Stabile and Seafoam as a gas treatment/stablizer and never had any surging problems. I also change my oil (synthetic) and spark plug every season as well as doing a preventative maintenance check on all moving parts. Aside from a few skid shoes and one scraper blade, I have not had to replace any other parts.
I just picked up (March 2010) a slightly used Honda HS928TA from a friend who relocated to North Carolina. I have not used this one yet but am looking forward to a hopefully snowy winter so I can have some fun with it. I have a sloped 150' driveway and a bunch of non paved areas to clear so I'm looking forward to using the 3 different height settings on the track drive. The upper setting is for gravel/non paved areas, the middle setting is for paved driveways, etc... and the lowest is the scraper position for getting under the snow pack. I've heard all the horror stories about track drive snowblowers but am willing to give it a shot this winter and see how it goes. If they were that much of a problem nobody would buy them and/or they would not sell them any longer.
I can tell you this about Honda - they make one hell of a snowblower!
Toro Wheel Horse 522xi GT, Honda HS928TA, Honda HS621AS, Honda HS520A, Toro CCR3000 (work in progress), Honda HS624WA (sold 08/23/2010), Stihl BR550 Backpack Blower, Stihl MS250, McCulloch MS1635, Honda EM6500SX Generator
