# ? Where are all the Snapper posts?



## calrec (Aug 7, 2011)

Guess this isn't a popular spot for Snapper owners.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

*U still here?*

Been bustin' deep grass with a Snapper that the city deemed 'surplus' at the end of the season last year. 16 HP 2 cyl Briggs rear engine. 38" deck. It's an old machine. The deck looks like a railroad map with all the welds from stuff punching through it! Mods using chains to replace flat stock to raise and lower the deck work well. This machine kicks GRASS!! Mis matched tire treads tell me that it's been in service for a long time. It's 'new' to me. It was donated to the volunteers that take care of the pieces of the city that they don't. I get to drive it. I bashed through 400 yards of high weeds on a steep bank tonite. I think that it's a WONDERFUL machine! (Even if it was 'worn out' when we met)


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## Evanedward (Mar 17, 2011)

calrec said:


> Guess this isn't a popular spot for Snapper owners.


I love my Snapper. It's a clone to my Simplicity Regent. I understand why they stopped building this model if anyone found out about they would not be able to sell Regents.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

Mine has a flywheel that a smaller wheel rubs against at different areas to make the forward speeds, then moves the small wheel to the other side to make reverse. The smaller wheel is connected to the drive axel.
The maintenance guy from where it came said that I was going to 'get t know' that hub in that wheel well. Yesterday, I met that wheel, when the thing stripped out and barely made it back to the shelter.
My brand new son-in-law is a machinest, so I have in my possession, a brand new wheel, patterned off the stripped out one, ready to be installed!
(He could be handy to have around)
I think he made it out of harder stuff than factory. It was pot metal. Now it's mild steel. If this one blows out, he can push the metal up a few clicks.
I LOVE the machine. It has some factory defects that a 'rocket scientist' can help me work out.
This particular Snapper has tech that resembles a carnival ride! The 'Merry-go-round' is powered by rubber tires rubbing against the bottom of the platform. (Or the top) Just enough power transfered to make it go.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

I mowed over 5 acres at 2 locations with my Snapper last week. I give Frank's version of that pully an A+!


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

That little rear engine 'Snapper' busted through 2 ft high stuff that I really didn't expect it to 'eat'! I was blowing 2 ft high stuff into Mill Run, as I cleared 'state land' so my grandkids could get there without picking up 'ticks'.
This machine is NOT suitable for the mechanically challenged though.
It is a high maintenance machine. It will 'work' hard. It will kick 'grASS, but I always have to 'fix' something every week.
If you were mowing a yard on the level, it may not be a problem, but MY world asks a LOT from a machine, so I KNOW that I'm gonna break things.

I 'sucked up' a lost floor mat, no problem. The 'lost 3/4 inck RE-BAR that I hit brought things to a halt for a little bit.


(I'm mowing a former junkyard) The Snapper actually did the deed 4 hours faster than the old Cub Cadet did!
The Snapper cuts grass and drags things. The Cub will push dirt or cars, drag logs, Shove snow, ETC. I still love the Cubs, but the Snapper does WAY better on the 'mowing' part.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

I just got a snapper mower.... Older unit from the 1980s I'm guessing, with an industrial Briggs on it. Got it for free and the machine is in beautiful condition and runs like a champ.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

tractor beam said:


> I just got a snapper mower.... Older unit from the 1980s I'm guessing, with an industrial Briggs on it. Got it for free and the machine is in beautiful condition and runs like a champ.


 Great 'find'. I'm happy at ya.


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## MillNeckFarm (Feb 8, 2011)

I have a 1988 LT16, 48" deck. Continues to do a damn good job.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Cublover said:


> Great 'find'. I'm happy at ya. .


Okay, full disclosure is in order. My folks, both of which are 75 years old, were having a barn sale, back in 2008. I spotted the old Snapper and asked my Pops how much he wanted. He said that he always had to pour gasoline down the carb, which involved removing the chrome aircleaner, to get it to start. He gave it to his youngest boy! I brought it home, never started it but put it in our basement. Flash forward to this Spring, when I removed it from storage after nearly 4 years, and before draining the gasoline or the oil, tried to start it before I wasted any time with tinkering or removing the chrome aircleaner. It fired on the second pull. Long story shot...... New fuel, new oil, the thing starts right up and this weekend, yes May 6th, I'm doing the seasons first mowing. I think that Pops was just a bit too feable to be yanking on the pull rope.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

I had a problem with the 'clutch'(?) in the small drive wheel. It got to where it would barely move, so I took the pully off and took it apart. It has a 'friction plate' that resembles automatic transmission plates. I cut a shim out of tin and stuck it behind the friction material, bolted it back together, then mowed 3 more acres. It has a tendancy to pop wheelies when I let the pedal up now.


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## dangeroustoys56 (Jul 26, 2010)

Sounds like one i picked up a few years back - PO left it out behind their shed - so the new color was 'rust' - deck was 'swiss cheese' - but the 11HP briggs ran. I wouldve liked to restore it and resell it, it was too far gone - i took it apart n junked it . 

Ironically a couple weeks later i picked up literally a truck load full of tractor parts for $100 - included in it was a brand new snapper RER deck. Knew i shoulda held onto it a lil while longer.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

Weld on a mandrel broke today. I looked back and saw grass that was 2" high and grass roots on the other side! I pushed it back up as far as possible, vise-gripped it and finished. It is now sitting right outside the welding shop waiting for me to get home from work on monday


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

After I welded the mandrel, it was business as usual. 3 acres later it went into 'won't move' mode. It was hot so I walked to the shade and the comfort of a cooler full of Keystone light.
The next morning at 7:00 I discovered that the spring that keeps the drive pullys together had broke. I bent a new hook on the broken end, put it back on and went back to mowing.
You have to be mechanically inclined to like this machine! Otherwise you will always be hauling it in for repairs.


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## dangeroustoys56 (Jul 26, 2010)

Cheep enough fix - whats left of the old snapper deck will actually go to fixing my old 70 toro sometime - i need the engagement handle setup since the toro came w/o one. And the wife wonders why i keep my old junk around....


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

I think I'm beginning to understand why they are called Snapper. It 'snapped off' the front suspension today.
When I looked at it, it ain't no virgin! Been welded there several times before..
It did actually did hold together to finish up. It even craweled back to the welding shop. If I could put that engine on my Cub Cadet, I would have a serious machine!


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

Here's why they call them 'snappers'. This is some of the stuff that has 'snapped' off'. Like I said. High maintenance machines.


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## Cublover (Feb 20, 2011)

Today, I got to weld a new part! The 'pin' that keeps the drive wheel in place on the flywheel broke off. I had to drop the axel as far down as possible to get a good bead on both sides. 
While I was 'in there', I did some maintenance and upgrades on a couple pieces. I stress tested it by bashing through 3 ft high crabgrass in the rain.
It works...


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