OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Rotomo 18 as a useable classic

Hi Guys, I'm a newbie, so thanks for having me along. I normally stalk the turntable forums as I restore vintage high end European and American turntables, so I'm a bit out of my depth with these things.

Anyway, this came up for sale near me. It belonged to a nice old lady who has had it in her family since new. She was moving into a retirement care unit so she was clearing out her ex-husband's garage. It came with a pull starter, the Victa spark plug tool, and a set of blades. She wanted to give it to me as it looked so bad and was full of cockroach nests and dirt. She said the cord had broken on the pull starter so her husband had put the cord starter on. Apparently, it came with both starting options? It was in use until around 2000 apparently and she had used it herself many times. Unfortunately, there must be a turret or some part missing as the pull starter has nothing to engage with.

Anyway, I got it home and hosed off the cocky nests. It seemed to have good compression, which was good, if a little stiff. I squirted some engine oil into the cylinder to free it up a bit and that seemed to work well. I checked for spark. All good, it was sparking and the plug was OK! The tank had oil in the bottom and varnish was floating around in the slime, so I took off the tank and washed that out thoroughly. The o-rings are somewhat worn, but miraculously the fuel tap is still working! I figured if the tank was that bad, the carby would be the same so I pulled that off, took it all to bits in the kitchen (gee, I love my wife!), and dumped the parts into the ultrasonic cleaner that normally use for cleaning records. Even the spark plug went in. I just used a water/detergent and vinegar solution that worked a treat, and all the parts came out sparkling clean. Judging by the crud that floated to the surface, there was a lot of gunk in that carby! To finish it off before assembly, I gave all the jets a squirt with carby cleaner and then put it back together.

After putting it all back together, the moment of truth had arrived. I mixed up 500mm of 25:1 and added a little squirt of fuel to the cylinder before putting the plug back in. Two pulls and there was a cough on the second. On the third pull, to my total amazement, it fired and screamed off at very high revs at what was quite an embarrassing noise level. Sheesh, what a racket, it almost put my neighbor's Harley Davison to shame! Man, Sundays in the '50s were not very quiet lol. On deceleration, it backfires a bit so I'm guessing that might be the points that need adjustment and cleaning? I didn't check those as I have no idea how to get at them.

By the way, there is a drain hole plug at the bottom of the engine. Why is that? Do I need to put some oil in there?

OK, so the engine is good, I think, and it cuts the grass just fine. However, I don't think this is a candidate for much more restoration as the deck has a large crack, and axles are worn. As you can see from the pics, I've stabilized the crack with a screw so at least the base is rigid so that it's functional. The wheels are shot so I'm thinking I will just replace them with some 6" Bunnings wheels for now and straighten the axles which are quite worn and bent. Then, maybe just a scouring pad and sealer coat, and I'll have a useable classic. I don't really want to go down the path of "This was my grandfather's knife. My dad replaced the handle and replaced the blade". What do you think?

As found:


As found:


As found:


Note deck repair screw:


Cracked deck:

Hi oz, Welcome here, congrats you found yourself a little treasure there.Don't want to tell you how to suck eggs but remember it is a 2 stroke, wouldn't want to see it destroyed by you not knowing, many of these have been destroyed this way and still do to this day.
Still got another 50 years left in it and bases are pretty easy to come across, just don't be fooled into big ebay prices, just keep an eye out for one to bob up for $15/20. Be careful using it because the name says it all, a "toecutter" Only other disadvantage is no catcher. In the fifties people were just grateful to be able to cut the grass and raking it up afterwards was far easier than pushing an old Ogden cylinder mower around that wouldn't cut the grass if it was 3 inches high

Hi oz

The sump plug is just if you flood it (from memory) - remove bolt (and possibly spark plug to make it easier, and give it a few spins)

Remember these dont have spark cut off - it only stops when throttle is closed - so don't leave the plug too close or you might have a fireball

[quote=Tyler
Remember these dont have spark cut off - it only stops when throttle is closed - so don't leave the plug too close or you might have a fireball[/quote]

Hi Tyler, thanks. I don’t quite follow your meaning here about leaving the plug too close? Too close to what?

Hi Norm, thanks for your well-meaning advice, but I am pretty familiar with the operation of 2-strokes. I mowed my parent's lawn on weekends in the 60's with a Southern Cross/Sunbeam toe cutter before I was was 10 for pocket money and managed to somehow keep all my toes lol! I had a 2-stroke motorcycle in my teens and briefly raced a high-performance 50cc Garelli in my late teens, but left the mechanical side to my Dad, but maybe some of it has rubbed off on me. We used castor oil in our racing fuel mix back in the day! I still remember the smell of the track (Mmm, castor oil in this thing might be fun but it turns to vanish very quickly with oxidation, so maybe not a good idea)

I'll definitely look out for a new base for it, if they can be had for cheap money. If I could get that, a reasonably nice, light resto might be on the cards.

By the way, what's the best way to deal with the worn axles? I could weld or braze them, then grind them round again, or is it best to just cut them off, buy a new axle from Bunnings, and reweld it to the arms?

Hi ox,
I just replace the axle stubs, I put them in the lathe and cut a circlip slot with a hacksaw. Depending on the wear you could weld them up but the issue is getting them round again. Tyler was meaning if you leave the plug too close to the body and you are trying to clear the crank of excess fuel it might cause a flash fire but as you have been around 2 strokes you will be aware of all these sort of things that 2 strokes do

Gotcha, thanks Norm. I'm not really that keen to get the excitement of a flash fire out of the project!

I might just weld on some new stubs as you suggested. Gosh, my old welder will need some dusting off.

By the way, I picked up this pair of aliens yesterday. Stuck them in the garden shed for a rainy day. The green one has a rotomo carby, which a bit weird.

Hi oz,
Just be careful, once you start you can't stop, couple of good machines there

Greetings all, and welcome oztayls,
Yep, welding on new stubs was the factory repair procedure for these, back in the day.

I bought one of these Chinee inverter welders for $100 delivered about a year back, and I like it a lot. Compares favourably with the first-gen ESAB Caddy compact inverter units, like I used to use at work.
Did buy it a decent Tweco electrode holder though, and binned the 'face shield' that came with it! I already have 3 quality welding helmets...

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ARC-220...ine-IGBT-Portable-10A-Plug-/272834881672

BTW, the correct way to stop that crack propagating further, is to drill a small 'stop hole' at or just ahead of its inner end. ~2-2.5mm drill bit is what I'd use.
That screw will actually hold the edges apart, and cause further propagation.

Hi Gadge,
Yes those Caddys were a fantastic machine but they came with a hefty price tag as did the Esab face shields at $500 a pop

Hi oztayls,
Yes you'll never need to buy a mower again.
With the crack in the base, I'd put a piece of steel over it full lenght for strength and rivit it from beneath with 3/16 ss or steel rivits, al would also do the job....
Who needs a catcher????
speedy

Yeah Norm, lovely machine to use; that one belonged to the Engineering workshop of the local Monash Uni campus. Think those Caddy's were about $2k then, back in the late 80's.

Oh and oztayls, the bits you'll need to refit the recoil starter are the starter cup, nut and washer; that are fitted on top of the flywheel.