I agree with everything you've said. Top of the line track drive Honda or Ariens is going to run $3K - $4k. And that's a whole other machine to take care of and store. Where an attachment is almost no maintenance. And takes up a lot less than half the space. We get a lot of snow in New England and I don't think there's ever been a year where my snow blower didn't see 20 hours of work.
That common fuel problem problem has the simplest fix though. I treat all the premium fuel I buy for all my equipment and small engines. I'm sure I don't go through more than an eight dollar bottle of Star Tron a year either. It's very cheap and easy to use and you can't over dose on it. That way I don't have to remember to treat any fuel for a particular engine at a particular time of year.
I have 14 year old Troy Bilt 28" track drive. The only fuel related problem I had was a surging engine caused by a partially blocked main air jet. It looked like some dirt had just built up in there. It doesn't have an air cleaner so I'm not sure if it was gas or air that caused the problem. I googled "surging snow blower engine" and some great person had a youtube video showing the exact fix on a early identical Tecumseh engine. Gotta love the internet. The guy called it an air jet.
I only have three real complaints with the machine. First, they engineered some obsolescence by neglecting to provide any means to lube the drive axles. I put grease fittings in after I replaced those bearings. Second, it just doesn't throw heavy wet snow far at all. Only a couple feet depending. And once it gets thrown, it can be almost impossible to move again depending on the conditions. Third, they didn't do a very good job waterproofing the thing. Nothing some rubber, screws, and RTV didn't eventually fix, but caused some aggravation.
Other than that, I made a number of new skids for it, replaced a head light, replaced the drive tire, replaced a broken control cable, and replace the shear bolts after the dog left a 2x4 out in the driveway. Replaced a coil due to a mouse chewed plug wire. I maintain it carefully every year before it goes into storage.
What's nice about the thing is that the tracks and steering clutches make it very maneuverable. And it doesn't get stuck easy on dirt and gravel which is all I have. And it has heated grips. But stuff happens, and machines break down. So I'm looking for a BCS as a backup (at least). I have a plow rig that I made for my 739 that works excellently but is limited in how much snow it will push. But from what I've seen, snow blowers are the bottom line when you have to move snow. Particularly when you have a lot of buildings and obstacles and don't have a clear run for a plow.
