OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Cylinder Victa Imperial 16"

My partner bought me an early christmas present on thursday

The reel and bedknife need a serious sharpen, but after closing up the clearance a little it does cut alright.

Engine is tired, a new set of seals, rings and gaskets will have it like new.

The tennants improvement on the throttle works very well, but its reversed from what it should be

Anyhow here is some pics otherwise I will be late for work.

Not sure about the small sprocket on the reel, Joe. Either it is a strange design or all of the points have broken off in exactly the same place, which seems unlikely. Otherwise it looks like a sound machine. Of course I'd rather have a 4 stroke, because reel mowers usually run with very light load on the engine, and the rough running of an unloaded port-controlled 2 stroke gets on my nerves. However that's a detail, it seems you've got a mower there that's both useful and collectible - it even has a reel that seems never to have been resharpened, and only has minor dings. (Might be fun to try a backlap just as an experiment.)

I suggest you thank her sincerely for taking the trouble - not an easy purchase for most women to make.

Who's a lucky boy then...Joe, Santa has been good to you!
Joe, from what I can see, its in great nick for its age, plenty of meat on the cylinder reel, the sprockets and chains are in great condition and it will clean up very well.
A coat of paint wouldn't do it any harm and it will be a great opportunity to do another 'reel and soleplate removal' video when it comes time to give it a sharpen.The engineer I use here in Wagga could do the job easily for you.
mate on a nice score and once again, Merry Xmas to you and yours...

Thanks guys it runs pretty well until it warms up then won't go above idle, a freshen up and carb clean should sort that. I would say the bed knife has had it and there is a couple of bent bits on the reel. The catcher above the restof it needs paint

The bent reel blades should respond to a very small amount of attention from a press Joe, probably about 5 minutes' worth. I don't know if your local reel sharpener will do that at a sensible cost, but of course you will need him/her to attend to the new bedknife. Obviously you wouldn't want to have the reel ground before it is straightened, though.

Making the engine run like a new one is probably not much more than an hour's work for you, though I'd make a half-day or more of it these days (not counting time to get the new parts after inspection). Generally the mower looks like a really good example of the type - it's a good thing it fell into your hands while still in such good shape, and before the tenants really got at it.

It was interesting to see how nice it made your lawn look even as it is, with the bedknife needing attention. If it hadn't been for the bedknife I'd have thought in terms of straightening the bent blades and trying a backlap to see how it cleaned up. (I'm a notorious penny-pincher in such matters, though - it's a personal weakness.)

I think We will be using Darryl's engineer, I have seen his finished work and I am impressed. The chains are very dry, luckily the friction hasnt been great and they are still quite servicable.

I figure the engine wouldnt need a lot of work, it hasnt really laboured all its life, I think its just coked up and needs a good clean up. The crank seal on starter side is leaking too, evident by the amount of oil around the bottom of the motor on that side.

Because of the low power requirement of reel mowers, a 2 stroke engine on one is likely to spend its whole life at hardly any load, 4 stroking or 8 stroking or whatever. That tends to carbon everything up, especially if the carburetor is on the crude side to start with. Way back when I had a 2 stroke ATCO I used to hold it back by the handles all the time, to apply enough load to make it 2 stroke. Even then it didn't load up enough to keep its spark plug clean though.

Hi to Joe and grumpy, Trevor, the engineer, has the equipment at the workshop to straighten the blades and I'm sure he will do that very reasonably (plus he owes me a couple of favours... ) and the reel will come up a treat.

The bedknife and soleplate is somewhat different to the Scotty; the bedknife is secured by rivets...I don't know if they are still available...6 required (Part No. RE06229A) but I'm sure Trevor may come to the rescue there as well...drill and tap the soleplate a fix a new bedknife (if required) with screws.

The cutter sprocket is designed that way and the chains are different if you look closely at the pic...the primary chain is 3/8" pitch...reel to clutch 1/2" pitch and clutch to rear roller also 1/2" pitch.
How to remove the cutter sprocket remains a mystery and may be a challenge...I suspect it screws on.
Have a good Xmas day lads,

A History Record is now available for the Victa Imperial.
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=72511


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