# The Snapper 3201S thread



## jonny (Jul 10, 2019)

Searched through the forum for thread titles on this model and found none, so here we go for any of you who have a 3201 and want to sing its praises or otherwise.

It uses a tecumseh 2 stroke engine, model AH600-1639M, I think.

I just got a non-running one for $10 which had sat for about 10 years. All it needed was a carb cleaning and it fired right up. Main jet was plugged. I squirted juice into all the other orifices I could see, ran horsehair bristles down some of the tiny ones (thank god none broke off in there!) and that must have done the trick.

There are a few other minor broken parts, but nothing that stops the thing working.

Finally, for no really good reason, and against my better judgement (frozen screws?), I decided to take the muffler cover off and look inside (shock and horror - the screws came out easily!)

Whoa daddy - this is what fell out of there....









The baffle had broken into four pieces, and I suspect a bit of shrapnel from the vicinity of the air holes in each of the top corners was in there too at some point, but has disappeared completely, chewed up and spat out somehow. The cylinder shows some signs of being gnawed on at the top edge - the shrapnel no doubt.

Anyway, I'm putting it away for a few months now, but I thought I should share the baffle info so you can check yours before it blows up your engine. I feel lucky the damage to mine was no worse. 

The baffle is Tecumseh part number 390272, which does you no good because it's obsolete.
I bent and drilled an approximation from some regular old sheet metal I had lying around and it seems to work fine. It was waaaay noisy without the baffle!


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## jonny (Jul 10, 2019)

This seemed like an unobtrusive place to put in a shut-off valve, since my model didn't come with one. Two holes cut into a slot and a right angle valve does nicely. I like the concept of shutting the fuel off right before you're done blowing and letting the bowl run dry.


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## jonny (Jul 10, 2019)

The discharge chute is the last major broken item on my 3201. I really should fix it.









Could someone please post a pic of an intact one so I can see how Snapper designed it?
Thanks!!


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## jonny (Jul 10, 2019)

Since I had an old Ninja 250 rear brake disk lying around I did a bunch of cutting, grinding, drilling and gluing...

















Better than new, eh?


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## jonny (Jul 10, 2019)

I'm thinking I must be the only one willing to admit they have a puny little 3201. And enjoy it, even.
Today we got the first really significant snow storm of the season in downtown Salt Lake. It's been a warm winter so far. Twelve+ inches of medium/light snow with a pretty heavy inch sitting right on the surface (it had been 50 degrees the day before).
This thing performed great. It took quite a bit of back and forth to get the first path cut, but then it was totally happy doing a 50% width cut at a moderate walking pace. The snow was as high as the auger housing. I was quite proud of the little guy.


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## Glend123 (Jan 29, 2021)

I've got one that I bought new in 1991. Been working great for 30 years! but, now that I've moved and have a much larger driveway, I think it's time to let it go. it really struggled with the 10" snow yesterday in WI. I could only take 6" passes on an 85' long driveway. replaces the belt and muffler last year. maybe I'll keep it for the 2" snowfalls, really works fine on that.


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## Glend123 (Jan 29, 2021)

Here it is. Really too small for my driveway, 31" of snow so far in SE WI


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