Have a Snapper 21" Hi-Vac purchased about three years back, used almost exclusively for bagging since I bought it. Has the Kawasaki FJ180V engine.
Tried it for mulching a few times, didn't really care for it. Used the Ninja blade supplied by Snapper and found that it left a lot of particles. In general, I don't mulch. This year, I retired it to lighter duty and really wanted to give it a shot for mulching again. I'm trying to drink some of the mulching KoolAid and see some of the benefits of recycling the clippings. Used the Gator blade on it and started off the season with a lot of issues - bogging down, stalling, and hard to start.
Thinking I had a carb problem, I ripped the carb apart and cleaned it up real good. Reinstalled it and adjusted it, similar issues. I threw caution to the wind and put speed at max (moved throttle plate as far forward as possible). Still doesn't seem like it's getting enough speed; when I had adjusted idle speed when I first bought it, I remember it screaming when I moved the throttle plate forward. Likewise, it's not requiring any choke to start it cold - used to need to have it at the full choke position, then back it off once it gets going.
It's working better but still slowing down and stalling out in the most dense of grass. The lawns I'm working on are quite lush (but dry), mix of fescue, rye, and blue, and I'm trying to take off about 1.5" at the most. The deck underneath is getting packed with clippings as well, but when it stalls I don't find that there's a huge pile of clippings underneath.
So what I'm trying to determine is if I'm expecting too much from mulching, this is a design issue with the Snapper, or I'm experiencing some performance issues with my particular mower. I know the Snapper Hi-Vacs are not exactly known for their mulching prowess (based upon deck design), but I would have expected the Kawasaki FJ180V to perform better than it is. Many years ago, I used to mulch my own lawn with a 4.5 hp Murray with Briggs and never remember such poor performance.
Some pictures of the mess from today, as an example. This was exactly 4 days of growth:
And I took one video of it stalling out:
YouTube - VID-20110430-00001
Looking for some thoughts on what else to look at with this mower. Some things I'm still thinking:
Otherwise I'm at a loss. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
Tried it for mulching a few times, didn't really care for it. Used the Ninja blade supplied by Snapper and found that it left a lot of particles. In general, I don't mulch. This year, I retired it to lighter duty and really wanted to give it a shot for mulching again. I'm trying to drink some of the mulching KoolAid and see some of the benefits of recycling the clippings. Used the Gator blade on it and started off the season with a lot of issues - bogging down, stalling, and hard to start.
Thinking I had a carb problem, I ripped the carb apart and cleaned it up real good. Reinstalled it and adjusted it, similar issues. I threw caution to the wind and put speed at max (moved throttle plate as far forward as possible). Still doesn't seem like it's getting enough speed; when I had adjusted idle speed when I first bought it, I remember it screaming when I moved the throttle plate forward. Likewise, it's not requiring any choke to start it cold - used to need to have it at the full choke position, then back it off once it gets going.
It's working better but still slowing down and stalling out in the most dense of grass. The lawns I'm working on are quite lush (but dry), mix of fescue, rye, and blue, and I'm trying to take off about 1.5" at the most. The deck underneath is getting packed with clippings as well, but when it stalls I don't find that there's a huge pile of clippings underneath.
So what I'm trying to determine is if I'm expecting too much from mulching, this is a design issue with the Snapper, or I'm experiencing some performance issues with my particular mower. I know the Snapper Hi-Vacs are not exactly known for their mulching prowess (based upon deck design), but I would have expected the Kawasaki FJ180V to perform better than it is. Many years ago, I used to mulch my own lawn with a 4.5 hp Murray with Briggs and never remember such poor performance.
Some pictures of the mess from today, as an example. This was exactly 4 days of growth:
And I took one video of it stalling out:
YouTube - VID-20110430-00001
Looking for some thoughts on what else to look at with this mower. Some things I'm still thinking:
- The jet in the carb is a "74" which is I believe one of the higher altitude jets for this carburetor and mower. The Kawasaki standard is a "76". I've ordered up a replacement jet to try out (I need to replace some of the gaskets in the carb anyway).
- I'm going to disassemble and soak the carb one more time to ensure that it's clean.
- I may try the Ninja blade again to see if it also stalls the mower. If it does, this is something new. I'm not sure if maybe the Gator blade (which has more lift than the Ninja) is packing so much under the deck that it's causing problems.
Otherwise I'm at a loss. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
