Robin EY20 Snapper

well... if it's got a brake on the engine and/or remnants of the "dead man" lever on the handlebars and/or control cable (aka "zone cable"), we know it's post 1982.
black handlebars: mid - late 1980s ... from the long dimple on the inside of the discharge chute I would guess even later.

the "EY20" is the engine... but I know zilch about Robin engines... I just do B&S and Tecumseh.

MODEL number of mower can be tricky. I had one where the sticker was so faded out I couldn't read it, but when I carefully peeled the sticker off the top of the deck I was able to make out the model number from the "shadow" left behind from the glue. You might try that. Be careful not to damage the model number sticker attempting to remove it - no razor blades!

Probably a series 15 model M .... steel deck 21" .... not a heck of a lot different than this one I finished the other day (although this one has a completely different engine on it than what was OE):

Take another look and see if you can figure out model number - might try what I've suggested above.
You should be able to find a *.pdf format owners manual and parts manual online free.

<edit>
as a last resort:
since you have the SERIAL number, you might consider giving B&S a call (or email inquiry) with the serial number and see if they might be able to help.
Briggs & Stratton Power Products acquired Snapper about 10 years ago.

<edit again>
re: "different lighting"
can make all the difference. and a good magnifying glass. try inside/outside light - direct sun - partial sun. I recall having a heck of a time making out model numbers on more than one mower (Snapper or otherwise) but usually I'm able to figure it out - sometimes with a helpful person on the other end of the phone (or email addy) at the manufacturer's end.

Thanks 4C
Your Snapper is beautiful.
I know EY20 is the Robin engine model. I can see I wasn't putting things in a good sequence in the title. I've owned a few different Snappers in the past, but this is not only the first Robin powered I've owned, but it's the first one I've seen in person.
I've located some discussions about Robin powered mowers here and there and none are of this vintage or have the "EY20" model Robin. All the Robin EY20 info I find searching the www is for a horizontal shaft version for some reason. I will try to find a better way to view the remnants of the sticker with the model number

there is, of course, always the possibility the engine may not be the original power plant on that mower.
wouldn't be the first time a consumer took a mower into a shop for repair and they installed a whole new engine - I've had several like that just in the last season - two of them were really old Snappers.
see what you can do to determine the mower model number and go from there.

<edit 3:45 PM PDT - the Snapper just left with a new owner. that one didn't last long... just finished it Sunday. got a big monster Craftsman as a trade-in.>

Good news is the engine - I think it is the toughest ever put on a lawnmower deck. Powerful and extremely well built. Good news that the engine run well. Bad news is that parts are very hard to find for those engines. I had to buy a whole engine just to get the carb. I have two of these brutes. Parts like bails and cables should be easy to find.

Thanks LBO.
I've always heard that about the wisconsin/robin/subaru (fuji heavy industries) engines and when this came up for $80 I jumped on it. I knew they were hard to find, but after finding one I cant find anything about it. For example, I believe the kill/brake (zone control) cable attaches on the right side of the engine, but it's not obvious where. I was just looking for a drawing or a photo of someone else's machine and was a little surprised to find nothing on the internet.
It does start on the first pull.

edit: sorry turtle you were replying while i was typing.

Snapping_turtle said:

That is for the same engine but when was known as Wisconsin robin wi -185v with the white shroud put on commercial snappers. I have a couple white shroud 185v and one black ey20 engine. I like the black robin subaru better personally cosmetically.

Click to expand...

Thanks snapping turtle. At first I thought all the older snappers with the white top wis robin had a muffler opposite the carb (not same side like this).

re: "I believe the kill/brake (zone control) cable attaches on the right side of the engine, but it's not obvious where"

just went out and looked at mine. of the six, three (later black-handle models like yours) have the kill cable on the left (drivers) side, two (white-handle oldies) have it on the right (passenger) side. other one is a 1981 - no kill cable.
(all of the ones I have here right now have B&S engines, except my old beater that's got a little Tecumseh 3.5 TVS90 on it - pre-1982 w/no engine brake.)
you can hook them up on either side with the little gizmo that holds the cable at the top end... you just flip it over if you hook it up on the other side.

-> 7034872 CLIP, Blade Control

should be able to find the kill lever, clip, and cable pretty easy. pretty much all same/same there.

-> 7047011 BAIL, OPC Control

7035808 CABLE, Blade Control (46-1/16") Used on Series 14 B&S
7046553 CABLE, Blade Control (55-3/4") Used on Series 14 Tecumseh
7073030 CABLE, Blade Control (54-13/16") Used on Series 15 Tecumseh
7072933 CABLE, Blade Control (49-1/4") Used on Series 15 B&S
7073444 CABLE, Blade Control (52-13/16") Was 46702

* all those part numbers are for "MR" SERIES 14 & 15 (model like in the photo above I posted.) (a cable is a cable is a cable as long as it hooks up properly.)

hope that helps.

I hope you can see how the cable hooks up on one of my spare eys. Yes this is actually an original blacktop but as I said I like the blacks better so I have that shroud on my 185v I'm putting together. I also have a newer to me snapper with wi 185 white top in great shape but those both don't have any zone start at all. Just shut off with the throttle. But my eh18 6.5 robin and this one in the pictures is set up for cable. You can see the bracket the cable sheath is connected to furthest out from the back of engine. And the hole for the cable end just inline with the back of the spring out from the rear of the engine. I'll take a picture of my snapper 6.5 in a minute as well should be the same but just ohv

I'm sorry I had forgot the eh18 robin being ohv has the huge muffler on the side of the zone start but here is that picture anyways