Just picked one of these up and managed to get it going after a new starter cord, carby adjustment and new blade. Can anyone advise what is the correct belt length as the blade stops turning in all but very light going? The engine revs seem to be steady so I am thinking the belt is slipping. This is the powertorque engine and it came with a 27 inch belt (M27). I have read that these can use 26, 26.5 and 27 inch belts. Is there a way to determine what is the correct length?
How did that company get a virtual monopoly on supplying mower parts in this country? Australia used to have so many competitors who coped okay with healthy competition. Now we have far fewer companies doing the same same stuff because "we have too small a market". Rubbish.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
MF, I guess it is called supply and demand, I don't think they intentionally became a monopoly, probably all the others just gave up in a similar manner to all the mower shops that have shut up shop. The general public just buys the Bunnings/Aldi rubbish and when it fails just get another one/repeat. It is only the genuine equipment user who buys stuff from places like GA Spares
How did that company get a virtual monopoly on supplying mower parts in this country? Australia used to have so many competitors who coped okay with healthy competition. Now we have far fewer companies doing the same same stuff because "we have too small a market". Rubbish.
Well, they don't really quite have a monopoly; their major competitor is US-owned Bynorm/Ariens/Stens.
It's just that they do [throughout their family's long history in the OPE parts business] and always have done, an absolutely superlative job [and believe me, I do not bestow that level of accolade lightly] of parts supply and backup information, as in regard to what bits fit what machines.
Cheers, Gadge
"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."
"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."
I have a Tilt A Cut that is giving the massive kickback. I guess it needs a weight added to the crank but I'm not sure how much is needed. I thought this was only a problem for the PT motors because of their half crank design. Anybody have any idea how much weight it might need. There is a couple of them nearby, one with a PT and one with an F/C so I might pick them up and see what they have underneath
The Powertorque motors on edgers have a heavier flywheel and with full cranks that I've seen used in similar situations they used a heavy cast iron v belt pulley on the crank ,so if your full crank has a light pulley then I would add a weight to the crank that is the same weight as a Victa 18 blade plate without the blades at the most
If testing the weight first I would try ,point eight of a kg first and at most go to 1.4 kg
A Go Kart centrifugal clutch is about 20 ounces about .56 of a Kg .but on the Victa you would have a crank adapter as well. so probably worth trying no lower than .8 of a kg.
I ended up with a 940 gram weight on the bottom of the pulley but it still kicked back. I then fitted a restrictor on the decomp and problem solved, starts easily. Might even see how it goes on my edges although I find the Chuffle does a neat job
I have never tried one so I might give the TAC a go and see if they are worth the effort, now that it starts easily. Not sure if I am game enough to remove the weight off the crank, finger is still very wary of the kickback.
Ok I have received this pulley with the disc on it. I'm not sure if it is a factory item, wondering if anybody has any info. It is 7 inches in diameter and weighs 3KG. That is a massive amount of weight to have swinging off the bottom of the crankshaft. Now I need to pick up a TAC with a PT fitted to see if this is factory or not. The TAC's with PT fitted are a real botched up machine, looking like Victa did a backyard job fitting the motor on backwards with the fuel tank out the front This pulley with the disc on it means I was on the right track a few years ago when I was struggling with PT's on the 24 inch slashers. This is the proof I needed but I never thought of fitting this much weight.
I'm certain a slasher with a PT won't need 3 kg as you have the spinning weight of the blade plate and shaft / pulley with a slasher Norm.
I would say the 3 kg is correct for the PT TAC even though I've never looked at one in person ,in the parts diagram it looks the same as the 3 kg pulley from eBay.
The reason the edger needs 3 kg is because there is very little spinning mass without the 3 kg ( just a small flat blade on a shaft with bearings and pulley.) Also more mass helps the motor keep it's rpm without stalling under load. Disadvantage of a heavy flywheel is the rotational speed of the engine does not rapidly increase even when the throttle is opened quickly ,not a concern for an edger.
We know the full crank will need less weight than the PT and the restrictor on the decomp valve is worth doing so you don't have to add too much weight.
Also we know all the Briggs ride on mower engines that have a sheet metal pulley on the end of the crank use a heavy cast iron flywheel.
I have a couple of non Victa edgers here but never looked at them ,I would guess they have heavy flywheels ,I can always check them.
I'm just back from a trip to Eden. I had a look at the PT converted 24 that I did 3 yrs ago. It's a first pull starter now. No kick at all. Brother is convinced it's the spring tension in the decompressor. I wonder if we could load up the spring with some spacers or something. Amazing that there is so many heavy pulley and flywheel options for the PT.
The 24 has cut a half acre block of Kikuyu for 3 yrs.A beautiful lawn now.
I left him with a problem in his Briggs powered mulcher. Starts OK then slowly dies as it heat s up. Seems to be spark as an online timing light goes OFf as it heats up. I suggested having a good look at the stopper circuit.maybe disconnect to see if it has any effect. Other than that, coil?, module?
Hi Jeff, I really wish I knew the secret to the one you built, it has me thinking all the time as to why it works so well. Really happy for your brother that it is doing such a good job. I can't believe it is 3 years since you built it. As for the Briggs I'm thinking coil going off.
Hi Max, I always thought the spinning weight of the blade carrier would have been more than sufficient but it obviously the belt does not transfer the weight well enough for that brief instant that the piston hits TDC and the belt can flex enough to allow it to kick back. At least we now have the answer to the problem. Hi Jeff, the decomp is an important component in these belt driven machines, far more critical than a mower with the blade carrier bolted directly to the crank. I tried several mods to decomp valves to try and slow down the way it closed so that the motor could get some speed up to get over TDC. The proof of this was with this Tilt A Cut, even though I had a kg added to the crank it was still impossible to start without severe kickback. The only thing I can put this down to is the diameter of the spinning weight, maybe this makes a difference but remember this is a F/C motor so it already has a heavier crank. With the restricted decomp it starts easily. My next thing will be to remove the weight off the crank and see what happens. The other thing that confuses me a bit with the decomps is that I had a motor where the decomp valve itself was just floating in the head (they can't drop in on top of the piston because of the head design) but that motor started easily and ran fine. Obviously as the piston came up on compression it was able to push the valve shut. All very technical and a real balancing act to get them right when they decide to give issues.