Victa Mowers (It's Summer Down Under!)

Two-Stroke

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Since there's no forum for the brand I thought I'd start a thread about a great Australian mower: Victa. They continue to make two-cycle mowers -- which is interesting to me as a two-stroke hobbyist. :cool:

Unsurprisingly, their older models are the most interesting. Here's a 1968 model. I like the idea of getting the air intake away from ground level.

1968Victa02.JPG

Here's a Victa ad (obviously old -- notice the footware :confused2: ):

victa_advert.jpeg

Another one that looks like 1950s vintage: :cool:

victa--4.jpg

For more about the brand check out the Wikipedia page.
 

reynoldston

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Sounds like you are getting into the grass cutting and we are into snow removal. Just had to fix the engine cut out switch in the throttle of my ATV so I can plow snow. Looks like a nice hobby Victa mowers. The picture of the small 2 cycle looks like it has its job cut out for it seeing the length of the grass its cutting.
 

Two-Stroke

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Sounds like you are getting into the grass cutting and we are into snow removal. Just had to fix the engine cut out switch in the throttle of my ATV so I can plow snow. Looks like a nice hobby Victa mowers. The picture of the small 2 cycle looks like it has its job cut out for it seeing the length of the grass its cutting.

It's not me... I'm in Georgia so I'm not mowing too much right now. :laughing:

I first heard about Victa from another member on LMF a couple years ago and a recent thread on powder coating in the Lawn-Boy forum got my interest up again. An Australian member who has a bunch of them may post some photos and comments -- if we're lucky. :cool:
 

Lawnboy18

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That lady mowing tho.

I've heard about them. Love the breather tube on the carb along the handle.
 

bertsmobile1

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That lady mowing tho.

I've heard about them. Love the breather tube on the carb along the handle.

AFAIK Victa was the only mower company that originated by some one trying to make life easier for the person doing the mowing.
A philosophy that has guided the company till 2008 when Briggs took them over.
In this case it was the founder ( Merv ) who was looking for an easier way for his son to pay his way through Uni by mowing lawns.

He is credited with the invention of the walk behind powered rotary mower and he never took out a patient
Every one who saw it being used wanted one & the rest is history.
Because it is dry & dusty around Sydney in the summer, Merv moved the filter away from the engine where it regularly blocked up in 1952.
Honda started doing this in 2013 , Briggs still have them on the engine, says somthing about the motives of the companies doesn't it ?
Because the typical Aussie yard has shrubs surrounding a lawn playing area Merv added a trip handle so it could easily mow under low bushes and that was about 1955.
The original Green painted mowers had no skirts on the base so we bunch them all together under the nic name "Toe Cutters" for the obvious reason, particularly as we had a rather bad habit of mowing bare foot or in thongs.
And yes I mowed bare foot in my teens. fifty years on I wear steel caps with mowers that are 1000% safer than anything I could buy back in the 60's .

Merv went for 2 strokes because all of the side banger 4 strokes of the early 50's weighed a ton with massive flywheels where as most 2 strokes were around 1/2 the weight even with full cast iron engines and alloy heads.
And remember he was trying to make our life easier, not himself richer.
The modern , soon the be discontinued Power Torque is still a one piece iron engine with alloy head and is still lighter than any 4 stroke of equivalent power.
It requires almost no maintenance, is not affected by rain, ethanol or heavy dust. Has no external cables to get snagged ( it runs inside the snorkel ) and if the 5 "O" rings are replaced every 10 years will happily run for 50 years if the trigger module embedded in the coil hangs in ( another Aussie invention ). I usually retro fit the plain coil & trigger when they pack it in, and by coil, I mean coil, just the coil itself which slips over the lamination core, easy.

The starter rope which is in a fitting that becomes the crank case can be replaced in situ by removing 3 screws that hold the top cover on, all of about 6 minutes ( 3 if I am in a hurry).

Below is an old POS poster with a cut drawing of the mk II Power torque and yes, the fly wheel & ignition coil are under the engine.
Decompressor is a normally open diaphram which is closed by a vacuum signal from the carb.
Govening is also done with a diaphram powered by a venturi vacuum signal again, this time from the fly wheel, acting against a spring inside the carb. These are available in 8 strengths to vary the running speed and are changed via a pop off cap on the side of the carb, again a 2 minute job ( if that ).

the carb is all plastic and control is via a poppet valve so there is no butterfly shaft to leak & make the engine run lean and no screws to get sucked into the engine,
On the other side the muffler is held on by two springs ( no bolts ) and takes about 1.5 to 2 minutes to remove to check the bore or relace the muffler which discharges down under the deck.

powertorque.jpg
 

bertsmobile1

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To give you a good idea just how user friendly these Victa mowers are.
Here is a link to some high school students who made youtube videos of them selves repairing ( mutilating IMHO ) Victa's at a local tip ( dump to some ).
You really can repair , well get them to run any way, with little more than a hammer & chisel ( fitters tool box )
From that they started a retail parts and repair business on evilbay.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Lachymx

All the base plates are common regardless of the engine used so note just how much lower the 2 strokes are comparred to the ones with 4 strokes.
If I get a minute tomorrow I will wander around the shop with the digital and post some pickies.
 

Lawnboy18

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Thanks for all that info! I love old mowers! Especially the ones that were unique in their design. You seem to have worked a lot on Victa mowers!

Please do get some pictures!
 

2smoked

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Hey bertsmobile,

Thank you for the history lesson and the description of the Victa engine. Those old "toe cutter" models are works of art in my opinion. And thank you in advance for any pictures you post.

And thank you two stroke for starting this thread. I will certainly check back often.
 

Two-Stroke

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I found some pictures of a beautifully restored Victa "Toe Cutter".

victa-62a.jpg

victa-62b.jpeg

victa-62d.jpeg

victa-62c..jpeg

victa-62f.jpg

A few things are worth noting:

It has shaft-driven 4WD -- but plain old wrap-the-rope starting. :confused3:

The engine exhaust is directed under the deck -- Did Victa do this first or Lawn-Boy... or someone else?

Instead of a fixed blade it has a disk fitted with spinning blades. Jacobsen had this design in the 1960s -- others too, I think. This, combined with completely open deck sides, means that the mower would be almost impossible to clog.

Trial Lawyers Wet Dream: In addition to chopping off toes, the lack of sides on the deck would mean that debris like small rocks would fly out in all directions. :shocked:
 
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