OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Other Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Viking MB450

I recently repowered this unit. I bought this mower new in 1996 and it was powered by a Briggs XTL 55 I/C which still runs OK. I picked up this low hour Honda that the owner was using to run a very small Greenfield after its original engine died.

The Viking is built very nicely. It has an 18 inch alloy base with bearing wheels. The paint coating has proved to be very durable over the years. It has a odd rear chute in that it never closes to seal the deck area. The chute has a large hump in it to accomodate a large volume catcher and when there is no catcher it doubles as a downward deflector for the clippings. It is made of thick gauge steel so it doesn't dent and also has a strong spring so that the force of air on full throttle doesn't open it. The throttle mechanism is one they should all be modelled from. The indents for slow, high and off have lost none of their crispness from 17 years ago. Its an all steel unit with a plastic shroud.

It has a 1 inch shaft and the Briggs had a 7/8 shaft. I picked up a 1 inch boss. The boss wouldn't fit in the boss space on the blade carrier. The carrier has 4 upright fins designed for blowing the clippings into the catcher I imagine. I had to trim 3 mm off each fin to accomodate the larger boss.

I then realised the height adjustment bar that runs front to back fouled on the Hondas carby linkages. These motors usually run on larger bases so the 18 inch base of the Viking is a bit narrow. I fabricated a new one with a deflection in it to allow for the wider engine. I had to weld the drop to the front and rear welds as I could not bend this 5mm bar without a press.

Finally I had to modify the PTO key with a borrowed Dremel ( great tool that I need to add to the birthday list) to make it slightly narrower. Worked a charm and perfect snug fit.

Original height adjuster which fouled the carby linkages


My custom creation which cleared all nicely


My dodgey welding


Linkages with some room to move


Finished product


I didn't get any shots of my work on the keyway or the modifying of the blade carrier. All up it runs nicely. It seems to be a heavier motor than the Briggs it replaced. I will be putting it to task on some heavy grass in the next week.

Hi aldot. I'm probably the wrong person to comment on your welding, since the comments I receive on mine are by no means encouraging. However I would say it is very neat but the current was too low so it lacks penetration. Nevertheless if you welded both sides it should be more than adequate, and look good as well. The main requirement for that longitudinal link is that the distance between the holes at the ends of it must be exactly the same as on the original link, so that the ride heights of the front and rear of the mower are the same as each other.

The Honda GXV160 engine should be quite reliable. It is, of course, disproportionately heavy compared with the GXV140, and it is almost certain to have been made in China while the GXV140 was made only in the US. Perhaps more importantly (to me), the GXV160 has lower horsepower per litre of displacement, compared with the GXV140. It had 33.7 hp per litre, where the GXV140 had 37.0. The GXV140 weighed 11.3 kg, compared with the GXV160's 13.8 kg. Essentially, with the GXV160 you only get 0.5 hp (10%) more power than the GXV140 had, for 22% more weight.

Whether the OHV Honda engines are significantly better than the side-valve Briggs engines depends on what is important to you. Essentially, in my experience the Hondas fire more consistently (I've trained my younger daughter so she, like me, can tell one from the other at about 100 metres distance without seeing the mower), use substantially less fuel for the same power output, last quite a bit longer, leak less oil, start more easily, seem less prone to getting bent out of shape when you push them under low branches, but weigh substantially more. They also cost substantially more, of course, and genuine Honda spare parts are rather expensive. As I posted recently in another thread, running a Honda mower engine instead of a Briggs is like driving a BMW instead of a Holden: it does exactly the same job, but many people enjoy the driving experience more. Notice that I've only commented on the OHV Hondas, and carefully refrained from expressing my opinion on the OHC Hondas, in case I offended somebody or broke the keys on my computer.

Having expressed my opinion on the OHV Honda versus side valve Briggs question, I'll comment similarly on the Honda mower base compared with its competitors. I have found, so far, that the Honda single-lever-height-adjuster bases, which appear to be manufactured, rather badly, in Australia, are no better than the aluminium bases on many other, much cheaper mowers. I won't say that of the original Japanese 4 height-lever Honda bases, which in my experience are very well made, surprisingly durable, very heavy, and a bit of a pain to use for several reasons. (I've modified mine to overcome some of the pain issues, but it's still heavy, and it still takes 4 times as long to make a height change.)

I think you'll probably find your Viking/Honda a nicer mower than it was when it was a Viking/Briggs. However if you'd put a GXV140 on it, it might have been as nice as my Honda HRU195, which is a true BMW among mowers. Unfortunately I believe the GXV140 went out of production in 2001, so Chinese GXV160s are now the only game in town.