Snapper 1650

["Manic-Mechanic" 1,194]

I just got this 1650 powered by  K341. First thing changed out the carburetor. Oil we be drained and fluids replaced. I have it where it'll run and idle nicely will be replacing the forward PTO belts, found OEM 8 bucks a piece with free shipping. I have 900.00 into this with belts & Carb from (IsaveTractors.com)

The carb I grabbed up earlier for another project and it wouldn't cooperate, so tried it on this and viola!

 

 

Although the Snow Blower is nice enough for a single stage, I do not care for the exhaust coming straight outta the front grill

 

You can see the blackened paint and all that heat on the right headlight and Drive Assembly for the unit.

 

The Cab is nice enough, solid and the 3 pt cat 0 at 2000 rpm is a good helper, once I install the double 1/2 x 23 belts it'll be ready!

 

Again the blackened paint and all from that poorly engineered exhaust, have to change that!

 

True to Factory on this unit the K341

 

Weather protector between the Hood and Cab, just need to figure that out! lol

 

The Deck is really solid and has the weird straight 3 blades with cogged belt

 

Not rusted through and the blades are timed with the cogged belt.

 

Finally a really nice set of Turfs

Edited October 5, 2022 by "Manic-Mechanic"

[WHX?? 48,828]

900 was fair then. Yah the exhaust setup was worse on the Onan twins. 

["Manic-Mechanic" 1,194]

2 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

900 was fair then. Yah the exhaust setup was worse on the Onan twins. 

Thanks. I couldn't imagine any worse! Gonna be fun modifying that for sure!

[pacer 3,173]

Just getting in on this post, computer down for several days  -- thought I was gonna go into the DT's missing out on the postings here

 

Yes, I had a 1650 and a 1655, and yep the '50s had the K341 and the 55s had the Onans -- Oh, and the exhaust on the 55 was virtually the same, and with that hood/engine cover routing design makes it tough to do a reroute. They are/were a hella of a beast. I loved both of them with the 1655 being a slight favorite. The down side as pointed out is parts availability - or lack of. I finally gave in and got both in good running condition and sold them. They are indeed a pill to work on!!

 

The 1650 deck is belt driven from the engine and the 1655 is shaft driven and there in lay my .... nightmare? Being shaft driven to the deck and the deck itself driven by the cogged belts .... well, if you hit ANY kind of a snag - root, old stump, most anything that would briefly stop the blades then one - or more of the plastic pulleys on the spindle was peeled and this happened to me 4 times! Amazingly I found 3 of the pulleys and they had a good bit of normal wear. On the 4th incident it was no go! In desperation I fell back on a long ago skill I had learned and that was casting aluminum. So I went about cobbling together the makings of a furnace and after about 4-5 attempts I finally succeded in casting one close enough that I could then get it in the mill and cut the cogs. I must have pulled that monster deck 12-15 times..... WHEW!! When I had that mastered I went ahead and cast three more as the ones on the deck had a lot of wear ----- made of PLASTIC!!! Gah!!

 

What this is leading up to here is to give you warning about those cogged pulleys. Even though the V belt will give you some 'give' if they already have some wear then they could strip.

 

Next ---- the shaft that drives the tranny and the PTO is ... 9 or 11 tooth splined (my memory isnt sure which?) and they are harder to find than the pulleys. There are 3 splined 'couplers' on them and - I think? - they are still available at Surplus Center. They will almost certainly have some wear and I would strongly suggest that you replace them, you may still have a bit of slop, so I also want ahead and added 3 Grade 8 bolts at each end to help take that out.

 

You got a nice looking Massey there and with accesories too - and the added bonus of getting that K341 (gotta be one of the best small engines!) and while $1200 may not be a real bargain, I wouldve given that with out hesitation.

 

My 1650 had a tiller and I put it on CL for $1500 and within 4-5 hrs it was going out the drive for 1400 - the tiller sold that one!. The 1655 had PTO and 3 pt with deck and I ran it on CL for 15 and on the 3rd day it left out the drive at 14 also. Of course I had WAY more than that in them, but, thats OK, this is my --- man cave? I dont golf, fish, hunt, etc, I fix up old tractors!

["Manic-Mechanic" 1,194]

52 minutes ago, pacer said:

Just getting in on this post, computer down for several days  -- thought I was gonna go into the DT's missing out on the postings here

 

Yes, I had a 1650 and a 1655, and yep the '50s had the K341 and the 55s had the Onans -- Oh, and the exhaust on the 55 was virtually the same, and with that hood/engine cover routing design makes it tough to do a reroute. They are/were a hella of a beast. I loved both of them with the 1655 being a slight favorite. The down side as pointed out is parts availability - or lack of. I finally gave in and got both in good running condition and sold them. They are indeed a pill to work on!!

 

The 1650 deck is belt driven from the engine and the 1655 is shaft driven and there in lay my .... nightmare? Being shaft driven to the deck and the deck itself driven by the cogged belts .... well, if you hit ANY kind of a snag - root, old stump, most anything that would briefly stop the blades then one - or more of the plastic pulleys on the spindle was peeled and this happened to me 4 times! Amazingly I found 3 of the pulleys and they had a good bit of normal wear. On the 4th incident it was no go! In desperation I fell back on a long ago skill I had learned and that was casting aluminum. So I went about cobbling together the makings of a furnace and after about 4-5 attempts I finally succeded in casting one close enough that I could then get it in the mill and cut the cogs. I must have pulled that monster deck 12-15 times..... WHEW!! When I had that mastered I went ahead and cast three more as the ones on the deck had a lot of wear ----- made of PLASTIC!!! Gah!!

 

What this is leading up to here is to give you warning about those cogged pulleys. Even though the V belt will give you some 'give' if they already have some wear then they could strip.

 

Next ---- the shaft that drives the tranny and the PTO is ... 9 or 11 tooth splined (my memory isnt sure which?) and they are harder to find than the pulleys. There are 3 splined 'couplers' on them and - I think? - they are still available at Surplus Center. They will almost certainly have some wear and I would strongly suggest that you replace them, you may still have a bit of slop, so I also want ahead and added 3 Grade 8 bolts at each end to help take that out.

 

You got a nice looking Massey there and with accesories too - and the added bonus of getting that K341 (gotta be one of the best small engines!) and while $1200 may not be a real bargain, I wouldve given that with out hesitation.

 

My 1650 had a tiller and I put it on CL for $1500 and within 4-5 hrs it was going out the drive for 1400 - the tiller sold that one!. The 1655 had PTO and 3 pt with deck and I ran it on CL for 15 and on the 3rd day it left out the drive at 14 also. Of course I had WAY more than that in them, but, thats OK, this is my --- man cave? I dont golf, fish, hunt, etc, I fix up old tractors!

Excellent tale of your experience's with the Snappers! I ended up getting it for 800. I will be replacing the mid PTO Belts, (1/2 x 23). Not really interested in the mower deck, especially now I am aware of that little engineering flaw! I do however, want to try and use the Wheel Horse attachments from my 18 Auto. The Center link on the Snapper is a bit odd, however the rest is perfect cat 0, 2000 rpm! I should also order up the two belts on the rear pto, they are there but I don't think the owner ever used the rear pto. The engine would stumble at start up due to the coupled shafts you mentioned! Yes, they rattle like crazy! I had had already envisioned some type of mod on those for sure. Now finding a seat with the 5-1/2 x 9 bolt pattern has already become a challenge. I too do put way too much into these little machines, but they are fun to run!

[pacer 3,173]

7 minutes ago, "Manic-Mechanic" said:

finding a seat with the 5-1/2 x 9 bolt pattern

I got one of those multi bolt patterned seats and modified the mounts to line up with one of the many choices

 

Have a bunch of pics of the 55 and thought one had a shot of the seat mounting, but guess I didnt get one of that.

 

Heres a couple of others showing the exhaust system on the Onan and one with the mods I had to do to the scalper wheels replacing those crappy metal slides