The dilemma is I hit one of my wifes lawn ornaments last fall and now the crank is slightly bent(vibrates bad now). The mower is 21" Hi Vac purchased in 2007 for 599.00 plus tax, so its 10 years old. Its in mint condition always cleaned in the spring and half way thru summer. The current engine is the Briggs Intek that has always burned oil and killed two spark plugs each year. My plan is to put the GXV160 Honda engine on it or just purchase the commercial 21 with the Honda engine for 929.00. Tough decision since I can do the work myself and hate spending more money than needed.
I'm actually doing a rebuild on a 1985 Snapper RER in the forum. When I had to make the decision I took a few things into consideration.
1. Is the cost worthwhile is a rebuild over a new machine? A new machine would be around $1500-$1700. Rebuilding the original would be about $1100. That would be replacing most parts and upgrading to Honda power ($750). Since the new machine would still have a Briggs (nothing wrong with Briggs for cheap power), the winner was the rebuild.
2. Is a new machine going to be better (more features, reliable) than the older machine? Apples to apples, not much has changed with the Snappers. OK, I think they have gotten a bit cheaper with plastic & construction. I can't speak to the parts but the reviews on the new machines aren't overwhelming. I did notice that Snapper had a RER 101 model (I think) that was a return of the classic but it is not available in the US. I would have bought that in a minute if available! That still had a Briggs. Again, the winner was the rebuild.
3. My time. Do I have the time to rebuild a machine or do I need to just have one shipped to the house? I had the time to take things apart. OK, I'm still working on it but it's going together now. I also had the tools just sitting in the basement and garage that might sway someone else to go the buy route. I had a lathe (fab some spacers), bead blaster (cleaned paint/rust off parts) at my disposal which helps make the project go a lot quicker. Winner > rebuild.
So, I decided to go the rebuild route. I am saving about ~$600 BUT that's not accounting for the time spent. I also like to rebuild things and get the satisfaction when it's done. My wife looked at it the other day and even said, wow, that looks like new. She actually uses the rider while I do the push. I said, see, I told you all those tools would come in handy. We saved $x dollars by doing this. Ha, we all know how true that is, right?
Oh, and probably one thing not to forget is that if your not happy with the current machine and want to switch brands for features, reliability, etc... now would be the time to go the new route. I like the (older) Snappers. I think it's one of the best machines for picking up leaves with the bagger and "Hi-Vac" system. By taking it apart and seeing how serviceable these are.. I can see why they were so popular. My father-in-law gave me the machine and bought a few other machines to replace it but always compared them to the Snapper and how they weren't as good.
That's just my $.02.
Matt ;o)
