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Hi, first time in this forum. I got a couple of Snapper mowers in a trade. One is a Ninja p217017 with a FJ180v and the other is a Hi Vac powered by a Briggs Intec w/ a bent shaft.
First question is what is the difference in the decks? Other than the decals they look the same to me.
I used the Ninja on a couple of lawns yesterday. I had it with me as a backup for my Exmark 21. The exmark blade brake lever was acting up so I got out the Ninja. I swapped the bag and attachment piece that was on the Ninja for the mulch attachment that was on the Hi Vac. The quality of cut was okay but not great. The blade is sharp but it's just a normal blade, not the Ninja blade. I'd try a Ninja blade but they are pricey and I don't plan to keep this mower. I know you guys are partial to Snappers but the exmark is my go to 21 and I have a Honda HR217 as a backup. Another thing I was curious about is that the ground speed seemed very slow. Is that normal for this mower? I understand how the disc drive works and everything seems to be good and adjusted well. Maybe I'm overlooking something.
The Hi Vac engine has a bent shaft. Is the resale value enough to justify putting $120 into it?

Both are a little newer than what I'm used to but I think both are probably hi vac decks. The fj I hear is a really good engine but the bent shaft I think is more money/work to fix than it's worth. But if all else is good maybe an engine swap is in order.

As for the ground speed, they should be pretty fast in high gear. I'd the spring that holds the friction wheel to the drive disc tight? If there's not enough tension there it may not have the contact it needs. When it's in high gear is the friction wheel all the way to the outside edge if the drive disc? Is the drive belt tight or is it worn out and stretched a bit? That's all I can come up with, hope it's some help to u.

Yep, that was helpful and I appreciate it :thumbsup:
The Briggs engine has the bent shaft. It's bent so bad it won't even turn over. The fj runs like a top
The fj is on the one w/ the Ninja and "mulcher" decals. Other than the decals I can't see a bit of difference between the decks except a slight difference in the bottom lip. I don't think you can see it in those pics. I'll try to psot pics of that but its real small diffrerence.
First thing I did after I got home (after I changed the filthy oil & filter) was look at the drive system. Never seen one before but it's odd and pretty cool. I adjusted the threaded arm piece that moves the friction wheel over the drive wheel so its right at the edge when the speed lever is at fast. That seemed to make it a little slower so maybe one of the discs is worn. There is a part of the drive wheel thats shiny... must have been where the mower speed was set most of the time. It could need a new belt. The belt does look loose so it may be stretched.
I can get a new Briggs engine for the hi vac for $99 shipped but I just don't know if it's worth messing with. The rest of the mower is fine except for the front tires but if I couldn't sell the mower for $150 then there isn't any point in fixing it.

Snapperfreak said:

Both are a little newer than what I'm used to but I think both are probably hi vac decks. The fj I hear is a really good engine but the bent shaft I think is more money/work to fix than it's worth. But if all else is good maybe an engine swap is in order.

As for the ground speed, they should be pretty fast in high gear. I'd the spring that holds the friction wheel to the drive disc tight? If there's not enough tension there it may not have the contact it needs. When it's in high gear is the friction wheel all the way to the outside edge if the drive disc? Is the drive belt tight or is it worn out and stretched a bit? That's all I can come up with, hope it's some help to u.

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I don't know if you can see the lip on the hi vac but it's not a big difference.

It does look like that deck with the intek that is the hi-vac deck has the bottom lip that rolls under which is where the vacuum action comes from. The fj deck doesn't look like it has that. In that case, the fj really must not be a hi-vac deck. Interesting. It may be worth considering swapping engines on those two so the good fj engine is on the hi-vac deck.

Snapperfreak said:

It does look like that deck with the intek that is the hi-vac deck has the bottom lip that rolls under which is where the vacuum action comes from. The fj deck doesn't look like it has that. In that case, the fj really must not be a hi-vac deck. Interesting. It may be worth considering swapping engines on those two so the good fj engine is on the hi-vac deck.

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Maybe but they are both going to be sold so I'm not sure it matters.
I did order the small grooved belt. I'll see if that makes any difference in ground speed.
Here is a pic of the drive wheel setup and the Ninja decal.

*

Can't get that belt off :confused2: It's easy to get it off the drive pulley and the idler pulley. I'm not seeing how it comes off the transmission pulley... what the manual calls the driven pulley.

Ya that one has never been easy for me to remove. Unless someone else here knows a trick that I don't, your best bet is to basically take that while drive assembly apart. That's what I've had to do. The clearance is so tight where it goes around the wheel on the axle. It's a little time consuming, at least compared to removing the other belt, but that's the only way I've found to do it.

Thanks. No, it doesn't look like there is an easy way to do it. That page from the manual is useless. Removing the belt from the front 2 pulleys doesn't even require looking at the manual and the manual is no help at all on the last pulley

Mike88se said:

Thanks. No, it doesn't look like there is an easy way to do it. That page from the manual is useless. Removing the belt from the front 2 pulleys doesn't even require looking at the manual and the manual is no help at all on the last pulley

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Got it done today. Bright sunlight helps a lot It turned out to be not so hard. I took some pics while I was doing it. I'll post a pic of the main piece that had to come off. Unfortunately the new belt didn't help much. The drive belt was worn out. I checked the hi vac and the belt seemed good so I took it off and put it on the Ninja. That did the trick. It still isn't real quick but it will pull up a 45 degree slope. I wonder how good this thing would cut with a Ninja blade but I'm not spending $30 to find out.
Taking this piece off made it easy enough. You can check out my "retreads" too
I should have got a pic of the hi vac deck when I had it upside down to get the drive disc off. The difference in that lip is really noticeable.

If they are still like they were back when I was in the business, the grooved belt can be tightened. The spring that engages the idler pulley is actually one spring screwed inside the other. You can unhook it and screw the inside spring in farther and see if that helps.