OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping For Sale Victa Pro550 in Riverina, South Australia

G’day Folks

No connection whatsoever but there’s a Victa Pro550 for sale on Gumtree. It’s in Taylorville, South Australia which is in the Riverina.

I was sent the link by a friend who knows I’m on the lookout for one, bit too long a drive for me and can’t work out how to display the link here. It’s listed as a “Victor Professional Self Propelled Mower” so that should display it if anyone wants to do a search.

Ironbark

Thank you Mich, that’s the one.

Hi Ironbark,
I wouldn't be racing out after one of those, I had a couple here and found them not the best, too heavy in the body, body dragging on the ground, tried using them on a mates place, gave up and just pulled out the 24. Wheels are too small and not well balanced, the 24 was so much better even though his block was quite steep. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to get one again

Good to know Norm. I saw one advertised nearby for $450, smiled and moved on. I don’t suppose I can blame the bloke, especially as it now appears to be sold.

I’m pretty happy with my current selection, just need to be able to get them finished, I’m laid up for a week or so but I’ll get back to them as soon as I can.

How do you deal with the rear wheels on a 24? I was thinking of getting new bushes but the part number appears to be discontinued.

I like the 18" Powertorque utility I built from discarded parts. So nimble compared to a regular rear catcher mower.

Totally different animal MF, PT ute is an excellent machine the 22 inch ally body is too low slung and no good for anything more than a manicured lawn.
Hi Ironbark,
Never had to replace the rear wheel bushes on a 24, I do have spare wheels and probably have just grabbed wheels with good bushes. If I did get stuck I would just turn new bushes up in Delrin. I usually use Delrin to make up new bushes to repair the front axle as they are often really flogged out around the axle mounts in the base

Norm, what's your advice regards a PT steel base rear catch mower I'm tinkering with atm?

Base is solid throughout (to my surprise) but it's in that common old green and with quite a bit of surface rust scattered throughout.

Motor goes ok but piston is a bit scored but bore looked ok when I peeked through exhaust port.

Carby needs a rebuild to restore idle speed.

Was thinking of giving it a spray with some blue hammertone but is it better just to separate the motor and base and keep them aside or worth the effort to do up quickly and sell?

Forgive me for hijacking your topic ironbark.

PS: I have a Victa chute that can go with it. Worth selling together or sell chute separate???

Up to you MF, coat of paint always freshens them up and looks like you have put some effort into it as long as you take the motor off. It always looks dodgey when people try to spray around the motor. Then you have to weigh up what you expect to get for it. If it runs fine you then just keep in the back of your mind that if the rains come and the sun shines then the grass will grow and people have to cut it.
Not sure what the chute is that you are talking about for a steel base rear catcher?

Yep, original Victa chute for steel rear catcher base.
Very crusty but no holes.

Is a little scoring of the piston skirt alright? All the ones I've checked have some scoring bar one, but ran/run ok.

Are you talking about the catcher flap, if so all I do is give it a sand up and a lick of black paint

No, catcher flap is fair. I'm talking about a rear chute attachment for these bases that directs the clippings sideways (left).

PS mower concerned and the attachment. I'm replacing the front axle as the one on it had a worn hole where the linkage goes in, causing severe play. The mounting points of the base are fine.

It’s been a while since I saw one of those rear mounted metal side chutes. I remember them as being of pretty thin steel.

Unlike Norm, I’m no expert but if it was for my use I’d give it a rub down with abrasive to remove the surface rust and then clean it back with prepsol before a couple coats of antirust hizinc primer. I use the grey stuff and it’s good. I leave the grey to go off for a day or two before coating with the hizinc black. I’ve used the same process on tools such as shovels and hoes and it’s lasted well despite years of use.

They occasionally have a special on cases of the spray cans locally and while It’s not the cheapest it’s very durable and looks good over time.

I was going to use some of this.

That’s probably a similar product in its formulation to what I use. I think mine is Dulux branded but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to be told most of it comes out of the same factory. I only buy the aerosol in cases when it comes up with a big discount. Plenty of things are brush painted although I can get a bit more fancy at times.

The zinc rich primer and top coat combination is remarkably durable in relatively adverse conditions. I painted repairs to rusted parts of a box trailer 4 years ago and those parts are still fine. It’s never been under cover and is used to haul all the junk that keen gardeners move including tonnes of firewood, big rocks and mulch.

I find the times I end up with problems are when I don’t remove all the rust/oxide before coating, mostly when I’ve been pushed for time.

I'll wire wheel whatever I can before applying it.
I have this rust converter/primer in one but it peeled off when I did a Victa cowl with it, so haven't used it since.
I got two cans of the red primer for $5 each on clearance from a Sydney Tools or Total Tools outlet -forget which.

It's done well on a Victa utility flap so far.