Bottom Line: I am very, very disappointed in my mower and will never
consider another Snapper product.

Executive Summary: Failed me twice in the first two years of light use - I
mean failed as in had to go back to the dealer's for repair. Wrote a very
civil letter to Snapper and copied the dealer but never heard from either.
Not only poorly built but poorly designed too. Terrible turning radius.

Nitty Grity: Within the first two years of light use the mower failed me
twice. The first time it just quit while I was mowing and would not start
again. The second time I was mowing and heard a difference in the noise it
makes and discovered that the blade was no longer rotating. The first
service was covered by the warranty. The second was not. Although it was
still under warranty the problem was a broken belt and that is considered
wear and tear. I hadn't used the mower more than about a dozen times, so
that tells you something about the quality of the parts they use.


I've only owned one other riding mower. And it was a Snapper. I owned it
for at least 15 years and never had such serious problems. I wish now I had
kept the old one. Or bought a different brand. There are NO improvements
in the new mower. They have added some safety features but they are so
poorly designed that I would not call them improvements. One of the safety
features shuts the engine off if you lift your weight from the seat. It
starts to stall if you even shift your weight on the seat. It seems to me
that they could have at least let the engine continue to run if the blade
was disengaged and you had put the mower in park. Oh, but wait! That would
have meant having a park gear which it does not. So if you stop on ground
that is not perfectly level you have to leave it in gear - which means
waiting for the engine to completely stop before getting off it - because
you have to keep your foot on the clutch/brake. The other new safety
feature prevents you from shifting into reverse if the blade is engaged. I
can see that (although I don't like it). But the blade does not disengage
automatically. So you disengage the blade, shift into reverse, back up,
shift back into 1st and then re-engage the blade. Probably wouldn't be a
big deal if it had a tighter turning radius. But given the turning radius
you have to do a lot of backing up in my standard suburban lot.



I'll have to send it in for service this fall or early next year to have the
transmission checked. Sometimes first gear simply does not work. I put it
into first and the wheels do not turn. Sometimes if I leave it in first
gear when the engine is off (no park remember) the mower will roll if it's
not on perfectly level ground. Fortunately second gear has (almost) always
worked. Unfortunately reverse sometimes has the same problem - and of
course there is only one reverse gear.



I can't understand how they failed to make simple, low cost improvements
which anyone who used the mower would know were desirable. One example, the
seat is black vinyl - just like my old Snapper. And just like the old
Snapper, if that black seat has been in the summer sun for a few minutes you
don't want to sit on it if you are wearing shorts. Do they not know that
black things get hot in the sun? Or do they not know that people mow grass
when the sun is shinning? Sheesh! Another example, there is a large black
tube which carries the cuttings from the mower deck to the bagger attachment
on the rear. It can sometimes get clogged. If that tube were simply made
from clear plastic you could see instantly when the tube was clogged.



Well ... I am not sure that exhausts all of the reasons I wish I had not
purchased this mower but you get the idea.



This is not a newsgroup which I follow. I am contributing this report in
the hope that it will prevent someone from making the same mistake I made.
I may follow this group for a few days to respond to questions/comments but
no promises.



Bob