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Snapper 21" Ninja Mulching Mower.

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MowHouston

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I've been looking at some 21" mowers and I stopped at a dealership that carries Snapper. I've got no experience with these mowers and wanted to know if anyone has any input on them.

I really like the cupholder :) But of course I just need something with a good cut at a good pace. I got quoted $890 out the door for this mower.

Feel free to plug in your opinions and any other 21" that you might recommend.
 
#2 ·
If you are mainly mulching, then I'd go with either a Exmark or Toro. They do a much better job. If you are mainly bagging, then the Snapper is the better mower. I own all of these mowers and know this from my experiece.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Scagguy said:
If you are mainly mulching, then I'd go with either a Exmark or Toro. They do a much better job. If you are mainly bagging, then the Snapper is the better mower. I own all of these mowers and know this from my experiece.
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I hardly ever bag. Just mulching. I'll see about visiting a Toro dealer this weekend I guess.
 
#5 ·
I had a Snapper with the Ninja blade, it mulched pretty good at the slowest speed. If you ran it 3/4 to full speed it wanted to lay the grass over, I don't care about mulching so I just put a normal blade on it and its fine.
 
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#6 ·
They're great machines. You're in Houston, so there are a million Snapper dealers, but there are alot that don't stock the machines. You should be able to find them for under $800. How is the dealership? Is it neat and professional, with a good service center? I wouldn't hesitate to pay a little more if the dealership was of better quality (fast, professional service).
 
#7 ·
If you mulch, be sure to get the proper deck. The hivac deck is really terrific for bagging, that is what I do with mine. However, it is very slow, IMO, with the Ninja blade for mulching. Yes, it will mulch, but the hivac deck requires that you run it at a slow ground speed. If you get the mulching deck you can go lots faster, but it doesn't bag nearly as well. I had the same experience with the Honda commercial that had the truned under deck, it would bag wonderfully, mulching was slow. I bought the Snapper to replace the Honda because it is about 30 pounds lighter and so much easier to get on and off the trailer. As a bonus, the Snapper parts are easier to get, cheaper, and it is easier to fix.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
tlb9596 said:
They're great machines. You're in Houston, so there are a million Snapper dealers, but there are alot that don't stock the machines. You should be able to find them for under $800. How is the dealership? Is it neat and professional, with a good service center? I wouldn't hesitate to pay a little more if the dealership was of better quality (fast, professional service).
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The dealership is well maintained and the guy on the sales floor knew the ins and outs of the equipment. Thats what steered my towards that mower. They have both the bagging unit, as well as the mulching unit in stock. They were really friendly compared to other dealers that I have been too. Seems like a lot of them act like they dont even want you there.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
BillWil said:
If you mulch, be sure to get the proper deck. The hivac deck is really terrific for bagging, that is what I do with mine. However, it is very slow, IMO, with the Ninja blade for mulching. Yes, it will mulch, but the hivac deck requires that you run it at a slow ground speed. If you get the mulching deck you can go lots faster, but it doesn't bag nearly as well. I had the same experience with the Honda commercial that had the truned under deck, it would bag wonderfully, mulching was slow. I bought the Snapper to replace the Honda because it is about 30 pounds lighter and so much easier to get on and off the trailer. As a bonus, the Snapper parts are easier to get, cheaper, and it is easier to fix.
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Yeah I hardly ever bag. Very rarely in fact. I would be going for the mulching machine. Bagging only comes along on first of the year cleanups.

Thanks for the info.
 
#10 ·
What dealer did you go to? I have both snappers and toro and I can tell you that the snapper leaves a flawless cut when bagging but sucks at mulching. The toro on the other hand does both very well. I would reccomend a toro over a snapper anyday.
 
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Discussion starter · #11 ·
Just called the dealership and they do have the mulching unit in stock. I had originally looked at the bagging unit. That one was $890 out the door. The mulching unit is $810 out the door.

I may go pick it up tomorrow. I need to get back in the field asap.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
SNAPPER MAN said:
What dealer did you go to? I have both snappers and toro and I can tell you that the snapper leaves a flawless cut when bagging but sucks at mulching. The toro on the other hand does both very well. I would reccomend a toro over a snapper anyday.
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Down at Giles in Texas City. I reside in Galveston so its close to me. They carry Snapper and Gravely. I didn't even pay much attention to the Gravely unit.

Do you have the hivac Snapper or the mulching? Sometimes I have yards that I just side discharge on, but that was with the easy change out on that Recycler I had.

I think what is going to justify this purchase is the fact that money is tight, I've gotten good news about the mower, and I need it by YESTERDAY. :D
 
#13 ·
Haha. I have the hi-vac snappers and they are really good mowers, but for a good mulcher you need to go with a toro.
 
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#14 ·
SNAPPER MAN said:
Haha. I have the hi-vac snappers and they are really good mowers, but for a good mulcher you need to go with a toro.
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Interesting but we have used these 21" Snappers for almost 30 years in the mulching mode only and little problem. Guess our environment may be a little dryer than yours. Never used those silly Niga blades though.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
I guess my question should be, how do the work on St Augustine :)

Not sure if you're doing mostly St Augustine up in Austin.

I've got another LCO buddy down here that uses Snapper and loves his. Not sure if he had used Toro either.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Well I got the Snapper today. I didnt even get to take a look at the toros because the dealer that I was told to go to doesnt even sell them anymore and I needed a mower today.

Anyhow, the thing handles like a tank. 5 lawns today and my left arm is sore as hell from turning the thing. The lever for the self propelled system is on the right hand side, stabs me in the stomach when I'm backing up. I cant make turns near fences like I normally do (left handed) so I have to do it all right handed, but if I am near low slung branches, I have to fight the branch off of the engine throttle while still trying to hold on to the mower as it pulls me through the branches.

What else? Oh, the ninja blades suck. At least I'm hoping it is the ninja blades. Running the engine speed at full throttle (at the recommendation of the dealer) mow my strip, turn around and there are more stringers behind me than using my old $300 toro recycler homeowner unit. I will try different blades tomorrow, but I was/am pissed about it. The part that actually -does- get cut looks great though. Mulches great, but I could care less, how fine the mulch is at this point. I want to be able to go faster, cut without damn stringers, etc. I wish I would have had time to demo the unit but I had to get something.

If I can get the mower to stop leaving stringers of grass behind, I will be happy with it. I will just have to explain to my girlfriend that my left arm is bigger than my right arm because of handling that mower all day, not from masturbation.
 
#18 ·
Your girlfriend knows you too well, she will never believe that! lol

Try a gator blade on it AND before you toss the Ninja blade sharpen it and try again.

The rest is just things you deal with on getting used to a new machine. Let us know how it goes.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
saw man said:
Your girlfriend knows you too well, she will never believe that! lol

Try a gator blade on it AND before you toss the Ninja blade sharpen it and try again.

The rest is just things you deal with on getting used to a new machine. Let us know how it goes.
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Yeah, the dealer told me that the personal pace system just spoiled me and I will need to get used to heavier mowers and different control systems. Really after about three lawns I was getting the hang of that lever when turning, but its still a bit tiring. I'm just being a sissy about it.

I'll sharpen those ninjas tonight as well. I'll probably pick up some gators from the dealer tomorrow morning as well.

I'll talk with you guys more once I get home. I didnt even leave my last customer's lawn before I jumped on here, I had to vent :D
 
#20 ·
I own a Snapper and a Toro Proline. I used a gator blade on the Proline and it mulched good. I use a Ninja blade on my Snapper and it mulches excellent even at a fast pace. I bought the Snapper as a back up. There are only two things I dont like on the Snapper. The snapper is much lighter then the Proline so it bounces off of bumps in the lawn much more. The drive system for the most part is identical on my new Snapper compared to my old Snapper, but the engagement handle is bigger and more cumbersome to use.
 
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