Don't know about the bag. It does not have the same transmission. It has the same cheap transmission found on Cub Cadet mowers and a bunch of other cheaper mowers. There is no "straight-through" axle on any Snapper. The Hi-Vac (that has the real Snapper transmission) has a real differential where each axle extends from a rear wheel all the way into the transmission, and each axle can spin independently of the other (which is why it's a true open differential). This new cheapie probably has some sort of gear drive with a solid axle driving the gears inside each wheel and some sort of ratchet to allow differential speeds between the wheels.

I would _not_ pay $429 for this thing! You can get a real Hi-Vac for not much more than that at a dealer.

Matt, the regular Snappers front axles are straight through. That's why they stay better aligned then the rest with stub axles on the adjusters.

Perry, haven't seen them yet but from others comments on other forums the Sears Snapper has little similarity other then name and color. Much the same as when Toro changed the name of the original Recycler to Super Recycler and introduced the the Home Depot designed as Recycler. The HD Recycler had little to do with what one considers a real Toro. Same applies with the Sears Snapper. But folks will buy them cause they got a piece of plastic in their wallets with Sears on it.

The positive side to this is that unlike much of the MTD line up using Chinese engines and decks this cheap extension of the Snapper line keeps jobs here at home.

Wow, Nevada Walrus, good to see you are still "here". How the heck are you? Hows the L&g biz in LV treating you?

Techdave from Sears from a couple of years ago.

The new SE line of Snapper mowers will be sold at dealers as well as Sears. Perhaps this is an improvement for Sears. Their Craftsman walk behind mowers of late represent the worst in the industry just like their garage door openers. Snapper... (AKA Simplicity) is creating this line to generate excitement and also to make money. It remains to be seen if the line is high quality, user friendly, and warrants the venerable name of Snapper. I hope it's a great mower for Simplicity's sake.

Hi rdaystrom, are you in the GDO business?

Have you repaired hundreds or thousands of Genies, or other brands like moorematic?

Do you know who makes Craftsman GDOs?

N_W wrote:
"Matt, the regular Snappers front axles are straight through. That's why they stay better aligned then the rest with stub axles on the adjusters."

D'oh! I didn't even think about the front axle. Yeah, that's an important feature in terms of durability. No, the new "Snapper" at Sears does not have this simple, durable design. That would make too much sense.

Hi techdave, I know that alot of Sear's GDOs are made by Chamberlain. I got my parts for my Craftsman from a Chamberlain dealer. Chamberlain also owns LiftMaster (professional brand of GDOs) & Elite (gate openers).

From looking at the picture, The engine appears to be equipped with the "Ready Start" features for easy starting.

With lawn mowers price is usually a very good indicator of the level of quality you are getting. The Sears model is really designed to compete with comparably priced brands sold at other mass merchandisers like Home Depot, Walmart, etc. They are not bad mowers, but what you will find is that after 5+- years of use many of the non-motor components will wear out or just plain break.