G'day everyone, question for anyone who has a vast knowledge of Victa super 24. one of my customers has one of these its about 45 years old has old Victa 160cc engine on it. Motor is at end of life, I was wondering what I would have to do in the way of mods to fit either a 160cc power torque engine on it or a four stroke engine on it?. Looking at the spare parts lists on here it seems I would have to find a power torque engine that has a 19" crankshaft. I have only std power torque crankshafts, so any help would be gratefully accepted cheers Mike
why is the FC at the end of it's life? Can't a reconditioning be done? If not, find another mower with a working FC 160 engine. There are still quite a few of the final side pull versions kicking around cheaply, dating from the early 80s.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
G'day MF, I have already rebuilt the engine once for the customer a few years back. he uses it 2-3 times a week. Fixed a electrical problem a couple months ago. Now it has carby issues, I don't have any G3 carby parts anymore and can't find any bits that I need to convert it to G4? plastic carby that on the PT engine cheers Mike
Ok so now I have another interesting one a F/C 24 base fitted with a PT motor. jefffrombrisbane would be impressed. So what they have done is use the F/C sliding plate and welded 2 pieces of angle iron to the end of the sliding plate for 2 PT mounting bolts and a third bolt on the right hand side. (I won't know exactly what they have done till I pull the motor off, I want to see if I can get it started) The next interesting thing I found is they have left the blade boss on ( Victa used a taper pully in place of the boss) They have then used a steel pulley off something with the centre about the same thickness as a blade carrier, washer and nyloc nut. Looks like it has done quite a bit of work and if it works ok it is an option if we start to run out of F/C motors. One thing I am interested to see is if it has the dreaded PT kickback that these 24's with PT fitted suffer from as it has no additional weight been added to the crank. It also does not have a restrictor fitted in the decomp. Time will tell, but from what I can see it is a good conversion and the motor is around the correct way
The Powertorque is that ultimate single purpose tailor made engine. Good for one thing and one thing alone. Direct drive on a blade disc. Nothing else.
Even the full cranks had issues running a belt with tension constantly applied on one side of the crank. A half crank was a forgone conclusion it was not a good idea. You're better off with a four stroke. The gear down effect is enough to make them effectual.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
G'day Ironbark , Hopefully over the next few days I can pull the motor off and get some picks of the sliding plate and I might get a few laser cut because as long as man inhabits this earth, grass is going to grow and needs cutting. As far as I can see there is nothing else on the market that will do what these things are capable off. Sure there is the Deutschers but the 24 can get over much rougher ground because it is much lighter and less cumbersom to move around. As MF said the PT motor is maybe not the best motor for this application but we probably won't have much choice in the future. I need to build a carby for this machine to see if it suffers from the kickback syndrome, I can't understand why it wouldn't. I was also hoping jefffrombrisbane would chime in because he got a steel pulley from a wrecker I believe for the crank. If I can find what it was off we have most bases covered so we can keep these machines going for years to come
I agree on the 24 Norm, a great machine. Being capable, lightweight but durable is a difficult combination to achieve in this sort of application and Victa did well with the 24.
A Deutcher is also a fantastic machine, they’re extremely robust and capable.
I use both and couldn’t be without either.
The 24 is easier to manoeuvre on flat and gently undulating terrain and the low deck height let’s me get under shrubs and other garden features more easily.
The big Deutcher is unbeatable on hilly terrain, with high grip tyres on the rear there’s nothing else I’ve found to be so assured. Also, if you’re mowing big expanses of mixed terrain the Deutcher will do the vast majority of the work.
Of course you don’t want to have to change from forward to reverse on a slope, it’s far from simple. They’re a bigger machine overall than a 24 too, but general manoeuvrability is superior to any ride-on, zero turns included.
I cut the more open lawn areas with my 34” Greenfield commercial then swap to the Deutcher for the tighter and hilly bits before going to the Victas for the remainder. All fantastic made in Australia machinery but only the Deutcher is still in production.
Hi Ironbark, You have all bases covered with that range of equipment, nothing else you could want for. Australian machines built for Australian conditions
