The images were for the size comparison ,14 .5 inches ,the old rover is basically the same size the later 21 inch rover has a slightly smaller plate but may still work.
Yes I was thinking you would need to machine the centre out and machine a cap up then weld it to the plate.
Old Rovers are anywhere from Free to $20. for a cheap one.The Rover plate looks about the same dish or hollow as the Victa.
The problem may be how big a Lathe you are using to fit the blade plate in.
Thanks Max, the Rover plate is very close but probably not enough weight for what I want but good thoughts, I probably have a couple of those big plates here I could play with
Picked up 2 x 24's tonight, bit of a drive but there is still a few out there. One has a F/C the other a PT. PT doesn't look original so be interested to see what they have done with it. Thinking about it just now I'm sure I saw the sliding plate the F/C's bolt onto on the PT, so that should be interesting
Hi MF, I picked up the 2 x 24's a PT sidethrow and a F/C high arch no catcher all for $100 but it was an hour and a half drive each way, but well worth the effort I believe. None of them are running but the 24 bodies seem in reasonable condition with fuel tanks and good rear wheels
Hi NormK, Your are almost guaranteed to profit well from that haul. Here's a thumblatch catcher I successfully mended using my hot staple set you put me onto. I added a bracket on the end as it's a high stress point as it goes on and off the mower. It would fit on your FC high arch unless it's an early 70s VC series.
The beauty of this is you can't see it externally. Cutting the staple stems is the only down side and it leaves a sharp spike of metal, so you have to watch where you do it.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Sorry to disappoint you MF but the high arch with no cracks or damage is worth $7 in scrap and the motor has already been removed and is now on one of the 24's which hopefully will be finished tomorrow and ready for a test on long grass to make sure it is ready to go. The PT sidethrow runs and will need a refurb to freshen it up and I haven't looked at the PT 24 yet With the High arch motor it had a G3 carb so I turned up a G4 manifold and fitted that and it fired up first pull
I have the original mower it belongs to from 1986 so I'm anything but disappointed. I'm ecstatic. Good work getting it to run on a G4. G3s are overrated fiddly ass things that so many worship for some odd reasoning.
Last edited by Mowerfreak; 13/06/2209:38 PM. Reason: Felt like it.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Got another one of these 24's fired up this one is fitted with a PT on an early F/C base. It has a modified F/C adjuster plate to take the PT and I fitted a cut down PT edger pulley with the 10mm plate welded to it ( I believe this is factory) but it was too big in diameter to fit on the 24 so I cut it down to 135mm which still left it heavier than a standard boss and blade carrier with blades fitted. It starts easily no sign of kickback and now it is a good slasher. Only downside is I can't imagine the hours I have spent on this machine but at least I now know how to set up a PT on an early base. To do these I need to get F/C slider plates and 10mm discs laser cut and then I need to find a supply of pulleys so I can weld them to the 10mm discs. Now I have to decide if it is all worth the effort
Hi MF, I have another 24 that came with a PT on it, I have only had a brief look at it and tried to start it but it kicks back so I am now on the lookout for a weight and pulley that I can fit on that one I also have a couple here with Hondas on them that I can't get running so they will probably end up with PT's on them if I can get this pulley/weight plate sorted for them
MF, I got the ones with the Hondas on them from a mower shop down in Gippsland that was closing down and the motors had had bits ratted from them. I think they had tried to get them going without success so they ratted bits off them
Hi Max, I still pick up the occasional F/C, but I don't actively go hunting them these days. I have only built the one PT on an early base and that is because I picked it up with the slide plate modified to take the PT. I have kept pics and drawings of it just incase I have to build one at a later date when I have no F/C's left here. The one thing that might make the F/C's hard to come by is the lack of pull starters, both the cup type and the sidepull. I have probably over 50 tested PT's here and probably another60 that have been straight fueled or would not run for some reason. If supply dries up I can start to re-ring some of those in the future. If I had to use the adapter plate, that lifts the motor nearly 20mm so that means I couldn't use the standard PT pulley because it will run the belt 20mm too high I have to come up with a different pulley design for them. I do have the idea worked out I just have to find a pulley I could use to make it work. I doubt anybody would bother looking at the pulley underneath, most people just want these to work and start easily
Yes I also don't look for mowers ,haven't for at least 4 years ,but I did find about 5 FC victa mowers one day on the way to the post office. I don't think mowers are worth picking up for free these days unless you're selling them for scrap as a mower I got $100. for years ago now only gets $70 and if I sell the $70 mower in the off season, I'd get $50 and either way takes over a month to sell one mower.Probably just worth selling the 24's and larger self drive mowers etc.
If using a Power Torque motor lifts the engine 20mm and you can't use the standard pulley then I guess you use a Victa Tornado motor with the longer crank and then use the standard pulley.
Yes Max, that is an option I had thought about but then I still need to hunt down the standard PT/4 stroke pulleys but at the moment I have enough bits to build 8 of these 24's and they do take me a lot of hours to get them ready to sell. It certainly isn't worth doing it financially but it keeps me busy and getting another one up and running makes me feel good and keeps me occupied even though the float needles drive me insane
I found one full crank pulley but looks a different length to the 24 pulley ,I guess you could cut one end off and weld an 1/8 th of an inch plate to the cut end then machine out the hole for the hub ,it's an option if you need something to work as I won't need it.
Hi Max, I'm almost at the stage of fitting PT's to them all, now that I know how much weight has to be added to the pulley. The supply of PT motors is also making me think along those lines, the F/C motors and pull starters and coils are only going to get harder to pick up. It is a bit of a pain making up the slider plates to fit the PT's to the F/C bodies but just the way it goes. There is nothing else like the 24 out there anymore
Yes the power torque mowers are easily found and aren't worth much ,I haven't mostly been able to sell perfectly good serviced 2 stroke Victa mowers for many years here as it's just not worth fixing them to sell for $50. when you could sell the parts for $50. (stater and wheels)
I sold one mower about 5 months ago as it was too good to wreck and the guy payed but still hasn't picked it up.
These days people only want to pay $25. for a serviced Victa 2 stroke here and about $50 for a 4 stroke.
At least the super 24 will sell for a decent price still, as there isn't anything else like you mentioned like it for the price.
Yes Max, With those prices for the parts it makes it hard to bother fixing a mower to sell it. I will probably build a few more to sell once I get caught up a bit. Even with the 24's for the amount of work I have to put into them they are a borderline proposition to sell but they certainly keep the grey matter working overtime which is probably a good thing even though they drive me crazy at times
The pricing of mowers and parts are a little strange Norm ,I recently couldn't sell a good cheap mower and after a month of advertising the mower I gave up and wrecked the mower for parts ,ended up more than doubling the price I was asking for the mower by selling the catcher and wheels.
I don't think some people want an old mower that lasts they want a new looking mower as a way to show off one's wealth and social status.
If I have a newish mower half worn out and a older mower that mechanically is like new and I sell both mowers for the same price and I tell the buyer the older mower will last longer they still take the newer half worn out mower every time.
People don't worry about polluting the planet ,More than 50% of new vehicles sold in the country last year were SUVs, a share that has almost doubled over the past decade.
Yesterday I saw a Super 24 on marketplace for $100.
Hi Max, That one has been on Market Place for a long time and will still be there for ages. There is 2 for $100 on the Bellarine Peninsula but it is a big drive and I just don't have time at the moment to drive down there.
Yes I can see it wouldn't be worth the time for you now Norm,the $100. one would be a 3 hour trip and the other 2 are 4 to 5 hours depending on traffic.
