The Old Lawnmower Club
Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers
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Hi from Australia

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Mr Davis Thu, 01/12/2011

Hey Everyone,

New Member from Australia here, I've been collecting mowers since I was 13, Mostly Victa Rotary mower's from 1956 - 1980, But I recently branced out to new grounds, which led me to an un-identified reel mower, and a friend who pointed me in this direction.

I decided rather than Just ask about my mower, I would Join up, as the club seems very interesting, and I can also give back with the knowledge I have (Mostly Australian Mowers, but it may come in handy here and there, and might also bee interesting to some)

Anyway, I'll put up some details soon on some of my specific mowers, for now, here is a few photo's of my collection!

Enjoy.

(P.S. I received my first copy of grassbox yesterday, and the unidentified reel mower was in it!)

 

Forums

hillsider Thu, 01/12/2011

Hello and welcome to the Old Lawnmower Club, 

It is good to see your collection of mowers, I bet your neighbours just love it if you run them all up at the same time! 

I may be proven wrong but I don't think we are seeing  many Victa mowers in the UK currently. A few years ago they were quite popular with contractors, due to the strength of the two stroke engine I think, but they seem to have disappeared. Maybe one of our club members who are connected with the mower trade can confirm or correct my observation?

I used to look after some Victa two stroke rotary mowers for folk local to me and it took a while to figure out the workings of that strange plastic carburetor and vacuum governor system that makes the engine appear to run rough until it is chewing through the grass when it evens out and runs like a train. However the last one self destructed when the crankpin seized, unscrewed itself from the crankshaft and wrecked the crank case.

 

Regards

Ray.

Mike Thu, 01/12/2011

Nice collection ..... I would love one of them old 1950s victa 18s ..... super looking mower .. I'm talking with one of my shipping friends at the moment about bringing a couple back from Aus ...

 

Anyway, all the best !!!

Mike

Mr Davis Fri, 02/12/2011

Hi Guy's, and thanks.

 

Mike, when you do get your Aussie mowers, let me know, I can help you with tracking parts, paint colours, and specifications.

The one I have in the first picture, beside the Rotoscythe, is a 1956-1958 Model 5 Series 1.

Ray, the powertorque engines of the 80's & 90's were reliable, simple and powerful, the powertorque engine has been in use by Victa since about 1984, and is a half crank engine, with bore and crank case cast together, and a square head, with the flywheel/fan below the engine.

These engines are still in use today, however around the turn of the century, some of the parts, including the bore/case started coming out of china, and the quality difference is noticeable. in 2008 Victa was purchased by Briggs and Stratton, the range now includes very few 2-srtokes (the only victa's with Victa engines) and the quality of the modern powertorque is far below what it was.

Cheaper materials, the removal of about 1/2 the cooling fins and low quality control have killed an engine that was very popular with contractors throughout the 90's.

My preference with victa covers the engines used between 1968 and 1974, particularly the 1972 Series 70 MKII 160cc with the G3 alloy carburetor, it's a lovely engine, however even I have a power torque for my lawn (I took a 1996 Powertorque engine, and fitted it to a 2004 Mulch'n'Catch base)

Trevortsmith Tue, 30/01/2024

Hey Mr Davis, im currently in QLD and have a victa 2 stroke  bp greens to restore. the main body is avacado green but can you help with the colours of the light green handle and motor cowling. both different colours. 

thanks Trevor Smith