OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions On Ride On Mowers Questions On Victa Ride On Mower Frames Victa 4012TX

Hi Readers;
I'm in the process of bringing a 2006 Victa 4012TX back from the brink.
I purchased it sight unseen on Ebay for AU$360 and it owes me another AU$70 in petrol/travel money bringing the total to AU$430.
It has been thrashed by a worker at it's previous home at a horse stud near Seymour in Victoria and came to me in a very sorry state.
I don't think it has done much mowing, the cutter deck is in remarkably good shape, but it's certainly done it's fair share of "hooning around".
(The same driver actually managed to sheer a back wheel off a big Kobuta!)

As I understand it it's a 2006 model that has been out of commission for at least 4 years. That means that all the damage was done over, at the most, 2 years!
The bonnet was smashed, tyres were flat, front wheels were missing, the engine wasn't running and the transaxle was leaking oil.
My first step on the road to recovery was the 12.5 hp Briggs engine.
It came up nice with a quick degrease and air gun removal of at least 4 years accumulation of dust from sitting in a barn.
After draining the old fuel from the tank and carb and running some carby cleaner through it I eventually got it to fire up but it was doing a fine impersonation of a disco smoke machine crossed with a machine gun.
I'd seen a similar display from a machine that had drained the fuel into the sump so that was my first looksee and it proved to be the problem.
I drained the oil/fuel mixture from the sump and filled it with quality oil, fitted a new spark plug and gave it another go.
It fired up straight away and now runs like a charm.
I have an orange "parts donor" 4012H so I repaired the 4012TX bonnet using some of the usable bits off it. Looks a bit funny but it works.
I'm now up to the transaxle.
I took it off the mower today and split the case.
HMMMM.
Not a good look!
One cog has stripped all it's teeth (the one the screwdriver is pointing at) and another, the main drive cog, has several teeth missing.
There are 2 holes in the case that I hope to repair if possible.

I now need some help.
I need a parts breakdown for the transaxle so that I can identify the part numbers I need to buy.
It's a Tecumseh MST-206-504 and the serial number is 6129A00486.
I figure that makes it a 9th of May 2006 build. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
If anyone can steer me towards the parts breakdown I'd be most grateful.
Cheers for now.
Rob.

Hmmm, I know nothing about mower transaxles, I watched this one on ebay as i had family coming past there but went way beyond my limit. Whats the parts donors axle like? it might be worth just swapping them in.

Hi Joe;
Unfortunately the parts donor is a Hydro drive in doubtful condition and this one is a transaxle drive.
Hopefully I'll be able to pick the parts up at a reasonable price and still be able to make a little bit on the mower when I resell it.
Cheers.
Rob.

Rob, two points. First, when I approach a strange 4 stroke engine, before even trying to start it, I check the oil level - in case there isn't any, and in case there's too much. If there's too much, and it is a gravity-feed fuel system, I become highly suspicious that someone has left the fuel tap turned on, and filled the sump with fuel. Petrol makes a lousy lubricant, and as soon as you disturb or warm a petrol-oil mixture it gives off petrol fumes that are very dangerous around a running engine.

Second, here is what seems to be the illustrated parts list for your transaxle:
http://www.odref.com/peerless/206-SERIES/206-206-504.PDF
The two gears that seem to have been trashed are items 6A and 15. At a minimum, I suggest you verify that your 6A used to have 15 teeth and your 15 used to have 43, before you pursue them using the part numbers supplied at that site. You should also check that as many other details of that transaxle as possible, match yours. The identification numbers seem to match yours, but I don't think those gears are going to be cheap, and they may not be returnable when you get them.

There is a tech manual that covers your transaxle (the MST200 series, MST standing for Manual Shift Transaxle) as well as a host of other Tecumseh and Peerless transmissions and transaxles. The manual used to be included in the ride-on manuals section, and I hope it will be again soon. I do not know of any plans to include the illustrated parts list at this time.

Thanks Grumpy.
That's a good point about checking the oil level in an unfamiliar engine before starting it. It could save some unnecessary damage.
Thanks also for the parts reference.
Cheers.
Rob.

Rob,

The workshop manual for the Tecumseh/Peerless is now available in the Lawnmower Parts list an manuals area of the forum which is quite large 1400 + pages and covers nearly all the models.

I was watching that mower too, went past my limit.

Ended up putting down similar money on something way better.


I do have a 2000 model Viking here with a 5 speed transaxle in it. And a rover rancher.
They are a fairly generic thing.
Should the parts be prohibitively expensive send me a PM, im sure we could do some sort of deal.

Hi Rob, like you I`m in the process of restoring a 4012TX.I have a copy of the owners manuals for both this and the 4012T and 4012H models.--
give me a shout if you need them although I,m not computer savvy enough to post them here but can email them!
Some confusion on that 4012TX methinks? I have what I think is an original but mine is an orange colour all over--maybe it was offered in
various colours when new.. how customer focused is that!!
Anyhow the orange model was made 95/96 (according to Victa/B&S) and the engine number on mine seems to verify this. During the restoration
process it became clear that the were some subtle changes between the models which can really confuse things so good luck with your rebuild.
Like yours mine was pretty beat up on arrival but I`m all but finished ..except for the steering link rod which seems different on all 4012
variants.. Anyone got one? Part No.311100 or 58291....here`s hoping. Cheers, Revver

Job done!
This Victa 4012TX is no longer a pile of junk fit only for the scrap heap.
It is, once again, a fully functioning tool.
Transaxle repaired, deck rebuilt and all up and running!
Thanks go to grumpy for his advice on getting the horrible build up of gum out of the carby jets, without that help I'd still be scratching my head and messing with the mixture screw while the Briggs engine coughed and spluttered!





When I look back at the photo of the mower as it was when I bought it I get a small sense of pride at what I have achieved.
This was my first transaxle rebuild.
It was a bit scary at first but, once I had the thing pulled apart, I soon worked out how simple they really are. Taking photo's as I went for later reference helped too :-)
I had to send offshore to the Tecumseh factory for parts but the 6 week wait was worth it.
Having a donor machine for front wheels and bonnet parts helped.
The cost:
# Mower ............$360
# Deck rebuild .....$ 80
# Transaxle rebuild $105
Total...............$545
Was it worth the time, money and effort? My word it was! The knowledge and confidence I gained during the rebuild is invaluable and will stand me in good stead for future work on other mowers.

Thanks for ending the thread with a clear outcome, Rob. And good work on the mower - negotiating for transmission parts at that distance can be difficult, but it looks as if you got it right first try. Hopefully no other damage was done by the abuse that destroyed those two gears. Other than that, you've got a nice ride-on that hadn't done a lot of work before it was trashed by that hoon, so it should be a pleasure to use for a long time to come - and it looks good as well.

I'll close this thread. If anyone needs to post to it, just PM a moderator.