OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Tip & Curb Side Finds A Four And A Two From Victa.

Came across these while driving to the shops. The man putting the rubbish out told me they hadn't been used in a long time and the owner had passed away last week.
One is a late 80s PT and the other a Tornado with Briggs Qantum 50. Body looks clean but has play in the front axle and wanders to the right as you push it.
As I went to take them away a guy pulled over in his car asking me if I was taking the mowers. I got to them in the nick of time. There's no doubt people have an eagle eye for dumped mowers and they are the first item to go in a hard rubbish pile.
I need to get more petrol before I can test if they run.

Excellent score there MF, well done

I'm pretty chuffed NK. Want too thrilled having to shuffle a bit of gear to fit them in the Laser sedan but I got there.

Very nice finds MF

Its the quick or the dead around here as well. I put out a stihl viking with quattro 40 a few months ago. 10 minutes, gone. Ran but smoky and knock due to bad main seal (before I got it).

I was fortunate enough to pick up a Tuscon wagon/hatch - with prep, I can fit 3 mowers and 15 line trimmers without any damage to car or machines (I keep plenty of folded towels in the boot to cover things)

2nd round of our curbside collections monday - got a 2011 Victa Corvette 450 last week. Beautiful condition (postcard sized lawn), but they hit a concrete edge, damaged blade boss but crank looks ok fingers crossed.

That thing's a bus compared to my vehicle. It will be my last sedan although it's surprising what it can fit sometimes, with the 60/40 split fold seat.
I'll be happy with a small hatch as it's the restricted openings that are the main headache with a sedan.
You really like working on weed wackers. I always view old ones as having no hope and regard them as a waste of space to have lying around.
I used to be fascinated with small petrol engine gardening tools but now just can't be a##d playing with the fiddly things.

I have also fitted a fair amount in a sedan with 60/40. The good thing about the tuscon is the passenger seat folds flat forward, so you can fit anything up to 3m (eg that free pine I got from the building site next door) No I didn't nick it - they pitched the roof wrong and pulled 2 units roofs down

Only thing that annoys me is no tow bar yet - quoted $690. Timing belt (plus brake fluid and fan belts while its there) is $920 on Wednesday. Tires are on their way as well.

Can't complain though, got 15000km in 18 months with just 1 major DIY service (new plugs, coolant, auto trans fluid, 3 rad hoses), and 5 DIY oil changes (short 3k interval to flush as I know it was on its way to start being run into the ground before I bought it).

Was averaging 12-13l /100km. With new plugs, similar driving now at 10l/100km and a nearly silent motor.

I am getting that way with trimmers as well - I only do adjustments and carby work now. Found a product at bunnings called mechanic in a bottle saves plenty of carby re-teardowns if I dislodged dirt the first time

I do like the old Ryan engines though

The amount of trimming I have, I can easily get away with anything small as 15cc - the old stihls have a nice feel to them.

hi MF,
I would have pressed the point and said, ok let's have one each, as i'm an old pensioner.
Try to make you feel bad.....
speedy

Speedy I got to confess that may have worked but the guy looked 40. I did feel empathy but would have felt worse later if I let him have them.
Tyles, well done on DIYing the "Undai". No doubt saved you hundreds for a worthwhile vehicle and saved it from becoming a basket case from neglect. Cars cost cash when you pay professionals so any work getting under the car is money in the bank.
Ryan's are very basic to tear down and reassemble but the Mitsubishi TU -26 feels like a Mercedes compared to those crude things. It seems the older they are the better. The green Ryobis from the late 80s were better than the more modern looking grey ones in the 90s.
There was a Victa catalogue shown here from 1982 with a red Ryan powered trimmer and it said "coming soon", suggesting it was the first to enter our market and was probably then a new engine.

Hi MF

The major service and hoses cost me $300 in parts (ngk, penrite, gates hoses, castrol only) - so saved a good amount considering labour +genuine parts cost

It wasn't in bad condition by any stretch - it was bought by my grandfather brand new with inheritance from my great-grandmother so has history in the family. He put 65k on it to 2016, serviced every 6 months. Then others started driving it (not significant car killers but not so careful) - put 25k on without even lifting the bonnet - I began checking it regularly for him when I found no coolant in the overflow and low oil.

He had it serviced right before I bought it and new brake pads fitted

I had first right of refusal at a very good price - otherwise it was going to another relative with 16yo daughter for her to learn to drive in. So that would have terminally stuffed it

Tyler, I hope the automatic (assuming it's not a manual) didn't get terribly abused as Hyundai autos cost as much as the car is worth to replace brand new so I used to hear, but they're well made as they're built in house.
Just because the previous drivers are in the family doesn't mean they're responsible people. At least you know what to expect.

Tried the PT two stroke and it won't start even with spark and fuel flowing well out of the tank. *Sigh* will have to start fiddling with the carburettor next.

Nice find Mf ,those two victa mowers look like they have some potential seeing as the bases aren't rusted through.

I've tried to not pick up mowers lately as finding spare space is a problem but could not resist a a free VC 500.
All it needed was a spark plug to have it running again.

Cheers
Max.

Good score Max
I haven't found anything worth bothering about for heading towards 12 months now, maybe even longer seeing we are heading to nearly 8 months locked down now

G'day maxwestern,
you just couldn't turn that beauty down. That will clean up top notch for a quick sale. I find cheap degreaser and a wet rag cleaned that same engine cover very nice when I did it.

Norm, I found these about 2km from my place so there is some hope. They seem to get grabbed very quick though.

Good news the PT started right up after pulling off the float chamber cover and cleaning all the passage ways with carby cleaner and checking the needle was ok.
It starts at the slightest pull of the starter. Very happy. It just needs new blades and it's ready to mow.
Onto the Briggs Tornado next.

Hi Norm and Mf,

The problem at the moment around here is mowers don't seem to be selling too well.


I would look in other suburbs Norm if your area is a no go for finding mowers but not at the moment with the 5 km radius travel
limit.

Cheers
Max.

Strange. With the lock down you'd expect more wanting to tinker or cut the grass.

Hi Max,
I have no idea when I last put fuel in my car and it is still over 3/4 full, only time I go out is to the doctors and that is a bit over 1k from home.

No one going to comment about me successfully getting the Powertorque to talk?!!

Its rare to find good things around here as well - have to go look. Probably stems from people knowing they can get 20-40 even for a non runner on gumtree

Norm, think of all the people who have e10 in their tanks - they are about to be stuffed

Yes it's strange Mf but apparently Firewood is selling well at the moment with the lock down ,I've made $500 with a few hours work.


I would start to worry Norm if the fuel has been in the tank for 6 months ,I had a mower that would not run on 6 month old fuel,I've
had a few vehicles that were left with fuel in the tanks for too long and had to buy replacement fuel tanks and pumps.

I would be using a fuel stabilizer Norm. I'm surprised I've used 3 tanks of fuel and have only traveled out about 6 km from home.

Cheers
Max.

HI MF,
I CARE ABOUT YOU GETTING YOUR PT RUNNING, I really do.
Hi Max, I have been really busy building shelving/racking for all the catchers and then a couple of sheds up the back and haven't touched the mowers since the lockdown started so I also haven't done any running around. My wife keeps an eye out for anything on the nature strips but there is nothing. I have gone through a fair bit of wood this year, still have plenty left here, I mostly use one log on the fire and feed it with old fencing or the never ending supply of pallets dumped out side the factories around here. I also still have a 44 of petrol here that I filled up right at the start of the panic buying in Feb, so long ago that even the servo where I got the cheap fuel has been bulldozed for the Skyrail over the South Gippy at the Princess Highway. So much going on and nothing really happening

Looks like my reply last night went to the cyberspace. My question was, how much rev control have you gained on the PT?

Plus well done - I was interested. Although I must admit I am less interested if the Briggs runs haha

Hi Tyler,
not sure as I didn't want to annoy the neighbours. I did move the lever to the mid position to see how low I could get the idle and it wasn't the best. It starts well and stops and doesn't over rev therefore I won't be fiddling any further.

I'll still keep people posted on how the Briggs is as there are quite a few quantum groupies here and they are my favourite four stroke -not that it's saying much.

PS thanks for the not so subtle acknowledgement NK. Beats being ignored anyway

Iam just joking MF - I don't mind the quantums either (especially the old ones which will idle nicely like a Honda) - its the tornado decks that annoy me. I swear they are made of poorer grade metal as I was given one last week, and the amount of sandblasting after 1 mow is amazing.

Plus I need to weld up the cracks around the handles

Can you recommend a good beginner's welding set up for the home handyman? I want to be able to weld some car body bits as well as minor repairs to things like steel decks on mowers.

I was going to ask you the same question haha. Never needed one as have always had access to a MIG and Oxy. I am thinking of just getting a cheap arc welder - will do my needs fine. But then, like you, I think should I get a mig because of the potential car uses.

But then you need a gas bottle for mig, or pay more for a gasless mig (never used one). I reckon 'stick' (pun intended) with an arc welder

I won't get one just yet though - I just 'invested' in a Ryobi one+ 18v Impact wrench - most expensive tool I have ever bought (needed batteries)

I haven't used my mig in probably 10 years because being a cheap one I bought 25 years ago it is always problematic and I can't be bothered messing with it each time I want to use it. Luckily I scored a bottle years ago and got it filled the last time I used it so bottle is still full. Doing bodywork on cars mig is the only option and I have only tried gasless mig once and didn't bother with it after 5 mins so wouldn't bother with it. Arc does everything I need ( I have oxy but only use it for brazing and that isn't too often ) but then with the arc I have been using that since the mid sixties so I have had a lot of experience with it. A small arc doesn't cost much and it just takes practice to get a feel as to how far you can push it without blowing holes in things. One problem with trying to lean how to use it is that in many cases, such as repairing mowers you are trying to repair thin tube or sheetmetal and that does require a fair bit of practice

Hi all,
Yep you can't beat the arc welder for the cheapest way to repair a mower but being thin sheet metal you do need to
know how to weld ,the oxy ,tig or mig is easier to weld sheet metal than the arc welder. I always see cheap arc welders for
$10 or advertised for free and nothing wrong with them ,I have all the welders and a plasma cutter ,people just give them
away for free or very cheap when there is a minor problem so I just repair them but the plasma cutter I have not got to yet but was told it
worked but needed one part to be replaced.


Cheers
Max.

With a bit of luck Max the plasma may only need a new tip or cap, very handy machine

I was told it just needs the Plasma Cutting Torch Head Norm , around $16 on eBay ( for a torch head made in China)

The Briggs had spark so I fueled it to see what happens. Big mistake., started trickling out the centre of the primer button and didn't have the luxury of a fuel tap so had to strangle the fuel hose with vice grips and recover the fuel back out the tank by tipping the mower onto its side and emptying it back out.

I pulled the starter cord but no response after pumping of the bulb a few times.