Yeah, I believe the 'Troy Built' brand falls under the gigantic logo of AYP, an acronym for American Yard Products. They make about 95% of the outdoor power equipment sold at the big box retailers and just slap the colors / brand name / logos the buyer (John Deere, Husqvarna, etc. ad nauseum). The much higher end units from companies like Ariens are still made by Ariens but those are sold virtually exclusively through retail / repair facilities.
Honda power equipment is the most American made outdoor power equipment made in America today- I kid you not.
And even if dumping $4,500 on a brand new Ariens snowblower, that was designed and primarily built in America, it will have a Briggs and Stratton engine on it that was made in China. Honda OPE engines are made in Maryland if memory serves. :-)
Honda always ends up in the top 2, 3 brands of OPE in whatever they make. Overpriced to be sure but on that level, they all are IMO. There is no way in the world a $4K snow blower is worth 4X what the $1K and under units cost. But such is the cost / value curve; the cheapest thing will almost always yield the best performance to price ratio. But yep, it do eat shear bolts but I have to say, they are esy to change (a 6mm X 20mm bolt with a hex nut on the other side, and they are in-line with the auger axle- a very different system than most snow blowers use but pretty slick).
I used it again today without the skids on the sides of the bucket and it was much better regarding digging into the hard stuff. The sidewalk in front of my house is a horror show to blow out- it is two or three times the snow as what fell, all of it from snowplows, full of ice balls and gigantic frozen chunks of snow / ice / salt. Unfortunately, I think the best answer would actually be a smaller machine; the 29" cut of my Honda is just too much to chew through that stuff. I also have a wheeled blower, also 29" with an 11 HP engine and it does not handle that snow plow mess very well either.
I do have to say I miss the wheels for overall maneuverability. The hydraulic unit can be de- coupled from the tracks but really, this thing cannot be pushed or man- handled more than a foot or two; tracks are horribly unyieldy. I remember dragging the wheeled machine backwards at almost a trot.... that just ain't happening with this tracked unit; you will use the hydraulic drive, and
you will like it.
Brian
ditch that biotch...
you paid too much if you are breaking shear pins like that.....puny foreign machines.....
Sell it to your neighbor, and Buy a Troy, pocket the extra money, or buy some good beer / spirits for the apres-party... 
these machines are built here in Ohio....and frankly if they didn't work, the company would be out of business....
I am on my third season with this little monster.....and have yet to shear a pin off.....(I have 4 spares, sitting in the toolbox, rusting) 
The skidders are side mounted, up front, and I have them adjusted so I can scrape pavement, yet a slight downward pressure on the control bars and I don't pick up gravel at the end of my drive. It's light enough that I never even use the reverse gears, just walk backwards with it and run again.
<snipped photos>
I think we have had 1 day out of the last 30 that it didn't snow here, and that was a rain day, followed by a freeze and 6 " dump....
thank's for reminding me, I have to go out and clear the drive....... again..... 
