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Thank you for all the lovely and helpful responses to my question about the friction wheel on my newly-acquired rear-engine Snapper mower.

Now about that wheel. I want to take a look at what I have before hauling off and buying a new wheel. Just pick the machine up and tip it over. Well, the whole reason I bought a rider is that I'm getting too weak to push stuff around let alone lift it up into the air.

Is there a standard method for the physically condemned to get this thing pointing skyward? I'm thinking maybe a long two-by-four grounded near the rear axle? Extra people is not available. I shan't describe the neighborhood except that there ain't nothin' but white hair here.

Thank you kindly.

I would start looking for a good mobile mechanic. Just got over open heart surgery earlier in July and my weight limit right now is 5 - 8 lbs. Trust me, I know where you are coming from. I use things like an engine picker, or a pair of floor jacks with additional safety jacks to lift heavy things the last few years. Right now I can't even use a floor jack or a torque wrench. Six months to a year before I can. Something like 10 lbs additional every month I can add to what I can lift, when not out of breath.

Oh, man, please get well.

Very Fine Person said:

Thank you for all the lovely and helpful responses to my question about the friction wheel on my newly-acquired rear-engine Snapper mower.

Now about that wheel. I want to take a look at what I have before hauling off and buying a new wheel. Just pick the machine up and tip it over. Well, the whole reason I bought a rider is that I'm getting too weak to push stuff around let alone lift it up into the air.

Is there a standard method for the physically condemned to get this thing pointing skyward? I'm thinking maybe a long two-by-four grounded near the rear axle? Extra people is not available. I shan't describe the neighborhood except that there ain't nothin' but white hair here.

Thank you kindly.

Click to expand...

Sir, tell us where you are and maybe someone will be close enough to come assist..Ray

Very Fine Person said:

Oh, man, please get well.

Click to expand...

thank you.

Maybe some kind of Harbor Freight lift might be inexpensive and help him raise his mower SAFELY to work on it.

I just cannot trust them RER standing up by themselves when I'm working on them.
I remove the battery and gas and lift them with a chain hoist or a cherry picker and leave the hoist connected as a safety.

Stay Safe..

I feel the same way. I mean, people are way too scairdy these days, but this is a good case for safety.

How does this sound: A cheap or even abandoned (Free) swing set out of Craigslist. Shorten the top tube. And instead of swings, a modest chain hoist from Harbor Freight?

I'd have to disassemble the swing frame to bring it home, and assemble it to use it, and disassemble it to store it, but maybe that's not a real big job.

Or sawhorse brackets and long-leg two-by-fours with bracing? If the load is such that healthy men can lift the mower, but healthy men generally can't break two-by-fours by hand, they might be sufficient. You can probably stand on a sawhorse made with those brackets, so they'd probably be strong enough.

I don't know how I'd lower the mower after the surgery was done. I'd have to work out something for that. Something would have to provide a rearward vector of force on the back of the machine while it was being lowered (are the rear wheels free to turn?). Or inch the swing set forward in increments...

I’m old (73) but still have enough strength to put my RER Snapper on its butt. It helps that the heavy part is all in the rear and you lift the front. But if I couldn’t lift it I’d use my come-along and the cleat that I screwed into a ceiling joist in my garage. The come-along is rated at 1000lbs, so more than enough to lift a Snapper front end. Once you get it within 20 degrees of upright, you can easily push it onto its sitting rails even if the rear wheels are free spinning. My Snapper does not have a parking brake. You leave the gear selector in the park position and the transmission holds it. If your disc is worn out or the spring is too slack, it won’t keep the machine from rolling. To test, put it in park and try rolling it. If you can roll it, you can clamp the brake pedal down to keep the brakes on or you can chock the wheels. Jim Jackson of Jim’s Fix It Shop is a RER Snapper guru and a great instructor. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and watch his videos before working on your Snapper.

Maybe, apply the brake.

I don't know what you mean.

Let's talk about this.

I get my shortened swing set with the Harbor Freight Haul-Master chain hoist on it. I want to lift the front of the machine. The hoist is above the front wheels, because that's where it needs to lift the front of the machine.

I lift the machine so that it is vertical. In order for that to happen, the rear wheels have to rotate, because when the machine was on the ground, the front of the machine was in a different place than where the rear of the machine was. With the front end straight up in the air, the rear wheels have to move to where the front wheels used to be.

Now I want to lower the machine. If I want the rear wheels to not rotate, I would have to lower the machine into a hole in the ground. This would not be practical.

I would need not only the rear wheels to rotate, but also something to make them rotate. Maybe I can inch the thing down, go around and tug the rear end back, rinse and repeat until the vectors are such that the sucker will roll back sufficiently (never completely) back.

Am I wrong?

Lift the handles. You should ask someone else to help. Safety - My garage floor is slippery, so I have an old bathroom rug with the non-stick back. I place the front housing on that and then lift the snowblower by the handles and up onto the front housing. When you are done, the housing is on the rug, and the rug keeps the front from getting scratched.
The front housing also won't slip on a sheet of plywood - but the plywood may slip on your garage floor.

Your geometry is correct as far as I can think it through. I'm 77 now, hoping to increase as time goes on, and find the 33" I have getting harder to lift as time passes. I do lock the rear wheels by setting the parking brake and putting it in gear, one or the other, or both.
You might think about setting the swing set more or less above the rear wheels. Locked rear wheels should allow you to lift the front end, and it would rotate to vertical under the cross bar of the swingset. Lowering, using a come-along, would require reaching up the the come-along jack mechanism, pressing the releas, and reversing the cable from the spool. I don't think that would be a fun thing to do. I know it is not when lowering engine blocks back into cars(not done that in a while), and cannot imagine it being fun while standing on a ladder or stool to reach the lever and release.
HF does sell electric winches meant to be bumper mounted on off-road and recovery vehicles. The smallest should be able to lift the Snapper off the ground with no problem, so lifting the front wheels should be a piece of ... cake? You would need to have access electrically to a 12V car battery. Jumper cables should suffice for the minimal load of the winch motor. Some have remote controls so you can control the motion while being out of the way or attending to details of the movement.
I have replaced the original battery multiple times in 33 years, so remove the battery and close off the fuel tank vent before doing anything on the underside. I sure would like to have a better source of information about the mechanism than what is available, but doubt there is such.
My best guess, using my limited lifting experience, is that the actual load is less than 100 lbs unless you lift the whole thing off the floor. It might be that a block and tackle hanging from the cross bar would give enough mechanical advantage to allow raising and lowering the front end without trouble. I sort of remember HF having them also. One would need to prepare a tie-off to keep the tension as needed, but once vertical, it will not fall over without a good shove. I have taken the wheels off to replace the sliding boots multiple times, which requires removing the 'fenders', one at least, without any problem with tipping over or coming close. Kind of a messy job to say the least. And you have to use a big hammer at times.
Removing the friction disk is not difficult. Most times you can R&R without having to adjust anything. I kind of remember there being 3-4 fasteners holding things together. Take a look around while under, check the condition of the brake adjustment and all pivot points. Many will take a slosh of motor oil to reduce friction. There is a Zerk on the blade pylon that should get a couple pumps from a grease gun, though it doesn't make sense with sealed bearings. It may be to help push out any water that has intruded over time?? Lots of clippings will fall from places you didn't know were there, but in general they don't cause problems. Using a leaf blower can clean them out of places difficult to reach. Take a look at the deck belt while raised. It takes a 'double vee' belt, so dont' buy a standard vee belt thinking it will work. It won't. They do last a good long while if you don't stall them with the engine running. Don't get any lube on the drive disk or the rubber wheel if you can avoid it. Clean it off if you do.
Good luck
tom

Those of us who grew up with swing sets that weren't anchored to the ground have the experience of the swing set's legs lifting off the ground when the rider's weight was too far from the crossbar. So putting the swing set over the rear wheels might tip it forward when it starts to lift the weight.

Putting it in the center might have merit. The feet would be out beyond the load on both ends, and maybe all I need to do with the machine is to get the patient 45 degrees, at which point it might be easy to push it the rest of the way. I never heard of anyone pushing it up and having it swing past the stands on the machine to crash down backwards.

I bought the thing almost a month ago and haven't ridden it an inch. I want to at least look at these parts before I end up with a machine that can't climb back uphill.
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Just now, just for Schlitz and giggles, I got the jack out of the car, jacked up the front of the Snapper, and lowered it onto the bathroom scale, set up with wood pieces to simulate a normal earth and a normal specimen. It read 90 pounds.

I don't know what the standard accuracy of a bathroom scale is. I know that in my youth the highest number on them was 250, and now 250 is about average for an American adult. Let's say 90 give or take five percent.

I'm not ashamed to not be able to lift 90 pounds. I'm old, I'm 30 pounds less than the doctor's office says I should be, and in my seniority it's okay for other people to do things for me.
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