Snapper RER vs. Simplicity RER

[spiders96]

Hi,

I live in Georgia and have a lawn of Emerald Zoysia, which is very thick and lush. My yard is about 1/2 acre, and I have been using a walk behind mower for the past 5 years. I am interested in purchasing a new riding mower, and I need a little advice. Most of the models available now appear to be either the tractor style or the zero turn radius style. I've been told that the rear engine rider mowers will provide the best quality cut overall because of the single blade. The tractors, of course, are widely available in many brands, but I wouldn't use it for anything except mowing.

Since I've never owned a riding mower of any type, I am interested in hearing what other people say about them.

I've been looking at both Snapper and Simplicity. They are both owned by the same parent company but are manufactured independently. I find the Hi-Vac deck of the Snapper appealing but it does not have the hydrostatic drive that the Simplicity Coronet has. The Coronet appears to be a little nicer overall and has the special rollers for the floating deck, but does it provide enough vacuum force when bagging a manicured lawn? Which of the 2 will most likely provide the superior cut?

Also, there is actually one tractor I have been looking at but probably won't purchase in the end. It's the Husqvarna YTH2348 now available at Lowe's. I like the 3 blade design and the 5 casters to help float the deck. Does anyone have a perspective on the quality of cut and durability of the Husqvarna tractors? I'm doubtfull that it would be as good as the Snapper or Simplicity, but I would like to hear opinions either way.

Thanks very much for any advice!

-Joe

 

[DieselPower]

I have and still use my OLD Snapper Hi-Vac mower. I picked it up used about 12 years ago and it's still running strong. Without going out to the garage I'm guessing the blade is something like 32"+. It also came with the bagger attachment for it. I mainly use it in the fall more to vacuum the leaves then to mow the lawn and let me tell you, this thing has some sucking power. I think the suction also helps with mowing as it lifts up the grass and makes for a more even cut. Not sure about the Simplicity or Husqvarna but the Snapper I have would be hard to beat in quality of cut. JMO

 

[nolefan]

Years ago I bought a used Snapper that I owned for 5 or 6 years. I don't know if it was a "hi-vac" but do know that when I bought the bagger kit for it there were angled steel wings that I had to bolt onto the ends of the blade that added lift. The quality of cut was very good. I also recommend them for mulching. I switched it over the last few years to mulching with the use of the Snapper Ninja blade. It was the most effective mulcher I have owned. When I went to replace it I was talked out of buying another because it was old technology as far as the drive system and I bought a John Deere GX85 RER instead. The John Deere has been a very good mower but I don't think you could go wrong with the Snapper unless their quality has gone down since I owned mine.

 

[wushaw]

I have owned a 9hp 28" Snapper Hi-Vac RER for 6 years, I have abused this machine, I had to replace a busted spindel once due to the abuse. The suction this thing creates is amazing, in sparce grass it will be a dust blowing machine. In regular grass it gives a great cut even with the beat up blade that is on it.
This machine is not hydro and it is really easy to drive, you don't have to clutch to change speeds...only in reverse.

 

[RandyB]

I had a snapper 32" 11 HP "HI-Vac" for over 18 years.It was my first rider also. Other then belts, blades and a clutch wheel it serve me well. The deck was about to rust apart and was to costly to replace and the engine started to knock a little. I gave it to a old man that worked on old mowers and he fixed it up.The only thing that kept me from buying another one was that it wasn't as quick (speed) as the new ones. The cut is excellent and the vacccum is good. I used it year around. Yes it's old technology but it's simple and it works!! That's why they still build them.