Sorry that I haven't responded to this thread since I last posted the story about the "Super Start". I to date have not been able to start it and I'm starting to feel that it is spark related and it's the coil on it. As Norm has mentioned the coils are pretty unique to these engines only and thus this will make it had to get it going again. Regardless I'd like to see it go again opposed to disposing of it as these full cranks are getting harder to find as you've all suggested.
The only modification that's been made is an extra kill switch has been added in line as the previous method has failed. Sadly this one hasn't been a fully loved machine, which is not uncommon with any lawnmowers of today as they are basically a disposable commodity nowadays.
Only this morning I was helping my brother in law move out of the rental he was in and the neighbour who left on Saturday has left a pig filthy neglected 18 month old B&S powered Victa from Bunnings and one of those multi-foldable ladders behind as trash along with other real rubbish that was put in a pile in the rusty shed to leave behind as they normally do when vacating quickly and couldn't care less about their bond as the Government will fork out the next lot. I said to the BIL that I'll take the mower plus the ladder and clean them up and go halves in the proceeds. He couldn't be bothered with it so instead the Real Estate agent handling the property will most certainly flick it on to someone that he knows within minutes. Oh well that's life these days.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
BB, sad and crazy isn't it what some people do. A couple of houses up the court people were moving out and along with the rubbish was a late model Victa Briggs. I grabbed it but haven't looked at it yet but I doubt there would be a lot wrong with it. If the motor is a problem the rest of it is excellent for parts
As for the adapter plate idea, it's already been done and i believe they were a factory item primarily used for base swaps for full cranks after the power torque came into production. (Well, at least thats what an old Victa dealer had told me) I've got one here and if anyone is interested I'll dig it out and post a couple of photos of it.
Yes bigted, please show us. I find it odd though, that Victa would bring out an adapter to fit an obsolete engine over the current one.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Is this the same as you are talking about. I have just got hold of 2 in the past week after never seeing before in my life. This is in Perth June 2022. I have not yet tried ti get either going. The side pull strt is totally foreign to me. I am assuming that these are just about a 1 of.
They allow the motor to be very streamlined to fit under shrubs better, like the Powertorque. They also have a reduction effect making pulling effort less than the top starter. There seem to be a lot of these side pull versions of the full crank, the final iteration before the half crank Powertorque engines were quickly phased in as the two stroke choice. I generally find them very easy starters, even after prolonged storage for years -at least in one case!
They were the first to get microchip electronic ignition and the last full crank. The best of both worlds converged in the relatively short production run of the early 1980s.
When pulling them off the motor you need to carefully note where the metal shim is positioned, particularly in relation to the spring stems sticking out inside. I would never been stuck a couple of times if I hadn't had a second mower to use as a reference.
Last edited by Mowerfreak; 29/06/2212:50 AM.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
NormK I remember you calling them a ratty design. Victa must have churned out a load of them as there are quite a few still out there for such a short period of production. Maybe the better quality steel decks that a lot were built on and electronic ignition helped.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Mowerfreak, I understand what you are talking about re-metal shim when I went to tighten the pull cord. Both mowers when I picked them up needed to be tightened and I did this after I read your post so I was very careful to keep my eye out. Once you know It is quite easy and it makes the design much more effective when tight. Now I just need to find why I have no spark. I did get one to fire with a quick squirt of starter fluid but no spark now.
Mowerfreak, I understand what you are talking about re-metal shim when I went to tighten the pull cord. Both mowers when I picked them up needed to be tightened and I did this after I read your post so I was very careful to keep my eye out. Once you know It is quite easy and it makes the design much more effective when tight. Now I just need to find why I have no spark. I did get one to fire with a quick squirt of starter fluid but no spark now.
Topcat58, with these you need the full travel as the easier start also means slower rate of spin for the motor which means it needs to spin as long as practical to get a chance to fire up. That's why it makes a difference when you tighten up the tension so a length of rope isn't dangling off it at rest. They're not hard to do, just easy to lose track!
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
I was reading further up the page about the Victa adaptor plate for the 2 stroke engine and from memory these were on the self propelled mowers from the sixties as they didn't make a 2 stroke self propelled Victa base ,they just used the four stroke base with an adaptor plate to fit the 2 stroke motor.
TC, I was given a side pull start mower that had been unused 20 years the owner claimed -seemed true as the body had lots of surface rust, but all the labelling was intact and not damaged or peeling, plus the axles and bushings were like new with zero play.
Anyhow, no spark. It turned out it had a dead ignition module. I replaced it with one off an old seized Powertorque engine and away it went.
MW, I wonder if that adapter plate lets you fit a full crank two stroke onto a four stroke or even a Powertorque Victa base? The SP mower itself would be too valuable to take it off unless it was too far gone.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
MF, I have always wondered about the failure rate on the modules on the side pulls where they were mounted on the underside of the plate without any airflow over them. I always mount the module on these on the upper side of the plate so it gets air flowing over it from the fan. Also doesn't help that these modules are no 40 odd years old
I took your advice on that mower I mentioned, and placed it above. Not sure that's practical with the original chunky module mounted underneath. I will just leave well enough alone on the one or two I have that still work and fit any replacement module on top.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Do you know if any of the later production Super Start full cranks got the smaller module from factory? The one I mentioned already had the smaller one fitted underneath. Maybe that had already been replaced before, though I find that strange on a relatively low hours mower.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
No idea MF, but I guess it's possible Victa would order so many modules and the PT style was probably cheaper being much smaller and doing the same job, when they ran out of the bigger module towards the end of the F/C motors it would be a no brainer to just start using the small module. All speculation though
MW, I wonder if that adapter plate lets you fit a full crank two stroke onto a four stroke or even a Powertorque Victa base? The SP mower itself would be too valuable to take it off unless it was too far gone.
Yes I've seen a few Victa motors on other bases with the adapter plate Mf.
I don't think mounting the module on the top of the plate will make any difference ,it may be hotter on the top side as heat rises.
Old modules fail, doesn't matter if they are the old 1983 type used on full cranks and powertorques or the later powertorque smaller module.
It should be easy to see if the full crank side pull originally had the small module standard as the small module has one hole but the earlier module has 2 holes so if the full crank has 2 holes in the alloy it originally had the old big module.
I know all the 1983 Super Starts were still using the old big module.
It should be easy to see if the full crank side pull originally had the small module standard as the small module has one hole but the earlier module has 2 holes so if the full crank has 2 holes in the alloy it originally had the old big module.
I know all the 1983 Super Starts were still using the old big module.
Cheers Max.
Hi maxwestern, here's a pic I took of the mower and of underneath showing there are two holes, one holding a small module on top. The large one must have been replaced in the past with a small one underneath riveted in using one of the holes before that failed also. Maybe that's why the mower fit put into prolonged storage before I saved it from going to land fill and replacing it myself, getting the mower operational again.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
