A riding mower that will last you the rest of your life?

[peppy]

Why the love for the Snappers?

They need to run forever, because that's how long it takes to mow the yard.

I have one sitting in the shed now.

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by futuresoptions

Here's the pic of the Snapper:

I had a Gump

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by 911SauCy

I had a Gump

Yep, an iconic mower, rear engined, what is not to like




But you can't talk about riding mowers without bringing up this guy...




Now this looks like fun..

[M.D. Holloway]

My Son has been wanting a rider for awhile now. My in-laws grabbed an old one from one of their tractor lots and brought it down. It was outside, in a field in Iowa for 12 years without running. It had a tarp over half of it, not sure which half. They rolled it off the truck and Max feel in love with it. First thing he did was clean it up. After cleaning the gas tank out, changing the oil and replacing the ignition switch, the battery, air and fuel filter he cranked it...it turned over, coughed a little but ran!

He had to get a few new pulley wheels for the tranny, replace a few belts but he got it to run!






of course he wasn't satisfied! So he went and sourced new rear tires - just one size larger than original (cuz that's cool Dad!)...and decided to paint the hood flat bed liner black (cuz that's cool Dad!)...and then add some extra lights complete with dash switches - extra headlights, tail lights and a caution post light (cuz that's cool Dad!)...a chrome pipe off the muffler (cuz that's cool Dad!) and what mower isn't complete without a NOS tank! That makes it "stupid cool!"







He installed new blades last week. Thing works great. I don't have to ask him to cut the lawn...

[futuresoptions]

For all you guys saying that I have a nice mower, thanks! If you look at the pictures of my Yazoo mower that I posted, you can see my Snapper in the background of one of the shots. You will see how faded the paint is etc... I showed the pic of the one that was fully restored just to give you an idea of what model I had and what it should look like when it is completed. I finished painting the deck and handle bars yesterday and finished painting the body today. I will take the tires off the rims tomorrow and wire wheel them, prime them and then paint them. I will then install the new motor on the mower. I will purchase my new tires, battery and stickers when I sell my Yazoo.

I did talk to a lady yesterday that offered me a Allis Chambers T-816 but I really don't know much about that model and she hasn't gotten back with me on it yet.

As for my love of the Snapper rear engined mowers, it started in Jr. High, about the same time or so that I discovered my love for Porsches, BMW's etc... I had went with a friend of mine to a commercial lawn mower dealer and stood by while he purchased some parts for his mower. The ol' guy at the counter had this next to new Snapper RER sitting there on the floor and I asked him how much he wanted for it. He told me and my jaw dropped, I couldn't believe that a mower could be worth that much. He must of noticed my bewilderment because he explained to me the quality of the Snapper mower versus the stuff that Sears, Montgomery Ward etc... was selling at the time. That little bit of time that he took to explain that to me set a desire within myself to own one and that is all I really ever wanted in a mower. It just seems stupid that I waited till middle age to finally get one. I can already tell just from disassembling it that it is going to be very easy to work on compared to the newer mowers and parts are still readily available for them. They are iconic and even if I hit the lottery I would never get rid of this one, because this one is mine I would probably purchase a zero turn Skag though. Just a little out of my price range at the moment. For what it's worth, if the Yazoo was easier to work on, I would probably keep it because it is built heavy duty like a Skag, but the Snapper is just so much more user friendly.

[futuresoptions]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

My Son has been wanting a rider for awhile now. My in-laws grabbed an old one from one of their tractor lots and brought it down. It was outside, in a field in Iowa for 12 years without running. It had a tarp over half of it, not sure which half. They rolled it off the truck and Max feel in love with it. First thing he did was clean it up. After cleaning the gas tank out, changing the oil and replacing the ignition switch, the battery, air and fuel filter he cranked it...it turned over, coughed a little but ran!

He had to get a few new pulley wheels for the tranny, replace a few belts but he got it to run!






of course he wasn't satisfied! So he went and sourced new rear tires - just one size larger than original (cuz that's cool Dad!)...and decided to paint the hood flat bed liner black (cuz that's cool Dad!)...and then add some extra lights complete with dash switches - extra headlights, tail lights and a caution post light (cuz that's cool Dad!)...a chrome pipe off the muffler (cuz that's cool Dad!) and what mower isn't complete without a NOS tank! That makes it "stupid cool!"







He installed new blades last week. Thing works great. I don't have to ask him to cut the lawn...

Looks like his progress has came right along Mike! Is that NOS tank hooked up or is it just a mock up lol, it looks like it actually has a line running up front!

[M.D. Holloway]

Its a mock up. He found a ball valve under my work bench and bought some braided hose at Lowes.

[Heel n Toe]

Wish you weren't so far away... I would love to take that thing for a test drive and would probably buy it from you.

And the fact that it has YAZOO on it in big yellow letters is a huge positive.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by futuresoptions

I did talk to a lady yesterday that offered me a Allis Chambers T-816 but I really don't know much about that model and she hasn't gotten back with me on it yet.

It's made by Simplicity and has a pretty good following. Briggs & Stratton bought Simplicity and Snapper and sometimes new owners abandon old models. But even if Briggs tries to abandon legacy models parts shouldn't be hard to find because both brands had real servicing dealers with stocks of parts, plus there are collectors/enthusiasts who dig deep to find other parts sources. I'd go for it.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

Its a mock up. He found a ball valve under my work bench and bought some braided hose at Lowes.

Is that the original color?

[Icemaster]

Looks like the vibration isolaters weren't quite as good back then.

Originally Posted by sand_man

Lawnside Classics: Burt’s – Vintage and Used Riding Mower And Garden Tractor Heaven, Including One Of The Oldest Riding Mowers Ever

[mikesride]

I don't know what's cooler.....The story of your son fixing it up himself......the actual end result.....or that Hartford Whalers T shirt. overall I loved this story!!! Good on him! And good on you for fostering that type of interest!

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by mikesride

I don't know what's cooler.....The story of your son fixing it up himself......the actual end result.....or that Hartford Whalers T shirt. overall I loved this story!!! Good on him! And good on you for fostering that type of interest!

+1. Nice eye...I missed the shirt. Shame on me.

[futuresoptions]

Here's a little progress report, putting everything back together now. Since I took the pictures, I have already installed the steering, the seat and the fuel tank. Now all I need to do tomorrow is pull the wheels back off, take the tires off and clean and paint the wheels and have them ready for the new tires. Will probably install the deck and just leave the mower up on blocks tomorrow as well.

All said and done, not too bad for a rattle can job. I am thinking on painting the engine cover to match the rest of the tractor tomorrow, but don't know, it looks decent enough.

[futuresoptions]

I would like to publicly thank my wife and kids for all of the hard work that they have put into this for me. They know how much it means to me and they have just devoted themselves to this project. Thanks guys and I love you all very much!!!

[Jerome74911S]

Pete, how do you turn while plowing the snow without chains on the front wheels? Mine will just go straight in the snow no matter how far the wheels are turned.

Here's mine in Snapper mower mode. Totally stuck in the mud, that's why the Bush Hog is being removed to simplify things.



BTW, with 7,700 hours on it this tractor is running great. OK it's not a lawn mower, but still. Right now the B&S I/C engine on my riding lawn mower is in many pieces - because it is burning a half quart of oil per hour and needs some attention. Not good.

[Bill Douglas]

I do find it rather interesting that these well built ones last decades. And new Chinese made ones last, well, a year or two at best. Around here people tend to buy John Deer mowers - which are great, but I've talked a friend into writing his John Deer a Dear John letter and getting an old Massey Fergy tractor with old hay mower on the back. So instead of half a day doing grass it will be probably half an hour with good enough quality.

[futuresoptions]

The problem with all the new stuff is, is that it is mostly all stamped metal and the engines have plastic internal gears??? You have to spend big bucks these days to get heavier gauge steel and a real motor. The Skag that my sister and bil have still runs about $6k used

The do have a small 3cyl diesel tractor with a 4ft brush hog on it (I believe that it is a Massey). I have been thinking about possibly picking one of those up or maybe used Kubota and putting a pto driven finishing mower on the back, but I don't know where to get one of those finishing mowers at. I think all that TSC sells are the brush hog type mowers.

[peppy]

Here's mine..We had to mow a little over an acre and it took 2-3 hours.

The mower has been sitting since 01 or 02, and I bet I could get it running in 15 minutes. These mowers are all my dad would ever buy. The first one lasted 30 years and then he bought this one.

[Jerome74911S]

What mower? Pick the junk off of that thing so we can see it, por favor.