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Hi, new member here. I just got an email from a guy who has a Hi-Vac Commercial with a 5hp Wisconsin Robin engine. (WI 185v) He says it's complete and just needs belts. This would be my main mower if purchased. (It is VERY inexpensive). I know these are good mowers, but having never had one before, could somebody give me some tips on what to look for? I don't mind putting a couple of bucks into it, and I'm good with a wrench but I don't want to end up with a mower that needs way too many parts. What's the difference between the commercial and non-commercial hi-vacs?

Also, I know nothing about these engines. From what I see on the forum here, this is a real solid motor. Are parts still available?

Thanks for the help!

Dave

Here is a pic:

The commercial units had heavy duty brackets and straps attaching the handlebars to the deck, longer handlebars and a bigger bag. Also they all had the 5hp engines. Yes it's an awesome machine but parts can be hard to come by. A coil could run u over $100 if u can find one. That being said, if it starts up and runs pretty good if grab it, it's worth it.

Thanks Snapperfreak. If I pick it up I will start looking for parts to hold on to!

I have had 4 or 5 commercial snappers with commercial Wisconsin robin engines on them, and I've got to say, they are awesome. As snapperfreak said, they are pretty hard to find parts for. I spent over $250.00 on a carburetor for one of mine. I'd definitely pick it up. When you say inexpensive, how inexpensive are you talking?

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Here's one of mine, a little newer though. Same engine:







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Thanks Myamada, Actually I didn't want to give too much info yesterday for fear that someone else would swoop in and grab it since it was just listed on Craigslist. I picked it up last night. It's complete as far as I can tell, just needs a cleaning and some attention. It's got the bag with no holes, and the chute. The guy I bought it from said that the self propelled assembly stopped working but I did not get a chance to look at it yet. He also threw in the thatcherizer attachment which looks like it's barely been used.


The kicker? 30 bucks! I think he was expecting me to offer less but I didn't have the heart.

I will post up some pics when I get it cleaned up a bit.


Oh, Myamada....... Do you know where I can get an air filter for this engine?

Wow $30?! With the thatcherizer?! In like-new condition those can be twice that by themselves on eBay. That was an awesome deal. The sp issue we can figure out.

That is the bargain of the century! It would have been a crime to pass on that. The only place I can currently find them is this: they ship pretty fast too.



Air Filter Kit for Wisconsin W1-145V, W1-185V - Robin - Air Filters - Filters - Categories - yardpartsExpress.com

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Very good deal.

He had no clue what he had.
The SP should be a easy fix.

I just acquired this, gave it some love, and sold it for $250.00. Needed a carb rebuild, and new self propell belts. It was a one owner since 1980, part of me wishes I hung on to it. It was a very clean mower.



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Man that's nice. I need (want) another one of those.

Yeah, that is really clean.

Thanks for the link for the air cleaner Myamada.
I will order one of these right away. If anybody else is looking for air filters for the 185V, I found them here as well:
FILTER AIR & PREFILTER 2-13/16In.X 3-9/16In. WISCONSIN | Rotary Corp US ®
They also list of cross reference part numbers.

OP;

I've owned one since the mid 80's (bought brand new). Only recently have I started to have issues. Gas in the Oil. But for 30 years that mower ran like a top.

The Thatcherizer is a nice attachment, but you will need the self propel working. These mowers are heavy and with the Thatcherizer, it's very very hard to push by hand. I lost a critical part from my drive mechanism and have not replaced it (if I can find it). So mine is push only and thus, no Thatcherizer.

Anyway, congrats on the purchase and enjoy. I seem to recall I paid $689 for that mower back in the 80's. I bought an extra chute, extra bag, High lift kit for the Snapper blade and mulching plug for the chute. ( I eliminated the high lift kit when I went with a Ninja blade) and that all ran another $300 if I recall correctly. So damn near a grand for that mower with the attachments. And you got it for 30 bucks? You got one hellava deal!

PS, the "High Lift Kit" was simply two bolt on "wings" for the standard Snapper blade. I still have that blade. It does add some nice vacuum effect when you really need to groom the yard.

New member here:

Just picked up a Snapper Hi-Vac Commercial with the same WI-185V on it. Complete and in wonderful shape. I did replace the coil, but found that I may not have needed to do that after all. I was not getting any noticeable spark. I put the new one on and had the same issue: however once I put in a new plug and pulled the starter about 10 times it fired right up and I have not had another issue with it yet. I gave 40.00 for the mower. It came with the ABS plastic grass catcher.

I'm excited about it. Great CL find!

Cool deal rattle...any pics?

Well I finally found what I've been looking for. A good-running original 21500PC. Drove a couple hours to get it. Deck was junk but engine was good so I transplanted it onto my comm deck that was minus an engine. This minor project all worked out.

Where are you located? I live in the Spokane, WA area. I had this exact mower a couple years ago I sold and regretted it. It had the Wisconsin Robin 185 engine on it and the optional pac-n-sac grass catcher, which didn't really hold that much more grass than the standard sack.

rattle said:

New member here: Just picked up a Snapper Hi-Vac Commercial with the same WI-185V on it. Complete and in wonderful shape. I did replace the coil, but found that I may not have needed to do that after all. I was not getting any noticeable spark. I put the new one on and had the same issue: however once I put in a new plug and pulled the starter about 10 times it fired right up and I have not had another issue with it yet. I gave 40.00 for the mower. It came with the ABS plastic grass catcher. I'm excited about it. Great CL find!

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