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Hello.

New to Snapper and the forums. I "inherited" an old snapper RER when a tenant skipped out and it appears to be in good shape. I got spark and right away changed the oil. A squirt of carb cleaner at the intake manifold and she fired about six strokes. Well, cool, it has compression and spark and will fire and run!
Knowing the carb would most likely need cleaned, i soaked it in my coffee maker with hot detergent and used carb cleaner and tore it down to clear the jets. I am very impressed with the quality of the carbs on this engine,and yes.they were clogged up. Now the fun part.
The carb linkage is suspect from a previous repair. The fine spring that probably goes from the governor flywheel link to the carb throttle was broken and placed over the outside of a linkage rod. The hand throttle that goes to the nylon pawl gear was binding,and all that stuff that links up there is probably hooked up incorrectly.
I may have to take it to a repair shop unless I can find a really good illustration of how to fix it. i saw a repair manual on here and hope it is for the 3008s. Wish me luck.

Please post model and serial number for both the unit and engine. I'll see what I can find about manuals.

Mower is 30083 The tag does not even mention 'snapper' -- It says McDonoug power Equipment. Serial for mower is 0345424

Model
Engine is 8HP briggs 190702 2161 01 86041109 Pull start only .

I have found and downloaded a manual of sorts, but still not real clear how the linkage hooks up. There seems to be a lot of variation on the old engines as the 190700 models went through changes . Mine has a plastic pawl in the linkage if that helps

I have taken the engine off the frame and will mount it to a stand because it is so difficult to work between the seat and the carb linkage. Now I will at least be able to see what I am doing.

Thanks for your question, Rivets.

Sorry I posted some of the same info two places on this website--newbie mistake and irritating to the guys who want to help..

Listed below is a service manual for you engine. Don't know if it will help you. According to you model number your unit should have a 30" deck, 8 HP engine, and is a series 3 unit. At the present time I am unable to to find a series 3 manual, but will keep looking. If you take the engine in to the shop where bought your replacement spring, they should be able to tell you where to hook your linkage up.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12502267/B&S Service Manuals/01_270962SingleCylinderLHead.pdf

:smile: slumlord, Spring number 261911 gov. link spring. Does go over the gov. link, one end hooks to the second hole down from the top in the gov. arm and the other end to the throttle shaft were the gov. link hooks/ if there is another hole other than where the gov. links hooks it goes in that hole. Best thing to do with the gov. control plate, is to remove it from the engine and try to free up everything and go from there. Good luck. Don B.

Thanks for the help,both of you. The setup I think I have is shown on figure 106,page 24 of section 4.
I just might consider adding a manual choke cable to the carb just to minimize problems. It just so happens the hardware store had an extra engine throwaway from a customer who took two RER's and made one good one. they gave me the special choke linkage & the governor control plate.
I will let you know how this goes....just need a little time.
The engine is removed and has been mounted to a wood box so I can start and run.The way i see it,even if I need to take it to the mower shop,it will save time working on it. I might as well go through the tranny and other maintenance issues while it is easy to get to everything. From what I have seen,the little beastie is in pretty good shape.

:smile: You are Welcome. Those Snappers are tough mowers. I have rebuilt, repaired and changed engines/drive wheels on several. The only thing I do not like, is the tri-cycle handbars. Your gov. control plate is the choke-a-matic design. To change to a manual choke you will need plate number 390746. That engine being a 1986, I would pull the head and de-carbon, the head, valves and top of the piston. Don B.

So here is where we are now. I managed to hook up the short spring from the governor lever [mid point to the housing] and the top linkage rod from the top hole of the governor lever to the carb throttle.
I used a vet syringe as a small fuel reservoir and connected to the fuel line. I was able to get it to run for at least 3 minutes till it ran out of fuel. I simply manipulated the choke manually with my finger,and it ran great. The next step is to add a hard point to mount a choke cable, put the air cleaner back on ,and test it further. These engines seem to need the air cleaner foam installed to run correctly.
The front center of the deck was caved in and cut through with the blade. It is a wonder that the engine did not suffer a bent shaft,but it appears to be OK. Strap steel and a rod welded at the deck edge should fix things up The float and/or needle and seat need investigating. I cleaned the needle with Flitz when the carb was off, but it probably needs replaced as the gas runs through,and floods the carburetor.. Will add a filter and shut-off as well. With the engine off,I will use the engine hoist to raise it on a work table and service the transmission items as well
I did not intend this as a build thread,but here we are. Good suggestion on the de-carboning. Nice to know the year of engine manufacture. I wonder if the rest of the unit is a 1986?
Again,thank you.The manuals you supplied are making this job enjoyable instead of concerning.

:smile: That unit is either a 1986 or a early 1987. Go to Partstree.com, click on Snapper and then enter model number for a complete parts breakdown of your tractor. Glad to hear you got it running. Yes your are correct on the air cleaner, without it to much air. therefore the carb. has to try and richen the fuel to compensate for the additional air. The choke-a-matic set up for that engine is one of the most realiable systems there is, if it where mine I would get it working correctly and stay away from trying to rig up a manual choke. Is your throttle cable working freely? Don B.

The throttle cable is fine. John at the hardware store showed me exactly how to hook both control rods to the throttle [and the tiny governor spring for the throttle ] and choke, but then the beastie did not want to run,even with the air filter on. my engine does not have the U-shaped control rod of the better auto choke,,so maybe that is the problem
One more experiment is the choke hooked up as manual, and if it runs,I probably will keep it that way.
One of the muffler bolts is snapped off, and it will be time to drill it out. I bought some OO grease for the diff and drive,and at $16.00 a quart or 9.00 for 9 ounces,Snapper is pretty proud of their tranny grease. You just have to admire the engineering of the drive unit. One spinning plate on the engine,one rubber tire that slides across the plate to vary the speed and direction. Just genius in its simplicity. John also mentioned that he had some take off decks for 50 bucks a pop. Might have to look into that...
I might buy some tire clean and shine for the undercarriage. Dirt motorcycle riders swear by the stuff to melt off grease and mud,and there is plenty of the grease/dust/grass that is puttied to the transmission and carriage.
I still need to break the [blade tension bolts ?] free.They are cooking in penetrating oil at the moment,and I just add a little squirt every day. Still a little more to do,but now it is well on its way to being a solid little mower.

:thumbsup: glad to hear that you are making progress and have it running. Keep us posted on any further progress. What part of the Buckeye state are you from?

southwest OHio . Out in the cornfields East of Lynn IN.

:smile: Must be around the Greenville area. Do you ever go to the Portland steam show? I live in Ft. Wayne. But I am a diehard Buckeye. Born and raised in Jackson, OH. Have a good one.

About 15 miles from Greenville, actually.

So,the update on the mower is that I did add a manual choke. It does have the advantage that the choke can be used at any throttle setting. At least now it will start. Sorry I could not do it the correct way,but maybe later it could be corrected.
I found that one of the muffler bolts had sheared off in the block. I ground it off straight and drilled it out ,rethreaded the hole,and all is well.

Then the "oh Crap" moment hit. The blade did not maintain the same depth around the deck. After finally getting the adjuster screws loose, it seemed like it wiggled even more. Then I discovered that the blade bar threads and the spindle shaft threads were toast . [on this model,the blade bar just threads onto the spindle shaft with no center bolt required] A bit of wiggling and the last threads let loose. The fact that the PO had let the blade repeatedly crash into the deck is probably what did it in.

Back to the mower shop at the hardware store--- I will see if the used decks for 50 bucks are a better deal than ordering an entire new spindle, and I suspect that it will be the case.

Next steps are pressure wash the loosened oil/grease gunk, remove blade spindle, replace spindle and engine.

:smile: I would not worry about being political correct on the choke issue, If you are satisfied with the way the choke is setup now, that is all the matters. On the deck issue, I would determine what kind of shape the orignal deck shell is in and then go from there. I am not sure what type of spindle is on your deck, wether it be a one piece (welded togehter) or one that can taken apart and repaired. I been going to ask you, how did the coffee taste after the carb. soak? Good luck on your endevers.

I got the 'junk" deck today. $25.00 and it is complete with all the mounts,ect. The deck is cosmetically rusty,as if the mower sat outside for quite some time. The good news is it had a newer top pulley,and the spindle tower appears to be quite solid.

I got the frame/body of the original mower completely de-greased also. After trying squirt cans of engine cleaner,I finally took the nuclear option of a gas/diesel mix sprayed on with a garden sprayer. the diesel in the mix lets it sit longer and soften the crud. Air wand blows the loosened crap off on to a big cardboard sheet, and a gasoline rinse from the sprayer rinses it all off on to the cardboard. I burned the cardboard and the clean-up is complete.

So now I have the option of using either deck on the mower. I could trade the spindles out,or rebuild the original deck with new bearings and weld the blade mounting bar to the original threaded shaft. With new bearings installed before the weld,it would probably last for years. Once I remove the damaged spindle,the correct solution will present itself...

It is actually tempting to sand it down a little and paint it up nicely. Project creep is in full bloom.

:smile: Well your making progress. You mention spindles, is that a one/two blade deck? All the old snappers rer that I have worked on, the decks where one blade.

One blade 30 inches long. The blade mount holder and the spindle are toast,but the bearings are fine. I have to decide whether or not to trade spindles to the best deck or just run the way it is.

I am thinking about just welding the blade holder bar to the spindle for a spare,since the lower bearing is still OK. I will have to put the lower bearing in a heat sink while welding so the seals stay in good shape. If the bearings in the unit later fail, I would not be out any money--just simply remove the top snap ring, tap out the spindle shaft, and replace the whole thing.

When it is all said and done,I hope to have one nicer deck and a spare deck ready to go. It only takes 5 minutes to change these decks out. We still have plenty of time--gonna be 4 degrees F in a couple of days.

I am still amazed at the simple and practical engineering of the RER Snapper

:smile: I do not know if welding the blade to the holder is a good idea. How are you going to put the balance back in. If your going to weld, remove the shaft from the spindle and remove the bottom bearing if it stays on thespindle and then weld, no heat sink needed. You might have to make a jig, to keep the blade 90 degress to the holder. Yes those Snapper RER, are very simple and practical. But sometimes the electrical system can drive you up a tree. The only thing I could not get use to, where those tri-cycle hand bars. Up here in the Fort. temps not above 15 for a few days. Being retired, I do not have to go anywhere. So I am going in to the hibernating mode.

You are going to translate this into English please, unless you’re a robot.