[swamibob]

I just bought a SR1433 snapper rear engine mower a few days ago. So far, I noticed the gas line was looking old and dry rotted, so I replaced the line, filter and line going to the carburetor. Also, when I bought the mower, I noticed the engine surging after it finally started, so a friend of mine recommended sea foam to clean out the buildup and water in the carburetor/fuel system since the guy hadn't been using it for 2 months, although the gas I dumped out of the tank looked more like a year+ old. After only running it for about 30 minutes testing the mower out more fully then I could during the test drive, the engine smoothed out and seems to be running perfect now. I highly recommend Sea Foam now that I have tried it and it did live up to the hype. The choke is not fully engaging and I think that is why I was having a hard time starting it at first. It was flooding it with gas without enough at first to just fire it up. I have found out that if I set it to about half throttle and then just reach behind me and manually choke it all the way and release it as soon as it starts I can get it to start in just a few seconds. The guy I bought it from never thought of that I guess and as actually spraying carburetor cleaner down into the air cleaner to help if start up when cold. He drilled a small hole in the top of the plastic cover to make it easier to do. I have since covered his little hole with duct tape to keep it from sucking dust directly into the carburetor.

The blade looked quite old and rusty so I decided to order a new one. I got one of the new gator mulching blades in today (33" blade is pretty big). I was going to go with an oem snapper blade, but I found a gator for the same price through mowtown (sold through amazon) and I read some rave reviews about these blades. Anything special I should know about putting this blade on? I read through the snapper manual and it sound pretty straight forward. Hopefully I won't have to adjust the blade leveling adjustment but we'll see when i put it on.

I was thinking about checking and maybe changing the differential grease 00 but I have a question. The place where it shows you in the owners manual to check the level, is that just a plug I pop out with a flat head screwdriver? How do I drain it to put in new 00 grease? Can you guys recommend a different lubricant other than 00? Like a synthetic Mobil 1 equivalent or is there no substitute to snapper "00" grease? I have another thread that I started asking about the sound I hear when I push the mower around with the engine off. Could the metal rubbing sound I hear be from low 00 grease or is it just the clutch rubbing or something?

I have been wanting a snapper for a long time and I finally have one.

Thanks a lot,
Swami

 

[Mongoose]

Welcome to the forum, I must confess that I am not familiar with the newer editions of Snapper RERs, but perhaps I can be of some assistance anyway. Regarding the 00 grease, you are correct, do not use anything else, normally you would not change it as in a conventional trans. or diff. but you must indeed be certain there is enough grease available in the chain case and diff. Check and fill when mower is sitting on it's butt, pop-off those plugs you mentioned and fill up to bottom holes, have new plastic plugs on hand as you will probably destroy a few until you get the hang of popping them off. I don't think you should lose any sleep over the sound you are hearing, all of the rear-engined Snappers I've ever owned make a rustling sound when you push them around (chain/sprocket noise) As mentioned before just make sure these components are well lubed with the correct stuff! If you perform prescribed regular maintenance on these little workhorses they will last indefinitely. Best of luck. Bert

 

[propwash]

The "00" grease is semi liquid,kind of between oil and grease,any thing heavier wont lube right and anything lighter will leak,since there are no real seals. "00" can be hard to find,but most real mower service shops should sell it,I saw a quart on E-bay for $25 including shipping,this is expensive.The transmission(drivers R/H side) holds 24 oz and chain case(middle of rear axle )holds only 2oz so don't overfill,that causes leaks,the transmission should fill through the top hole(when on rear bumper) since a gear is next to the bottom hole,use bottom hole for level.Since we don't know for sure,what exact model you have, if there is a zerk fitting near the Drivers L/H rear bearing,be sure to keep it greased, there is a bushing which will wear and cause expensive problems,yours could have the Ball Bearings, which lube from the transmission.Check the front end for slop and the nylon bushings,they are cheap and keep the metal parts from wearing out.grease the spindle,fitting on the bottom side,easy to get to while changing blade.

 

[swamibob]

I sure hope I added these photos properly. I just made a photo bucket account so i could show you the model number and the engine that is on it. The guy that I bought it from said when he got it used from the snapper dealer they had just put a new engine on it. I don't know but I'm pretty sure it's not the same as the original engine.

I was trying to change the blade today. I could not get the bolts to come loose. I tried to wedge the blade with a block of wood which seemed to work ok but I still had problems getting it to come loose. Is there any trick to getting it come come loose? Also, in the manual I didn't see where there was a nut in the middle of the blade, but there seems to be one on mine. Does it just unscrew also? It looks like about an 1" nut. Also, there is some surface rust on the bottom of the deck. It doesn't seem to be close to rusting through. Should I worry about it or not? DC 3mech can you tell more about my particular model now from the pictures or is there something I missed taking a picture of? Also I found the 00 grease for $19 including shipping at www.sjmparts.com/grease-snapper-7061017-st770123-p-17786.html

What is the first pic? I think the second to the last is the differential but the first pic has what in it?
Thanks,
Swami

 

[propwash]

Your mower is a 331416BVE which means it's a series16,which makes a difference in parts. The number indicates that it had a 14 HP Briggs,electric start engine. It has been replaced with a 13HP Tecumseh. I have no experience with the larger Tecu engines,and have heard good and bad about them.The mower looks pretty good,maybe needs a clean up,the boots look good as far as I can see and that's important. Dirt gets into a lot of the works if the boots get holes in them. The nut at the middle of the blade is a jam nut for the blade holder,and the blade should slip over it. The bolts are tight and need to be,you don't want that big 33" blade coming loose. I use a 1/2 "drive breakover handle with a 3/4 socket and put a3/4 end wrench against the spindle plus blocking the blade with a 2x4. be careful that you don't slip and hit the blade it will cut. I can't see the grease fitting on the R/hand side(In the photo) maybe you have the roller bearings.

 

[propwash]

The first picture is called the "Chaincase" there's a chain that runs from the hex tube to connect the driven disc to the drive works. the parts list will show an exploded view. The Snapper drive system is hard to visualize until you have been into it. The chaincase also makes the clutch and shifter and brake work.

 

[swamibob]

Is there any way to safely pop those plugs out make sure I don't damage them? Even if it is full, should I worry about draining and replacing the 00 grease or should I just top it off? Is there a special way to get it out of it?
I'm going to get a grease gun to lube the chassis. Do pump it until I see a little grease come out or does it build pressure and I can feel it when I pump?
Thanks for all the info everyone
Swami

 

[propwash]

I don't know of any sure way to prevent damage ,they are cheap,keep some on hand,The operators manual explains the lubrication,I try to replace the original bearings with double sealed bearings,which never need greasing. The originals are usually single sealed,open on the inside for the grease,the spindle should be greased often and front wheels,and if equipped, the drivers L/H wheel bushing,some mowers have a zerk on the inside of the shift arm,and some at the main tube joint.

 

[swamibob]

Ok, i finally got the mowing blade off yesterday. I had to use an impact wrench and it was hard to turn all the way out even with the impact. First thing that was different from the way it should have been was, as you can see from the picture if you look closely, someone put a large washer over the center bolt and then just tightened the nut that should be tightened all the way to the blade bar about 1/2 turn (the nut the bar should have slid over). I tried to tighten the nut all the way back in to the bar without the washer but I couldn't quite get it all the way since I was using a crescent wrench and the rod is rusty. Is this a problem or will it cause a problem, could the blade bar drop down? Also the blade bolts did not have any lock washers. If I have them torqued up tight should I worry about this?