Originally Posted By: afoulk
Here JTK, this is my 78 snapper along with my lawn boy.
Here JTK, this is my 78 snapper along with my lawn boy.
Show me your mowers!
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Originally Posted By: afoulk
... I'm insanely jealous of your commercial mower though
LOL! Don't be. It's got some nice features, but not like they were. IIRC, I paid just under $700 for it shipped to the door in June 2011. I also had a old steel decked rear bagger non-self propelled Snapper that I bought for $20 off CL. Similar to yours, but a black plastic bagger chute. One or two passes per bag empty and it was given to a neighbor who needed a mower after one use by me. LOL. I had forgotten how much I loathe bagging. If I can't mulch, it's side-scatter for me.
... I'm insanely jealous of your commercial mower though
LOL! Don't be. It's got some nice features, but not like they were. IIRC, I paid just under $700 for it shipped to the door in June 2011. I also had a old steel decked rear bagger non-self propelled Snapper that I bought for $20 off CL. Similar to yours, but a black plastic bagger chute. One or two passes per bag empty and it was given to a neighbor who needed a mower after one use by me. LOL. I had forgotten how much I loathe bagging. If I can't mulch, it's side-scatter for me.
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Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: afoulk
... I'm insanely jealous of your commercial mower though
LOL! Don't be. It's got some nice features, but not like they were. IIRC, I paid just under $700 for it shipped to the door in June 2011. I also had a old steel decked rear bagger non-self propelled Snapper that I bought for $20 off CL. Similar to yours, but a black plastic bagger chute. One or two passes per bag empty and it was given to a neighbor who needed a mower after one use by me. LOL. I had forgotten how much I loathe bagging. If I can't mulch, it's side-scatter for me.
Yeah, I know what you mean about bagging with a snapper, a couple passes and your emptying your bag. But as big of a pain in the rear as bagging is, I hate having dead grass laying every where from using the side discharge. That's why I wanna set this new one ( to me) up to mulch. I was going to go with the ninja blade, but seeing as I could use a mulching cover for it, I think i'm going to get a cover and a gator blade in the interest of saving some money
Originally Posted By: afoulk
... I'm insanely jealous of your commercial mower though
LOL! Don't be. It's got some nice features, but not like they were. IIRC, I paid just under $700 for it shipped to the door in June 2011. I also had a old steel decked rear bagger non-self propelled Snapper that I bought for $20 off CL. Similar to yours, but a black plastic bagger chute. One or two passes per bag empty and it was given to a neighbor who needed a mower after one use by me. LOL. I had forgotten how much I loathe bagging. If I can't mulch, it's side-scatter for me.
Yeah, I know what you mean about bagging with a snapper, a couple passes and your emptying your bag. But as big of a pain in the rear as bagging is, I hate having dead grass laying every where from using the side discharge. That's why I wanna set this new one ( to me) up to mulch. I was going to go with the ninja blade, but seeing as I could use a mulching cover for it, I think i'm going to get a cover and a gator blade in the interest of saving some money
Forgot to mention it, but snapper used to make a huge, plastic "box" that went between the handle bars and took place of the bag. I think it was called the "Pac n sac". It held a lot more grass than the cloth bags. I don't know if they make them for the newer models, but you can find the older ones on Ebay every once in a while.
There's also the snapperizer attachment that really shreds the gras and leaves up, allowing you to get more in the bag, but its pretty expensive
There's also the snapperizer attachment that really shreds the gras and leaves up, allowing you to get more in the bag, but its pretty expensive
I came really close to mounting a '03 7.0Hp OHV Briggs on my 1983 Snapper that now has the 5.5Hp Honda... Actually I did mount it but had not bought any of the supporting parts I needed for the conversion... So when the rusty Craftsman with the Honda came my way, I junked it and reinstalled the Briggs on a otherwise almost identical Craftsman my nextdoor neighbor had given me...
BTW I'd reccomend checking head bolt torque on that B&S, the one I had came to me wth a blown gasket and bolts seemed rather loose... It ran good with the new gasket but some how I just didn't like that engine, I swapped it for a older parts Snapper...
BTW I'd reccomend checking head bolt torque on that B&S, the one I had came to me wth a blown gasket and bolts seemed rather loose... It ran good with the new gasket but some how I just didn't like that engine, I swapped it for a older parts Snapper...
Originally Posted By: TFB1
BTW I'd reccomend checking head bolt torque on that B&S, the one I had came to me wth a blown gasket and bolts seemed rather loose... It ran good with the new gasket but some how I just didn't like that engine, I swapped it for a older parts Snapper...
That's a good point. This can be an issue for chonda OHVs as well.
I've also seen some trashed Kohler Courage single cylinders due to some of the crankcase cover bolts loosening up, allowing for radial movement of the crankshaft. KaBOOM!
BTW I'd reccomend checking head bolt torque on that B&S, the one I had came to me wth a blown gasket and bolts seemed rather loose... It ran good with the new gasket but some how I just didn't like that engine, I swapped it for a older parts Snapper...
That's a good point. This can be an issue for chonda OHVs as well.
I've also seen some trashed Kohler Courage single cylinders due to some of the crankcase cover bolts loosening up, allowing for radial movement of the crankshaft. KaBOOM!
Thanks for the tip tfb1. You don't know the torque spec off the top of your head do you? I'm thinking its ok yet considering how hard it is to turn over when close to tdc. The way it was explained to me is the inteks have a compression release built into the cam, and when the valve lash gets to loose, it doesn't release compression correctly and that's why they get hard to turn over. I have a Troy bilt with the same engine given to me as a parts mower that I thought the engine was beginning to seize up, but now that I learned about the valve adjustment issue, i'm excited to see if that's the problem.
Here is my 2011 Lawnboy
Like new Toro Super Recycler found on Craigslist for a song. Aluminum deck with personal pace self propel system. Owner said it has less than 50 hours on it. Put a new NGK plug and air filter on it. Changed the oil with VR1 synthetic 10w30 I had on hand.
Honda HR215 that I recently picked up on Craigslist for $50. Screams like a banshee and devours tall grass. I love it. Aluminum deck with hydrostatic (!!) drive system. Pretty cool and a great buy at $50 in my opinion. I just bought another one just like it for $60 but with the mechanical transmission instead of the hydrostatic. I love playing with these things. Also put new NGK plugs in them, cleaned the air filters, and changed the oil with Rotella 30W I had on hand.
Honda HR215 that I recently picked up on Craigslist for $50. Screams like a banshee and devours tall grass. I love it. Aluminum deck with hydrostatic (!!) drive system. Pretty cool and a great buy at $50 in my opinion. I just bought another one just like it for $60 but with the mechanical transmission instead of the hydrostatic. I love playing with these things. Also put new NGK plugs in them, cleaned the air filters, and changed the oil with Rotella 30W I had on hand.
Kubota BX1860 has 77 hours since purchased brand new last year. Factory fill was Case NO. 1 10w-30 changed early at 15 hours w/ Rotella T5 10w-30 and a Bosch Distance Plus filter.
This compact utility tractor plows a 1/4 mile long driveway in the winter, mows roughly 15 acres of hilly turf/pasture/brush, mows steep ditches a mile long, and the loader gets used to add amendments/compost to soil, transporting mulch/stone/gravel, knock down tree stumps, etc. and always gets the job done. I haven't even utilized the rear PTO yet but I will eventually. Oh and it cost more than twice what my wife bought her 4Runner used for. No buyer's remorse here; it's worth every penny I paid for it.
My wife and I joke around that if we weren't physicians we would gladly be farmers.
This compact utility tractor plows a 1/4 mile long driveway in the winter, mows roughly 15 acres of hilly turf/pasture/brush, mows steep ditches a mile long, and the loader gets used to add amendments/compost to soil, transporting mulch/stone/gravel, knock down tree stumps, etc. and always gets the job done. I haven't even utilized the rear PTO yet but I will eventually. Oh and it cost more than twice what my wife bought her 4Runner used for. No buyer's remorse here; it's worth every penny I paid for it.
My wife and I joke around that if we weren't physicians we would gladly be farmers.
I just added a new member to the family. I've been looking for an inexpensive push mower just to get in the places I can't get with the rider. I was thinking just an el cheapo MTD would get the job done, but I found this on Craigslist today for $75 and couldn't pass it up. It's a John Deere with a 6.5 HP Briggs and RWD. The guy just moved into a townhouse so he had no use for it anymore. It was a little dirty, but after I cleaned it up a little it practically looks like new. Starts right up on the first pull and purrs like a kitten.
Added the red Murray today.. free for me but cost grandpa $5. Need the wire for the throttle and had to bypass the brake the deck is in excellent conditon. For the most part they almost could be twins. Both made in 98.. I've had the green one since 01-02 and it has a weak coil but keeps going. Hard to get rid of it. The Briggs should be the same but defiantly have a different sound. Now I shouldn't have to buy another for another 20 years if I trade off duties hopefully longer.
Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
The Briggs should be the same but defiantly have a different sound.
They're both Briggs engines. The one on the red mower is a "Classic" series with the fuel tank below the carburetor. There is a small diaphram where the carburetor mounts to the tank; this is the fuel pump. It works okay. Idle on these is almost always "surgey" or uneven, but they work under load.
The one on the green mower is a "Quantum" series with what is likely a Walbro side-draft carburetor. Yours appears to have a manual choke, which I far prefer over the automatic choke Briggs started putting on these engines a number of years ago.
Both should run for a very, very long time. Watch the rubber fuel line on the green machine; they get brittle relatively quickly. I'd install a fuel filter and a fuel shutoff valve on the green one.
The Briggs should be the same but defiantly have a different sound.
They're both Briggs engines. The one on the red mower is a "Classic" series with the fuel tank below the carburetor. There is a small diaphram where the carburetor mounts to the tank; this is the fuel pump. It works okay. Idle on these is almost always "surgey" or uneven, but they work under load.
The one on the green mower is a "Quantum" series with what is likely a Walbro side-draft carburetor. Yours appears to have a manual choke, which I far prefer over the automatic choke Briggs started putting on these engines a number of years ago.
Both should run for a very, very long time. Watch the rubber fuel line on the green machine; they get brittle relatively quickly. I'd install a fuel filter and a fuel shutoff valve on the green one.
Thanks.. haven't kept up with the differences for a long time. No idle on either both are set at a set speed. Never had to mess with the choke. 3 squirts of the primer on the red 5 on the other and they just fire up. The fuel lines does need to be replaced has for a long time maybe next year. I will say the classic seems to be alot easier on gas!
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