Hey Jim, You are giving me the confidence to attack my Snapper rather than paying for labor. Mine won't shift and the boots are shot. Most of the information in this video has never been done. Which explains a lot! So your whole series has been very informative. Thank you. Dennis
Dennis Canfield Well I’m glad I could help you Dennis if you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to let me know, I hope your a subscriber. Jim
Jim really knows about Snapper products. He went out of his way to help me replacing a motor on my Snapper. I also have watched numerous number of his videos and they are very helpful. If you have any issues with your Snapper he has a video for you to watch. Thanks for your help Jim. Tom Powers😎
I wish I had saw your channel 22 years ago when I bought my Snapper rear engine mower. It has never failed me, so because of your video, I can finally PM it. Thanks, Jack
Wayne Wagner Glad I could help, keep looking them deals are out there. But on the other hand you don’t want to pass up a nice looking machine just because it has a few issues. Jim
My Snapper is going back together beautifully. I had need to put the fender tyrod on, brake cable, clamps in Axel boots, lube the cases and grease fittings lastly slap the tires on. I will tell you if it was the missing axel bolt for sure if she takes off. I want to Thank you jim for answering all my questions. You helped a lot. Thank you.
Vinnie C Hi Vinnie Well I’m glad to hear it’s going back together let me know how it runs when you get it done and maybe send me A picture of you and your snapper to my email which is. jimsfixitshop@gmail.com I’ll stick it on my wall. I hope your a subscriber and keep watching even if your snapper is running good there’s always something new, talk to you soon. Jim
Just signed up, have owned this type of mower for ~ 30 yrs, found I had much to learn, have two of these. You are Good! thanks so much. Have to go now, & correctly lube them...M. Price
Well thank you for watching I hope you’re a subscriber I really need subscribers, and if there’s any future issues you need help with please don’t hesitate to email me. Jim
Thanks Jim, I thought I was greasing all the places but, I have never greased the gear shift. I didn't know...but I will get right on that. Thanks so much.
Great help for sure. Just got a used SR170 and it runs great. Needs a lot of TLC, also the boots are shot so i will do that this winter. I'm in Houston and summers are killers here. I'm glad i saw this as I had no clue about what type of lube for gear boxes. Nice to know common 80/90 is OK. Will be watching more when time comes for major repair. Thank you.
Hi Jim, I want to thank you for the precise measurements to make the tool to adjust the rotating disk as mine was squeaking and eating up the new drive disk ! Problem solved
I’ve always liked the look of these snapper mowers. Found a 33 HI VAC 15 hp on marketplace for $300 running! Took the Walbro off the Kohler to give it a good cleaning since it was back firing and shutting off in idle. Checked the boots and they are shot, appreciate your video guide to help me replace them!
RC Hobbyist Extreme I’m glad you liked it and I hope you found it helpful, now you can help me by subscribing so I can continue this channel to help others. Jim
I love the part when you start to say that " it will also start oozing out of the dust cap" you begin to pump in more grease unknowingly pumping grease out of it!
I wore out the gear shift on my Snapper (SR1433) and replaced it with a new shift unit. Now “neutral” is not neutral. Your videos have inspired me to work on my own Snappers since it’s hard to find anyone who works on them. I have made one of your “turnbuckle” spring compressors and will be trying to remount the shift spring to see if that helps with my shift problem. Thanks Jim
Michael J Canter Hi Mike it’s Jim Yes I guess it’s time to get them lubed up change your oil and gas and start mowing that grass glad you’re a viewer and I hope you are a subscriber talk to you soon Jim
Thx for another video Jim. Appreciated. My -~88 2812X6S RER (Xtra tough series) doesn't have a grease zerk on the left rear axle so I guess I'm stuck not being able to lubricate there. @Homer and other Snapper fans. Register at MyTractorForum.com. They have a sub forum of everything Snapper. In that area, there is a link to many parts, owners and maintenance manuals which has been useful for my orphan. I put a link back to your RU-vid webpage Jim. One guy has commented that after watching your videos he plans to tear into his drive train this winter. There are a few "apparently" knowledgeable posters at that site also.
210 Doc Send me a picture of it with it standing up and on the inside I would like to see what it looks like. They didn't install it with the grease fitting on the back side where you can't see it did they. Send it to jimsfixitshop@gmail.com. Thanks Jim.
To stand it up, I have to drain the oil as it leaks around the bottom of the loose "press fit" dipstick tube. At the end of leaf season I'll be changing the oil to winterize and will forward some pics your way.
Hi Great channel. I’m in the U.K. on my second snapper a series 22 Great machines but expensive parts. When greasing the gearcase you say lube I discovered It’s an 00 grease.The snapper stuff is 40 bucks here!
Interesting stuff and I'm looking at buying a Snapper for trimming due to being allergic to my push mower. I subbed ya and look forward to your videos.
Doc Riordan You know I have that same problem when I have to use my walk behind to trim around trees and sidewalks I always break out in a sweat, I must be allergic to it 🥵. Jim
Are the boots the same size on both sides ? It depends on whether you have it in reverse or 5th as to their length when you first look at them ? I had a rear engine 28" inch deck for 18 years and gave it to a neighbor. I bought another 28152523BVE. Can`t remember how long I have had it, but it`s still going after several years. I`m looking forward to your videos on the decking and how to replace belts. The one on clutch and brake cables sound interesting as well. Great job and great advice !
Sounds like you may be new to my channel if so, please subscribe it really helps me keep this channel going and it is free for anyone to subscribe to any RU-vid channel if you are already. Thank you. I almost forgot to answer your question. Yes, both boots are the same size today. Buy them from Amazon. They’re black rubber. Don’t buy the Kraish plastic ones they don’t last. Jim.
I`ve been looking for videos to see if an anti-scalping wheel can be attached to my rear rider 28" deck up front. Model 2812523BVE. By the way, ordered the boots and can`t wait to put them on ! Great stuff
Thank You so much, Jim, for educating me on the snapper. I happen to own a snapper riding mower 2013, didn't know bean about it because l now become a widow since I on my own I had to learn everything if I can to help myself could you please post how to grease the front wheel and change the oil and oil filter the mower gear, on the above model. Sincerely Tammy
Tammy Tammy you keep watching because my next video will be showing you how to grease the front and change the oil and filter and grease the left-hand axle bushing
I never understood why the front wheels have a grease fitting since the bearings are sealed and require no lubrication.I could understand if the wheels only had a dry bushing like many riding mowers.I never grease mine and they have been in there for years.My wheels are also clean and dont have grease oozing out everywhere.
They want $15,00 ti ship a new on to me because of the size. I already have a new bag but still don't have the rod hanger. Name your price I already owe you for all these emails you are loading. I wish I had them on a CD so in case you leave you tube I would still have a copy of them. Homer
Homer Taylor Well to start I'm not going anywhere. And what emails do you think you owe for. That's not how it works. Do you want the hole bagger I would like to sell it all. Jim
Gabe Guerrero Hey Gabe I’m not sure what that would do but I suppose it would be better than nothing in there, because if your snapper is five or six years old the snapper Lube is probably all dried up by now. Thanks Jim
Hi Jim. Thanks so much for your educational video series! I just bought a Snapper Model # 28086S that is in pretty good shape and am working my way through it. It came with the two bagger collection system because of your liking that system so much. I use grass clippings and leaves on our 4,500 square ft of vegetable gardening beds and was using a push Toro Super Recycler. My Snapper collects way faster! A question: Do we need to be concerned with brass gears and 90 wt. lube compatibility? I know Troy Bilt suggest GL-4 I believe it is as GL-5 is not so good for the brass. Thanks again, Dan
@@DelCorbin snapper does not use brass gears. The gears, sprockets, and chains are either steel or cast-iron. You do want to keep the chain case and the differential case full of lubricant I would suggest using. Super S double00 Grease it’s made by Smitty’s Supply industry. I get it from. Farm and Fleet or tractor supply. If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Great Video Jim, I love my Snapper. I started using synthetic 10W-30 in it last year and boy did it quiet down the Briggs engine. Do you use synthetic in yours?
I’m new to these old snapper mowers and finding out real quick how expensive and how hard some parts are to find. Question when changing or topping off the diff fluids what are y’all’s thoughts on the synthetic oils. Would they be ok to use or just stick with the old stinking A traditional gear oil. Also any tips on where to find parts besides eBay would be appreciated. Have a great day
That's what I'm about to do later on today. I don't know how much grease or gear oil to put in the chain case so if I don't find out soon I'm gonna pump it full or part way of grease and the other part of 80w90 gear oil
@@jimjackson9381 I had just enough gear oil for that chain case so I pumped it with grease the rest the way until the oil started to come out then closed it up I think it'll be fine its better than nothing
@@jimjackson9381 I have to buy another thing of 80w90 gear oil for the differential case I'm doing it how the guy wants it done his mower was really needing redone or greased and oiled up
I'm an idiot! In my enthusiasm greasing my snapper I put grease in the differential. I tried to suck it out but not really successful. I did put some 80/90 lube. My question is, Did I ruin my lawnmower.
No, you didn’t hurt your lawnmower if you’ve ever taken one apart and seen what’s the old Snapper lube looks like it it’s about like grease or may be a little worse. Jim.
well iv got back into snappers again ..i know your the snapper guru ..so your channel is my first stop once again 😁 i hope you can reply .i was told the 25 inch i just bought is on the rare side .is it true are they worth at 1000 bucks in top running order?
I guess that would depend on where you live on how much you can get for it and I wouldn’t think they would be worth $1000 but I have no idea. I guess it would depend on what kind of attachments you have to go along with it, I am trying to rebuild, a old comet myself and trying to find parts is a little hard because they’re just isn’t any. I ordered what they had available and I think what they’re doing is substituting new parts in place of the old ones. And I’ve noticed there is a lot of difference between them. I am hoping that if there is an issue on assembling the differential and chain case I can manufacture the new parts to the old part specifications. my parts just came in from parts tree yesterday at work. I’ll be opening them up and going through them and seeing if there is any difference and if so, what it is so keep watching we might all learn something together. Jim
Nicely done! I have aquired a used Snapper, and I was wondering if I could top off the cases with gear oil without disassembly... I'm not sure if they have Snapper lube or if it has been changed to gear oil.
@@JodyCall yes you can top them off with gear oil. You wanna use the thickest you can find and it may still even leak out on you a little bit, but it’s better to have something in there lubricating stuff than the dried up snapper lube. Jim
@jimjackson9381 Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!! I've watched several of your Snapper videos, and I figured if anybody would know, you would!! Much respect, and God bless!!
don David That’s right Don, on your machine. But 99% of the machines out there have cheap open bearings you can buy for three dollars apiece so if you don’t Grease them they’re not gonna last long thanks. Jim
No there’s only one grease fitting on the spindle and I don’t recommend greasing it if you have an old machine with open bearings on the inside of the spindle and you pump new grease into the spindle you’re going to be pushing the old dried up grease into your bearings. If you have a newer machine the bearings they put in there are sealed on both sides pumping grease into it is going to do absolutely nothing except it’s going to come out the vent hole underneath Brake drum on the top of the spindle and make a huge mess. Jim
If you use 80/90 gear lube in your machine instead of snapper lube, there are some things you have to do to keep it from leaking. It is thinner. I have a video that explains what you should do to use this product. Jim.
HI Jim, great video. I can't seem to find the left bushing grease fitting on my Snapper 33115SC. My left fender doesn't have the large hole yours does. Do you have any idea where it may be located on such an older model? Thanks in advance.
sweet1172 Hi it’s Jim sorry about the delay but I’ve been out of town. Your left-hand bushing should have a grease fitting on the inside of the fender usually when you stand the machine up it’ll be pointing right at you unless somebody put it in wrong but as far is I know all of them should have a grease fitting on them. Jim
Hi again Jim. I purchased a grease gun (first time using this tool) and completed greasing up my snapper using that tacky #2. My only question (I can't find anything searching) is how to I store my grease gun. My only use for it will be maintaining my snapper mower. Is it OK to leave the cartridge in the gun, etc.? Thanks.
Crazy Gravy Yes just leave the grease gun all assembled the way it is as you use it, when I store my guns I usually hang them on the inside of a 5 gallon bucket because sometimes the grease will separate in oil will drip out of the end of the grease gun. Jim
Hi Jim I’m rebuilding a differential on a 20 year old snapper. I don’t know if it’s ever been rebuilt before but the differential has a thick grease in it not a thick oil like you are adding. Is there a different kind of rearend lube? Thank you sir for your valuable information.
Stefen B. The grease fitting on the spindle you do not want to grease it will do more harm than good and you could destroy your bearings by greasing the spindle. Jim
Hi Jim, Thanks so much for your videos. They are so informative. Since grease hardens over time, why is Snapper using it? What is better, tearing both the chain case and the differential apart to clean and remove the existing grease or just adding 80/90 gear oil without removing the grease(even if the grease is still soft enough)?
allan gorin I’m not sure what would happen by adding 80/90 gear lube to the existing grease Snapper uses four 0000 lube in their machines, at tractor supply you can get two 00 lube which I am told works as well but isn’t quite is thick. Thanks Jim
Did you replace the grease fitting on the front wheel? Mine has straight fittings , making it had to grease. The fittings seem to be pressed in. All I can find are screwed. The rim metal seem to be to thin to screw in. If you replaced them, where did you get the fittings? 2 days ago
Bob Mattern Yes I believe most of them are pressed in and I don’t ever remember changing any right off hand if I did I use the same fittings and pressed new ones in. Jim
No, I don’t have a video on changing the pulleys because it’s really quite simple. What pulleys are you trying to change that’s giving you a problem? Jim
I recently discovered these machines and they look like a real value. I gather that you're a fan ? What do you think of the 1438H Snapper ? That of course is the 14 hp 38" with hydrostatic transmission.
@@jimjackson9381 thank you Jim you have been a god sent! I was very discouraged with my mower till I found your site and all the wisdom you have with these old snappers, again I am so grateful 🙏 for you!!!
I have a question for you Jim I picked up a I think it's a 1980s snapper rear engine writer the motor says it's an 80 but I don't know if it's the original motor how can you find out the year of a snapper mower without looking at the engine for the year
Well you can kind of tell if it’s the original engine by your model number let’s say your model number starts with 2812 That means it’s a 28 inch deck with a 12 horse engine or if it says 125 then it’s a 12 1/2 horse engine. Let me know. Jim
Thanks Jim! I am going to do this to mine this weekend. You helped me get my mower running good again with another video and some advice through email. Is it okay to mix the 80w-90 gear oil with the snapper gear oil? Also any particular lube you recommend? Thanks again sir, you are much appreciated!
Personally, I think the best way is to open them up and clean them out totally but I have a lot of viewers that have mixed 80s/90s gear lube or some thicker gear lube and I just haven’t heard back from them on how much working out. Jim
Just to be clear, 80w-90 is NOT the Snapper recommended fluid to use in the rear axle. Jim knows this and said it in the video. The owner of that machine is the uninformed person wanting 80w-90. 80w-90 is roughly the SAME viscosity as 30w motor oil. It will ooze and leak out of that chain case and rear diff in ONE YEAR. Bad move...... People with older machines with lets say USED seals and so on, beware of 80w-90 oil.
Thanks for the video. I have a snapper rear engine rider w 28” hi vac deck. I’ve never serviced the differential or chain cases but have greased the other areas you did w grease gun. I’ve had my mower for prob 15 years! Should I just top off diff and chain cases w snapper lube instead of having to remove diff and clean manually? Also can all of these places be serviced w the deck in place?
Hi Jim how are you doing I have a question for you do they have a front tire for the Snapper rear engine rider that doesn't go flat? Thanks Jim I appreciate your thoughts
Yes I have a few tire sets for the snappers but what I do is take it down to my tire store and I have them put a tube in it and that’s the end of the leaky tire. Eventually all of these tubeless tractor tires will start losing air. Jim
Ryan B Hi it’s Jim It’s always best to get the old stuff out before you put any new stuff in but if you can’t then filling it up with new lube is far better than just the old dried up stuff that’s in there. Jim
@@jimjackson9381 thanks so much for your help Jim. I got most the old stuff out today using a long plastic medicine dropper. It took forever...about 5mL at a time. The stuff that came out was like very dirty motor oil compared to the stuff that went in, the snapper 00 grease. This was the first time I've changed this oil since buying it new in 2007. I guess the 00 grease breaks down over 12 years of use?
Should the gas cap vent screw be open all times. My snapper starts up with one pull but if turned off and turned on quickly fails to start requires excessive about of pulling and messing with choke. Any ideas? Thanks I enjoy your videos.
If the vent is open and it fails to continue to run, you probably need to clean out your carburetor especially if you’re burning gas with ethanol in it. Jim
Hi Jim, I wanted to rebuild my gear case and change out the old grease with the gear oil. BUT it looks like it may be a bit much. I cleaned out the grease in the chain case, replaced the gasket. Question 1 will I need some kind of form a gasket to help with the seal? Question 2 is there some kind of way the get the grease out out the gear case with out disassembling? Question 3 I haven’t done this...If I don’t disassemble the gear case and leave the grease in the way it is. Would it be a problem using gear oil in the chain case? So gear oil in the chain case, grease in the gear case. I may already know the answer to this, so I’m going to attempt to take it apart and clean it.
Have an engine question. The engine runs just fine or appears to run just fine at normal settings in higher speeds. But when it is at lowest idle it has what sounds like almost a valve leak or firing a little out of time . Any help or info on this particular problem? Thank you
Hi Jim, thanks for the video, what would cause a creaking sound on these rear engine riders when you are driving along ? cant seem to isolate the area.
Gregory L I would check the bushings on your rear axle especially the one on the left-hand side to see if it needs grease. Then I would check the chain case and the differential to make sure that the lub in them is not all dried up useless. Jim
I don’t know I’ve never done it I have had some viewers that have done it and haven’t got back with me with any issues so I guess give it a try and see what happens. Jim
I'm going to tear down the chain case, and right gear case to clean out old grease, and start fresh with 80/90. Do you have a list of gasket, seals etc I can order in advance so I will have them on hand? Thanks.
Melloreel Tearing down the machine with that much side play it would be hard to try to order parts in advance you're going to have to disassemble it and find out what's bad and then order them sorry. Thanks jim
hello jim, can i add 80/90 gear to the chain cases until im ready to tear apart and inspect?can the snapper grease and gear oil mix? thanks really enjoy your videos ,leaning so much.john in new jersey
Randal blankenship jr. Yes they call for double 00 lube I run 80/90 in mine but there are some things you have to do before you can do that I have a video that explains all of it. Jim
Jim Jackson thanks for your help jim. How would you recommend getting the oil thats too thin out? I just topped it off with a few ounces. Just let it leak out for a week or take apart the case and drain? Thanks again
Leo Osborne I don’t think I would put standard grease in the chain case or the differential you have to have something in there that the gears in chains are going to spread around Grease will harden up in time and your parts will wear out. Jim
Melinda Mae Arflack Knotts Hi it’s Jim Some machines you need to have your machine in neutral to start. Some machines you have to have the clutch/brake pedal pushed all the way down. I’m not sure if this is what you need to know if not you can email me at jimsfixitshop@gmail.com And thanks for your questions. Jim
You have to have three things to make the engine run spark, fuel, and compression I would take the spark plug out put your finger over the hole and pull the rope or turn the key you should feel a vacuum and pressure back-and-forth as the engine turns over, then put a half a teaspoon of gas in the hole put the plug back in the wire back on and crank it over and let me know what it does. Jim
Great videos man i recently picked up one of these mowers and I'm in love with it, could you recommend a good replacement carb? Mime has the 11hp Briggs engine
I’ve had a few viewers tell me they got great deals on carburetors on Amazon one was even a kit that included a carburetor spark plug Oil filter quart of oil air breather . Jim
Dump Godby The model number is either located on the tube underneath the seat or on the rear case underneath the seat or on the rear case on the back of the machine. Jim
