• Home
  • ABOUT
  • VIDEOS
  • MY GARDEN
  • Contact

The Impatient Gardener

Other

Cold winter, warm hands (and oh yeah, snow removal too)

February 9, 2018

Troy-Bilt Storm 2690 XP

For many years we had our driveway plowed. Mostly it was great: The neighbor who did the plowing always did ours first because he knew we had to get to work early, it was cleared quickly and we didn’t have to do anything. Well, anything other than pay for it, obviously. Most winters our plowing bill was in the $500 range. It didn’t take us long to do the math and realize this was a luxury we weren’t comfortable affording ourselves. 

But I’ll be honest: Our small single-stage snowblower and an impressive collection of shovels made clearing the driveway (not to mention the patio and paths) very long process. Which is why I was more than happy to test out a bigger, better, two-stage model from Troy-Bilt, the Storm 2690 XP.

And Mother Nature was happy to oblige with a heavy overnight snowfall that was somewhere between 7 and 9 inches. 

Troy-Bilt Storm 2690 XP

The 26-inch width on this snowblower is a nice compromise for us: It’s wide enough to get the job done quickly but size right to fit into the area we have to store it, because like a lot of people we don’t have a ton of space to store equipment. 

I’ve been a big fan of Troy-Bilt’s electric Jump-Start for some of their small lawn equipment (because as I’ve mentioned many times, I hate pull starts) so I was thrilled to find out that I don’t have to string pull this snowblower. Plug it into an outlet via an extension cord and press a button and it’s on. No pulling required. Of course the pull start option is still available for those of you with longer arms than me. 

Snowblowing a long driveway

Other features of note include nice big, 5-inch-wide tires, power steering, power controlled chute and all-wheel drive, which makes maneuvering this snowblower easy.

But I’m burying the lede here, because I haven’t told you about the single greatest feature to ever be found on a snowblower: heated hand grips. Yes, folks, this thing will keep your (gloved) hands plenty warm even when you start snowblowing your neighbors’ driveways.

Troy-Bilt Storm 2690 XP

Our last snowblower, which had no frills, had a chute that you had to bend over to switch the angle of and snow just kind of sputtered out of  it. On the Storm 2690 XP, a joystick controls the chute, both the angle and the pitch, which came in handy when we wanted to shoot snow across the driveway and later, when the wind kicked up, to angle it down to avoid making our own personal blizzard.

It did take us two passes to really get the driveway clear, although the fact that it started snowing again didn’t help. Also, about halfway through we noticed that one of the skid shoes was set higher than the other, so there was a little snow left behind on one side of our passes. Had it not been freezing out, we would have fixed that, but it wasn’t a big deal and we’ll adjust it before the next snowfall.

At this time of year it gets harder and harder to not want to rush into the garden in hopes of seeing any sign of life springing up. The thick blanket of snow does nothing to help me control that urge, but having a snowblower that can handle the full force of 8 inches of snow on a big driveway certainly helps. 

If you want to see it in action or hear me lie about how much snow we got and screw up the name of the snowblower multiple times (whoops), check out this video on YouTube or below.

Disclosure: Troy-Bilt provided a snowblower and compensation for my review. Of course you know that all opinions are my own. As are my very warm hands, thanks to that snowblower. 🙂

 

snow snowblower troy-bilt
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
3 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

View all posts by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

Related Posts

  • A test garden that truly puts plants to the test
  • snow covered pansiesThe art of perfectly timed procrastination
  • Snow-covered sedumHow to suck the ambition out of a gardener
  • how to create living privacy screenHow to create a living privacy screen
previous post: Growing different food for a different reason
next post: Have patience, young grasshopper

Comments

  1. Linda from Each Little World says: February 9, 2018 at 7:17 am

    We have a machine that Mark is happy with but I am going to show him your review for future reference. If I did our driveway, i would buy this for the warm hands feature alone. I’m hoping all the snow this week helps the garden survive.

    Reply
  2. Philip Grombliniak says: February 10, 2018 at 9:19 am

    Very nice article, I remove snow for a New York City school that I work at for thirty seven years, these machines are very dependable and I need them for my job.

    Reply
  3. John Vest says: February 15, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    Maybe their carburetors will last more than 4 years. I have 4 year old version of your test model, worked great for 2 years. the third year had to leave the choke on half to keep it running, this year it would start.

    Reply

Leave Your Comments Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About

The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

Here's some more about me.

CONNECT

Winner

Garden Comm award

MY FAVORITE GEAR

https://www.amazon.com/shop/impatientgardener

Instagram

I did a lot of rather “involved” winter containers this year so this super simple, throw-it-there-and-call-it-good container is sort of refreshing in its simplicity. #wintercontainers #containgardening #gardening #holidayseason #simpleisbeautiful #theimpatientgardener
Not only did the veg garden get a cute holiday outfit, I also bought it a really nice present yesterday: a big order with a local nursery for a project I’m equal parts excited and nervous about. I love that this vegetable garden has pushed me to try things that are out of my comfort zone (like the stock tank pond). Keeps me on my toes!
I love my vegetable garden so much, and I think it’s beautiful even when there’s nothing growing in it. It’s just a simple garland and a Costco wreath but it’s so charming to me. This area makes a cameo on the video I put up on YouTube today. #veggarden #holidaydecorating #gardenarbor #garland #wreath #deckthehalls #theimpatientgardener
I fell in love with curly willow and fantail willow and used as much of it as I had for this container. Wired on a bunch of pine cones and filled in with greens and lights. Video one how it all came together up soon (tonight or tomorrow morning). #wintercontainers #containerdesign #holidaydecorating #outsidecheer #willow #theimpatientgardener

Follow me

SEARCH

Popular posts

  • Poinsettias in every color; even blue
  • HOW TO CHOOSE A MEMORIAL TREE
  • Raised bed garden construction part 3: Staining and sealing
  • Raised bed garden construction part 2: From the ground up

Find us on Facebook

Archives

  • ABOUT
  • TALK TO ME
  • TERMS & DISCLAIMERS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Home

STAY UPDATED

Copyright © 2019 · Prima Donna theme by Georgia Lou Studios

Copyright 2009-2019 ©The Impatient Gardener