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iheartmaytag

iheartmaytag

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
4,760
Location
Wichita, Kansas
With my current Snapper mower on it 24th mowing season, I decided that it was a little underpowered for mulching, and was getting a little long in the tooth so I finally sprung for a new Snapper Hi-Vac. 

 

My original was bought on March 31st 1988 (I know that was only 23 years ago, but it's the mower's 24 mowing season)  anyway I paid $399.98 then.

The new one was last year's model so he took $200 off retail, and then there was a garden show last week so he gave me garden show prices which took another $100 off, but that didn't include the mulch kit at that price, so he added in $49.95 for the mulch kit (Ninja blade and chute boot).    All told I brought it home for $549 with a Briggs 8.75 Torque engine and accsssories mentioned above.

 

Funny thing, when I went to do the yard clean up, I decided I didn't want to dirty the new mower, so It sits in the garage hasn't even  had gas put in it. and the old mower worked away for almost seven hours last Saturday.  I have never had a complaint with that little 3.5 hp Briggs engine.  Going through buyers remorse/guilt now.  I think I'll go buy a new chainsaw to ease my mind about that purchase.

 

I do love the Snapper mowers, the disc drive is flawless, the bagging system is great, the mulcher is perfect.  I was cautioned that the design you find at Sear's and other big box stores is not the Snapper design that earned it's name.  It seems that the old Murray machine company went bankrupt and owed Briggs and Stratton $40 million dollars, so they took over there dies and molds and are marketing those designes under Snapper's name at the big box stores.  You still have to go to a dealer to get a "real" snapper. 

 

I guess it's like Snurry now.  Found out Briggs also owns the rights to Poulan, Club Cadette, Snapper, Murray, Toro as well. The dealer wasn't sure how they got hold of Snapper, but Ferris industries are also under their umbrella so that may have been how Snapper came into their hands.

 

 
 
Snapper, one of my favorite mowers.

I have two 1975 Snapper Hi-Vacs.
The first, a 3.5hp Briggs, I bought at auction in 1999 for $40. It hasn't needed a repair yet but I don't use it now. It's runs well enough but it is low on compression and hard to restart when it's hot. I'm considering having the engine rebuilt.
The second one, a 5hp Tecumsuh commercial model, I bought two years ago for $10. It needed a new primer bulb and general tune-up. This one runs great and gets the most use. I have a lot of trees so the Snapperizer gets a good work out in the Fall.

I've got two other mowers that get their turn on occasion, a 1965 OMC Lawnboy and a 1989 Lawnboy. The 1965 model still starts on the first pull.

When I don't feel quite so energetic, I have a 1993 Simplicity Coronet rider that I use. This one Dad bought new, but he never really liked it. I find it cuts very smooth and my grandson likes to use it when he helps mow considering that the yard is almost an acre. Kids these days!

I don't think I could trade any of them for something new at this point. It just wouldn't be the same.
 
Funny, I was just thinking about this subject....

Last summer I needed a new mower to replace my 15 year old Toro. Now mind you, I changed the oil in it once in 15 years, never had any other service done on it and it ALWAYS started on the first maybe second pull. The drive broke on it and it was going to cost more to repair than a new one would cost.

So after reading all the reviews and shopping around, I chose another Toro. I figured I had good luck with the old one. I HATE this mower with a passion! It never starts on the first through 5th pull even though its "guaranteed to start on the first pull" but most annoyingly, it spits all sorts of stuff out the sides. I've been hit with acorns, twigs, pebbles, etc. I have to take the cars out of the driveway when I mow so they don't get hit. I wrote to Toro in the fall, we played phone tag for a while and honestly, I just put the thing away and have forgotten about it till now.

Why oh why, didn't I get a Snapper... or a Honda??
 
I wish!

The DAMN government had stayed out of things they had no business in..like that stupid thing on the new mowers you have to hold down so it will run,and that stupid rubber or metal shield that drags behind, and does no more than making it hard to push, if I didnt have sense enough to operate a mower safely,then I ought to get a foot cut off!!Give me a 40 or 50 year old Lawn Boy or Toro anyday!!
 
Jim

I looked ad Honda, Toro, Craftsman, and Lawnboy.  I kept saying I liked my Snapper.  In reviews the Honda's drive system is troublesome, and expensive to repair.  The Toro's drive system, the same as on the Snapper SPX and NXt series had bad reviews from being difficult to opperate.  Craftsman's reviews many had problems with the bagging and the drive system.

 

The man at the Snapper dealer said that once you had a Hi-Vac deck you wouldn't like the others.  I felt he was right, Spring and Fall clean up is so easy.  I just rake the leaves away from the fence and suck them up in the bag.  Then I dump them in the compost bin and I'm done.  Snapper's drive system the Driven Disk is simple and easy to work on.  I have had to replace belts and and an idler wheel last year.  That's all I've had to do, but very inexpensive and DIY easy.

 

 

 

BTW--I bought the chain saw last night.  I was looking at a Black & Decker rechargable, but hated the part where you paid another $50 in two years for a new battery pack, but with no more cutting and trimming than I do I couldn't justify a gas powered saw with all the maintenance, and mixing; so I opted for a corded electric 14" Poulan.  There are a couple of saplings that will feel my rath this weekend.

 
 
I bought a Lawnboy Gold (Honda engine) back in 07. So far I've had no problems with it but it has some annoyances (for me) and some good points. I really like the easy to remove bag, flip up the handle and just reach down and pull the bag off to empty.. no fiddling to get it fit in anything. I'm 50'50 on the EZ push self propelling, there are a few times when it feels like you are pushing the thing but overall it works good. Our backyard is very landscaped with nary a straight run anywhere, it's all curves and lots of tight spots and this mower is a bit cludgy on curves. I'm thinking one of those mowers with the swivel wheels might have been a better choice for my situation. In the front yard where it's straight forward back and forthing it's fine.
It's a great mulcher for leaves. We have tons of oak leaves,, 8 oak trees in the backyard alone, not counting all the neighbors the same. So what I do rather than rake is I mow/mulch the leaves without the bag on just as if I was mowing the lawn. That chops them up into small chunks.. Then I put the bag on and I re-mow the lawn which chops the leaves up very tiny and bags them. It's a helluva lot easier than raking or using the leaf blower, with minimal stooping over and back pain.
 
My mower is a John Deere JS-30, a push model. I bought it at a John Deere farm equipment dealer, for the same price that Lowe's had. By purchasing it there, I get priority for maintenance and service. It will be 5 years old this June, and I've been very pleased with it. Almost always starts with one pull. It also has electric start, but I don't have a good place to keep the battery charger plugged in, so use the rope.
 
We have a circa 10 year old Toro push mower. I think it was near TOL for its time. it has a variable speed selector stuff and all that jazz. You control the speed of the wheels by how far you push the safety bar up.

VERY nice mower. Love it. Like the angled handle, and rear drive too.

We also have a Scotts ridding lawn mower. ITS A pile. lol. Sorry. Its got a ridiculous amount of hours on it though. We got it last summer used. Its about 10 years old too.

It doesn't have a brake which drives me nuts. It jolts real hard when you get it going, and turns like a cadillac. lol

its a John Deere product, but isn't anything like my grandpas JD rider. His is amazing. TOL model.
 
Still using the 1963 Lawnboy Automower here

There are 3 city lots to mow here now, including the rental. This 1963 Lawnboy does the job very well. It was overhauled in 2007. I added a mulch plate to it, and it mulches just fine. It is a four horsepower, or maybe four and one half horse. Cannot recall, but it does the job very well. I have a few extra parts stashed away for it too. (drive gears, etc.) It makes mowing less of a chore, when you can "go vintage"



rickr++3-16-2011-22-01-44.jpg
 
I also have a few lawn mowers, a MTD Lawn Flyte with a 2 stroke OMC Iron Horse "D" series engine. I also have 2 Lawn Boy and one OMC Marauder with "C" series Iron Horse engines.

philr++3-16-2011-23-37-20.jpg
 
Growing up we only had Reel type mowers. As a kid I remember you just lifted the handle up and the mower engaged the drive, drop it it stopped. Later it's replacement had controls on the handle, but still very easy to use. It's funny how reel type power mowers have totally disappeared from the market. My folks always thought the lawn looked better cut with a reel type mower's shearing action vs. just chopping the top off the blade of grass.
 
Lawnmowers-go thru a lot of them-todays machines are largely--CRAP!!esp the newer Briggs and Stratton motors.I had a newer John Deere model45 I beleive -its motor crapped out when I hit just one small stump-remember those older B&S motors-when you hit a stump like that-yes-the mower stopped-but you just yanked the start cord and kept going.At worst you would have to replace the shear pin on the motor shaft that held the blade adaptor on.Present-havea Black and Decker 36V cordless 18" mower.Really like it-use it for the back yard-can't get my John Deere tractor there.The shear pin in the new JD mower was INSIDE the motor--how STUPID!!I am also for getting the Govt out of the mower shed,kitchen,bathroom,and laundryroom.Let the marketplace decide on some of these things--and it would cut the Fed Budget.I don't like the dragging toe guards on mowers either-most of the time for me-they just break off-or if you pull the mower backward-get ground up by the blade as the guard goes under the mower.I had a newer Toro-couple in fact.I had a High wheel model that was GREAT for a modern mower-it had a Tecumseh motor-they have been improved-liked it better than the B&S motors-It truely started on the first or second pull-the B&S motors need more pulls.Sadly that mower got stolen.I bought another to replace it-what a disappointment-It had a crappy B&S motor-and plstic deck inserts that fell off and got ground into plastic schrapnel.Then a hole in the top of the deck that would blow debris in your face.Yes-I do miss the older mowers that didn't have all of the safety crap that don't really make them any safer-just harder to use,more expensive ,and heavier in weight.and those classic Lawn Boys with their 2 cycle motors-those worked well.So miss them-victim of the silly air pollution laws.and besides-the smell of the gas and oil was in a way-sort of pleasent mixed with the smell of the fresh cut grass.Sadly in my area-older Lawn Boy and Snapper mowers are just rusted out hulks.Motorless and turned into yard carts by their owners.-or sitting in the barn or shed--rusting away.-too bad a shape for fixing or restoring.
 
Old Lawn Boys!

Those old Lawn Boys are to my mind, the all time best mower overall,if any of you guys using the new mowers, which are heavy ,awkward, hard to start and for the most part cheaply made,would use one of these, you would never go back, the main problem with the new stuff is they are so heavy it takes a ox to push them, those old smooth running LBs handle like a dream.
 
Mowers are like vacuums and washers, everyone has their preference I guess.

 

As to engines I guess this applies as well.  I have always had very good service from Briggs and Stratton engines, and have had poor results from Tecumseh,  Alot comes down to what you are familiar with.  Briggs engines are extremely easy to work on for the most part, but that could be again my being familiar with them.  I was steered away from the Honda engine by the man saying they have been having some problems with main oil seals.  I didn't pick the Kawasaki because it was a smaller engine, so I choose the larger Briggs.

 

 The secret to a quick starting Briggs engine is to avoid at all cost the Pulsa-jet carburator.  You want either the Flowjet, or Vacujet design that has a float,  with either the choke a matic, or primer.  If you have these you will have years of faithful service.    If you get the Pulsa-jet, plan on 15 or 20 pulls, hard to adjust speed, and stalling when you increase loads. 
 
re: real reel mowers!

We used to own two! Before we had the Toro, we had an awful old craftsman that kept failing. We replaced it with a reel mower we bought off craigslist. It was old and outdated.

So we went to Sears and bout a brand new Reel mower with a bag catcher, and other neat modern features! I actually enjoyed using it. Very simple and easy. Just dont run over sticks with it!
 
Mowers

The first mower I bought when I moved into my current house was a YardMan.  Ughh!  What a piece of junk.  In five years it cost me twice what I paid for it in repair bills.  I junked it and bought a Honda mower from HD.  What a step up that was.  After my car accident, I hired someone to cut my yard for me.  Ended up giving the Honda away to regain space in the garage.

 

Malcolm
 
On our street growing up one of the neighbors had an old manual reel mower. We used to say Sid was out shaving his lawn. Another neighbor had a powered reel mower I thought was neat. You never see those anymore. We had some old iron horse with a B&S engine that my dad nursed till his dying day. Geeze it was heavy. I always envied our neighbors who had a nice self-propelled Lawn Boy. My first lawnmower I got when we bought our first house was given to us by my partners friends.. his old 19" Toro aluminum deck. It was wonderful, light, and it always always always started on the first pull. Even after sitting out all winter in below zero weather it would start by the 2nd pull come spring. I used it for almost 10 years and gave it to the neighbors eventually who still were using it.
 
the Briggs motors I didn't like were the newer ones-those older ones were fine-Kawasaki motors are premium quality-I would take that over a Briggs any day.Pros use them.Just about all premium quality commercial mowers have Kawasaki motors-or Kohler.Honda is a good motor.Got famaliar with them from their use on Emglo portable contractor air compressors.As long as their oil level was kepted up they were quiet and smooth running.If the oil level got too low an interlock switch in the motor would shut it down.Now it was the problem of convincing the contractor that used the compressor to check the oil in the compressor,too-if its oil level was too low-no interlock there.Had to repair a seized compressor-but the Honda motor was OK.These air compressors may be used at building and work site where no electric power was available-the contactor used the compressor to run nail guns,air powered drywall screwguns and such.Emglo now makes air compressors under the DeWalt name-gas and electric.
 
My Grandfather had a very old Craftsman gas motored reel mower-used it when I visted him as a kid.You wrapped a rope around the motors flywheel to start it.worked quite well-and my brother loved to stand pine cones in your path to see them get chopped in half as you ran over them-Made Grandpa mad-but fun anyway-Guess that could nick the bedknife.As kids we didn't know that.Was a fun mower to use.
I have heard of a brand of cordless electric reel mowers-Brill.don't know much about them.
oh yes-as kids my Dad had a MANUAL reel mower-was nice to use that one Granddad had-we so tried to convince Dad to get a motorized one-but NG-He insisted on the hand one.Later it was replaced with a cheap "companion" Sears gas rotary mower-Hated that thing-so hard to start!
 
RE :The DAMN government had stayed out of things they had no business in..like that stupid thing on the new mowers you have to hold down so it will run,and that stupid rubber or metal shield that drags behind, and does no more than making it hard to push, if I didnt have sense enough to operate a mower safely,then I ought to get a foot cut off!:

Due to lawsuits the old vertical shaft/rotorie:) push power has more stuff to protect the public from itself.

Back in 1969 Gibsons in Jackson,MISS (sort of a Kmart type store) had simple push mowers for 25 dollars. These had vertical shaft B&S or Tecumseh engines of 2.5 to 3 HP; often with FIXED Z height. We use to buy the upgraded version with adjustable wheels for 28 to 32 dollars and use them for 2 to 7 seasons cutting yards; then junk them when the repairs cost too much. My friend and I used them to cut folks yards and they really got abused.

Later the government got involved and the tip velocity got reduced and defined as a max spec, and often engines had to be a tad larger.

After lawsuits where some guys got hurt trimming a hedge with a mower held by two above the hedge; the added "dead man" have to hold handle to run got added. ie one has to hold the extra gizmo to all starting; with a clutchless direct drive model.

The added rubber flappers got added again due to folks getting hit by flying things hit by the mower. ie it is no longer 1950 when folks considered safety in running a mower. The flapper adds cost and drag and makes the mower harder to push; but protects the assuming type who is not as aware as many others.

The OHV; Over head valve engine got added to meet EPA requirements; these mowers use less gas and often have a better ignition, thus fewer whine about this requirement.

California versions of mowers sometimes add a detuning and added converter type muffler affair.

If one goes to Walmart type retailer and buys the starter gas push mower; today it might be just 135 dollars; similar to the old mowers I bought in 1969 for 28 to 32 bucks with adjustable wheels. The extra stuff added is the super long rope and dead man lever so Jim Bob tends not to trim hedges; ie to create a wider moat for lawsuits, since the USA is lawsuit heaven. The newer mower of 2011 in the photo has a deeper skirt in its metal "deck" to reduce projectile damage; the downside is the newer mower drags more and is harder to push.

Small Mowers for 70 years were rated in Horsepower; to add confusion this was dropped and now Torque is used.

3beltwesty++3-19-2011-08-28-14.jpg
 
To non USA readers; here in the USA on late night TV one has sometimes 1/2 the adverts by lawyers; trolling for clients to attack and sue some consumer product.

In some off non main TV stations; a 11pm classic movie on TV is a truncated/butchered version; and one has gobs of TV adverts by lawyers. Here in the deep south it is what the Wall Street Journal calls a "lawsuit hell hole". In a 2.5 hour movie; one might see just 2 hours of the truncated version; and the time it takes to see it is 2.5 to 3 hours. One might see 2 dozen commercials trolling mostly for medical drug problems, plus trolls for specific consumer products.

Other associated adverts related to lawsuits are adverts to get a quicker settlement; for your payout you are getting for product sued where one is getting a payout. Here in the evening one sees about 2 to 6 adverts like this an hour,
 
But recently there were accusations that the PhenPhen lawyers were not giving their clients all the money they were winning from the courts for their cases. In some cases a lawyer would win a client $3 mil, but only giving the client $800K keeping the rest for themselves.

I am positive we will see more of this. In a lot of these consumer cases the only people to get rich are the lawyers involved in the cases.

Now I am sure that our local honorable Jim Adler is a good attorney, but it seems his commercials pander to a certain type of individual...



 
"Hitting the Jackpot in Mississippi Courtrooms,"

Those type of commercials here are normal; I probably have seen 10,000 of them at night.

Here the vast majority of TV adverts are like this; plus adverts in local newspapers and radio too.

They target hip replacements by brand of maker and model, car accidents; BP oil disaster; Katrina insurance, PhenPhen, 4 wheeler rollovers, Chinese Sheetrock, toxic molds, paint, long ago it was circular saws and mowers too.

In Los Angeles a few years back there were adverts trolling folks with mold and smells with front load washers by some firms in San Diego.

Many adverts ask if you know of anybody who died who was know taking XYZ drug, that might be some Acne, pain, depressant, diabetes, birth control, hair growth medicine.

All are LOUD commercials if on TV and with a high pressure dialog with toll free numbers, and the token fine print that flashes for a few seconds with a font and text size that is impossible to read even if taped/recorded/tivoed and studied like the Magruder film by CSI.

If one falls asleeep during a boring late Friday night movie; one often wakes up to some screaming lawyer and hype and 1-800 numbers every 10 minutes!

LITIGATION is a huge industry, with huge amounts of money at stake.

Since buying health insurance across state lines is not wanted by many in the USA; it creates high rates here via the moat.

http://https//litigation-essentials...cid=3B15&key=fff4759aee98e1bd153a50594ce7fe86
 

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