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Hi folks, I've been lurking around this forum for a while and I can tell there are some very knowledgeable folks here. I have a late 70's RER my father bought new with a B&S (8hp I THINK) pull start only engine with the numbers 190702-2190-01 stamped on it. The stickers and other identifying information has long been peeled or burned off and/or painted over.

Anyway the old mower still runs and is just the ticket for my half-ish acre yard, but burns oil like crazy. Ideally I would like to replace the engine with a later or current model engine, but I have not totally ruled out rebuilding what I have. Can anyone point me in the right direction of an engine model that would most easily be adapted to work on this mower (i.e. same footprint, output shaft size/connection type, etc), with a true plug-n-play solution being the best case scenario (I'd happily pay a little more for something that bolts right up to avoid the hassle of trying to adapt this and that), or if I am better of rebuilding what I have. I am not necessarily wed to the B&S brand but this one sure has done a great job over the past few decades.

I have done some digging on the B&S website and they seem to have some 10.5hp vertical shaft pull start engines; can anyone clue me in in 25 words or less (no I'm not counting) what the differences are between the Intek and Powerbuilt engines, and can I expect another 30ish years out of one of these new engines.


Thanks very much for your input

Captain Slow, slowly snapping away and smoking up the neighborhood with my old mower

Re: B&S 190702-2190-01 on a late 70's Snapper Rear Engine Rider Rebuild or Replace

Powerbuilt has an aluminum cylinder, where as the intek has a cast iron cylinder liner.

Your engine is supposed to be replaced with a 21R702-0070-f1 special retail of $596, at least through my distributor.

Re: B&S 190702-2190-01 on a late 70's Snapper Rear Engine Rider Rebuild or Replace

Great, thanks so much for the help.

Would I be wrong to assume that I should be able to use any engine with the same mounting bolt circle and output shaft specs, while also taking care to assure the pull start is oriented in a direction that would be useable (i.e. the pull handle not being right up next to the seat or whatever).

The reason I ask is a local store stocks a similar engine, B&S model Model# 219902-3015-G5, however that engine claims 12.5hp output; does anyone know if that is too much power for the old (originally 8hp) snapper mower? I don't want to start breaking drive components obviously and I'm not trying to build a hot rod here...I would just rather buy this engine off the shelf than have to special order a different IF I can do it reliably. This particular engine does not have a fuel tank included but my snapper mower has a fuel tank separate from the engine so that particular detail is not important.


Thanks again

Re: B&S 190702-2190-01 on a late 70's Snapper Rear Engine Rider Rebuild or Replace

The engine you listed has electric start, and recoil start. Should work, I suspect it has the same footprint as the engine I listed for you. I had a customer a few years ago with the 8 HP engine on his snapper, and wanted a new engine because the old engine was acting up, and sometimes would just quit. So I went engine shopping, and found that at the time a 13 HP engine was $10 less than the 8 HP engine. So I proceeded to shoe horn a 13 HP engine in place of the old 8. Had to make a few mods to clear some of the snapper frame conponents, but overall wasn't bad.

I suspect you would have to remove the fuel tank from the engine that I listed to get it to fit on your snapper, so no fuel tank is not an issue.

Re: B&S 190702-2190-01 on a late 70's Snapper Rear Engine Rider Rebuild or Replace

ILENGINE said:

The engine you listed has electric start, and recoil start. Should work, I suspect it has the same footprint as the engine I listed for you. I had a customer a few years ago with the 8 HP engine on his snapper, and wanted a new engine because the old engine was acting up, and sometimes would just quit. So I went engine shopping, and found that at the time a 13 HP engine was $10 less than the 8 HP engine. So I proceeded to shoe horn a 13 HP engine in place of the old 8. Had to make a few mods to clear some of the snapper frame conponents, but overall wasn't bad.

I suspect you would have to remove the fuel tank from the engine that I listed to get it to fit on your snapper, so no fuel tank is not an issue.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your input; I assume you don't recall any ill effects from nearly doubling the horsepower going through the drive system?


I've noticed that for some of these smaller engines, the electric start w/alternator + pull start backup is often cheaper than pull start only. Can you think of any reason for that other than economies of scale? Would it be hard to buy one of these engines and completely bypass the electric start (cut and terminate wires, possibly jump some safety interlock?) All at my own risk of course.