Looking at purchasing this old bertha

I saw an add for this on a classified site. "12 HP Snapper Riding Lawn Mower. Used all last mowing season with no problems. Includes hi-vac mulching attachment. " How wary should I be with this? I run a self propelled toro right now and I feel a rider of any type would be benefit to my efficiency. I am concerned that my weight at about 240 might be a bit much for 12hp though I am not sure. I have found a mechanic that rebuilds and refurbishes equipment. I ran into him when we purchased our first gas weed eater. He will be a great contact. Also, Would using a piece of equipment a dingy as this look bad on me? Would fresh paint take care of that? I don't want to have a bad image from the equipment I am using.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Are you going to have to lift this into your van? Or will you be using a trailer? Do you have any idea how many hours are on it? How much did they want for it? I personally wouldn't be too concerned about how the equipment looks as much as how functional it is. If a customer sees you using equipment that looks beat up, that actually could be used for your benefit because they won't be thinking you are charging them a higher amount to pay for all your 'fancy' equipment.

__________________
- Subscribe to my Lawn Care Marketing Blog Feed and get daily tips sent to you. Free!
Download your Free trial of Gopher Lawn Care Software.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (yardworksinc @ April 22 2008,2:11)]I saw an add for this on a classified site. "12 HP Snapper Riding Lawn Mower. Used all last mowing season with no problems. Includes hi-vac mulching attachment.

"

How wary should I be with this? I run a self propelled toro right now and I feel a rider of any type would be benefit to my efficiency. I am concerned that my weight at about 240 might be a bit much for 12hp though I am not sure. I have found a mechanic that rebuilds and refurbishes equipment. I ran into him when we purchased our first gas weed eater. He will be a great contact.

Also, Would using a piece of equipment a dingy as this look bad on me? Would fresh paint take care of that? I don't want to have a bad image from the equipment I am using.

I had one last year for about 3 months. I had one with a bad motor and it blew up on me. I weigh about 270 and had no problem. The mower was not to bad. I think that mower you bought will work good for you.

I cannot jump on it yet. I dont have the capitol to do so at this time and afford the bills that I need to cover. I will be contacting the seller periodically to both express my interest and see if it is still available until I have the funds. I think it would be a great starter. I will ask the seller the other questions that were posted by Team Gopher. If I recall correctly, a gasoline engine needs a rebuild at like 2000 hours right?

To answer the stowing question. Yes I will be putting it in my van but I will be removing the back seat (middle already removed for other equipment) and getting 2 6x2x8's as well as some hardware to make it a sturdy ramp. No way am I going to lift and drop it into the van at each job! I'm not a lightweight but I'm not trying to carry something aroun that is supposed to carry me around!

Oh yeah, the price ws in th topic but not reposted. Woops! It's 200 bucks. I'll have to give it a test run before I do the deal.

[Little's]

Funny thing is Snapper still makes this exact mower. So wash it, give it a little extra paint, and no one will know any better. http://www.snapper.com/products/riding/rear-engine/
My Dad has one that he has been using for years. The darn thing just wont quit. The older motors are less hp, but still have just as much power as the newer higher hp motors, because the emission restrictions were a lot less back then.
A thing or two to check about when buying it is any gear slipping in the rear-end, blade raising and lower works ok, and good compression in the pistons.
Also check the tires, because it can cost you $150 to $200 for a new set of tires (most places dont sell single tires, usually in pairs, so if you have 1 bad front and 1 bad back, you will be buying a whole set of tires).

[Steve]

Brandon,

Do you have any ideas as to how many hours your dad has on that engine?

A little while back we were talking about Wright mowers and there was an article where the owner of Wright was saying, consumer mower models last about 1/10 the life of a commercial mower.

[Little's]

I have no idea how many hours his has. He got it through a trade years ago, and it was all used up when he got it. But it just keeps going. He keeps talking about buying a new one, but as long as this one keeps working, he says theres no need in buying a newer model.