Is this old Snapper worth anything?

[LawnBoy97]

I bought this last year, and I cleaned the crab and gas tank, changed the oil, and got a new spark plug. It was running but currently won't start. I could use the money for new equipment, so I was just wondering, is it worth anything? Thanks

 

[reynoldston]

As I see it not runing isn't worth much of anything. Get it runing first and then sell it. Or maybe part it out and sell parts on E-Bay. Just maybe you can find the right person looking for a old snapper to restore? Hope you the best of luck

 

[Carscw]

Put it on eBay I bet you will get $100 for it. I would just fix it and use it is the best cutting mower ever made

Sent from my iPhone using LMF

 

[LawnBoy97]

Is it really that good of a mower? I did have it running, and it cut ok, but you can tell the engine is wearing out. The wheels are wobbly and it doesn't have the self propelled.

 

[bwdbrn1]

You pretty much have to go with Snapper's commercial line to get a deck like that anymore. The wheels would be an easy fix. You could even go with steel ones with bearings to make it even better. Side discharge chute and mulching cover, if you don't have them are fairly inexpensive. Dress it up, clean it up, and it would make a pretty darn fine mower.

Here's a parts list.
http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/ahenrJvLlSZk.pdf

 

[reynoldston]

It may be the best mower ever built, but some people just don't want to repair mowers. This is the very reason I can keep busy
in my small repair shop. The thread is, this old non running worth anything so they can buy a new mower. I can well understand the
reasoning. As I see it this old mower should be completely restored or its just going to be one repair after another. For one person
this is OK but not for everyone. I say see if you can find the right person on E-bay or crages list looking for a cheap non runing
old Snapper push mower sell it and buy that new mower. You may not understand this but not everybody has a compleate set of tools
and do their own repairs big or small. This is the reason I am doing small jobs like just changing oil, filters, and spark plugs.

 

[bwdbrn1]

I understand just fine. Price of parts to make this one usable would be far less than a new mower, even if having someone else do the work, and the end result would be a better mower than many on the market today.

Either way, sell it for a small bit and apply it to a new machine, that still would need to be maintained, or spend a bit to have a very respectable mower that would compare in features to a comparable Snapper commercial push mower.

 

[reynoldston]

Yes as for me my two toro mowers are well over 30 years old and still running good because I keep them well maintained.
They also lack all the new safety features and I still have all my fingers and toes. Yes he will have a lot better mower if
he repairs it, but will he do this?? We really don't know his skills or desire to do so. Now if the mower needs a lot of work
with high labor rates and high part prices what will this person want a new or old mower? A new mower has a nice looking
paint job with all the newest safety features which can mean more to some people then others. As I recall the question was
what can I get out of this old snapper mower, not how can I fix it. Which on this forum he would get a lot of good advice.
Lets hear of LawnBoy97 what he wants and lets stick to the question.

 

[LawnBoy97]

No, I would love to fix it up, it's just that I am in highschool with my small mowing business as my only job, so it gets hard for me to decide how to spend my money, even if it is only $20 or less. I would be fully willing to fix it up, I don't know about a full restoration with paint and everything, well maybe eventually, but at least new wheels and some work on the engine would be good. I have basic tools but would be willing to either purchase more or borrow them from a neighbor or my local lawn mower shop, so I'm not worried about that. I'll check out the link, but I was just wondering about the engine, I think I remember it just smoking slightly, like more of a smell of smoke than actual smoke pouring out of it, so I guess maybe I will need to learn how to replace rings? But yeah, I was using an older Snapper Hi-Vac which I really like because of how well it is built, but the engine is only 3.5hp and is starting to smell of burning oil, too. So probably I will get a new engine for my other mower and then start on this one this summer, and maybe I can get back together and how it should be, depending on the cost of course. So now I just have to decide, new engine for my newer hi-vac, or my 20331 Toro?

 

[reynoldston]

OK now I understand a high school student and no money. Your best bet would would be is get the Snapper running. It needs 4 things and it will run,
spark,fuel, compression, timing. Start working on it and I am sure you will get help on this forum. Just for a start try a new spark plug seeing it was smoking a little.