OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers My new Victa's 18

Lmao! Yes,I hear he's very generous....

Don't believe everything you hear did you get the fan on eBay Blue?
How did you go with the choke Unki?

Bugger, Bugger, Bugger, did anyone else see those Predicta parts on Ebay and they ended the aution early, Bugger!!!! Bugger Bugger bugger Bugger Double Bugger

well got my broken skirt bolt out ok today but onlt by drilling it right out and then running the tap through it which pushed the old bolt thread out at the same time, how did you go with yours Unkiemonk?

Hey Jonesy, Awesome on the bolt,it aint to hard eh :)Ahh The Fan..Nope,Funny i spoke to a few people who pulled out at 2k,trufully got side tracked and forgot about it...but seriously,I was still unsure about it,very nice early model BUT The early model 1s did not have the Australian Villers 132X,although his number seemed accurate you cannot verify it 100% certain as you can with the Ballarat made version,so I put it out of mind. All in all I think it a pretty good price,but not quite what Im after...Yes yes beggars cant be choosers,But If ya not happy right?..So we will see. Didnt see any predicta stuff havnt been on for a bit,but how typical the auction finished early...oh well all good things come to those who wait...and dont Lie,cheat,over price,decieve,up sell junk,give innacurate info,"it was ok when I sent it" and do shady deals out of Ebay...And NO I have never ended a sale early due to selling out of the Auction!...But unlucky for me...I still dont sleep well at night! lmao...

These were the bits

What was it you said? bugger bugger bugger bugger and double bugger...There is like potentially 1,500 dollars or more in seperate sales there...grrrr havnt seen this many goodies in one sale for ages. So typically it went off early,bet he saw the dollar signs and started drooling,and I bet he never even got close to what they would have gone for at auctions end. I was willing once to buy a Roto 1 of a bloke Before he listed it,said Id give him 800.00 was the lowest number ive ever seen and a complete and accurate model with stickers and paint. He refused and said he was going to list it on ebay as he was told is was worth over a grand...He got 380.00 for it. Even I was shocked,but timing plays very cruel tricks on sales sometimes( was listed in the crissy holidays)...oh well we both missed out,but he lost 420.00 for greed.

I was wondering if that plug spanner near the rear flap would in fact be the alusive straight bar spanner???? room for thought. The bar does look a bit long to be able to fit between the handle though. yeah I came up with a quick work out of about $1800 worth, they were at $1500 + when took off auction.

Not sure,as far as ive heard its a straight bar with a slight flare on the ends. This bar seems newer than the spanner? its just a 1/4 bar from memory,make your own until someone can verify it 100% . Cool ok good luck to him then,if there was only one bidder then why not,but if more its not fair...Either way its a nice haul,principal or not.

Nice work on the bolt Jonesy. I'm yet to give it a try but will let you know how I get on when I find the time (and balls). I was in Hobart during the week and was about to go searching for Auto parts, then remembered that you cleaned the place out already I didn't bother bidding on the choke on ebay, as at $70 it was a bit rich, but did pick up one almost as good for $50 which will sort out my Roto just fine.

I had my eye on that ebay bundle aswell, but pulled the pin at $1300. Would have been nice to land those parts as it would have nearly finished off my Auto, but I'm sure another rear flap and skirts will turn up sooner or later. Will be focusing on the model 2 for a while, as I should be getting the deck back from the shop this week coming.

Blue, I've got a few questions on the model 2 - hope you can help!

I'm short a snorkel, and was wondering what my best option would be for replacing it. Would a cut down later model do the job, or can they be sourced elsewhere?

Did the tin wheels originally have a copper sleeve/bush and circlip or a splitpin?

Is the correct throttle cable the one with the metal elbow at the carby end or the standard cable as on the model 5?

Was the rear axle painted green?

Got a million other questions but will give it rest for now

Hey Unkie,
You cannot buy the snorkel for the Rotos unfortunately. They come up on ebay occasionally or you can use the A/M new for the specials. Dont worry Im short a few as well. I saw a few listed a while back,straight roto ones that were new,I msg him and got no reply,so I scoured the sites and couldnt find anything,so maybee his were old stock? Others may know of other sources.
The tin wheels came with a brass sleeve.and yes they are usually worn down as is the axle. You can do it one of 3 ways. Ream or die grind out the old sleeves ( there are 2 in each wheel) You can replace with brass,which usually have a thin wall or copper slightly thicker wall and often a nicer fit. The 3rd while some may think a bit bodgy is STD garden hose. This has 2 advantages.its a perfect ext dia' fit and you can drill the centre to size,which is almost accurate any way. It gives a tighter fit on the axle and is quieter and also does not cause any wear to the axle.
The Cable should be straight for your Roto 2 It was in the 60 thousands right? The bent cable sleeve came later in the roto run.
And YES 100%....The WHOLE mower chassis was painted GREEN,Including the axles and Flywheel Cover and Tin Wheels.
A million more questions?...lols ok a dollar a question and Im All set!...

well another question, everything about these mowers there are small differences! below are two different types of cigar fuel taps I have, I also have one different again, as it has the little circlip type retainer but has the same knerl as the one with the two hex nuts on both ends, so what one goes on what year mowers??


the one on the left is the one that came off my Predicta. the one not pictured I discribed also came on a model 4 I got but dont know about the one on the right.

The one on the left does look like the correct one for the model 4 automatic. The other circlip type I believe was what the rotomos had. Like the model 2 and 2a.

Agreed....The one on the left is definately Predicta/4. The other style is A/M. A mate owned a mower shop 25 years ago and Im still sure he has boxes of them,he bought them of an A/M supplier around this time. They come up on Ebay from time to time but no one bids as they arent original. The late Roto 2,2a and Predicta shared the same fuel tap( The one on the left). There are no other Genuine tap styles for these models that im aware of,only the one on the left...:) BUT if someone would be kind enough to verify or correct me that the one on the right as being
Rotomo or 2a,Im going to get the whole lot off my mate!!!! lols.

Here is the other one on a Model 4 that seems original, note the knerl the same as the one on the left but with the circlip type bottom, probably more like what you mean Blumbly?

Hmmm Interesting...2 options,It has had the original style sleeve put on it,or there is another tap? Its consitency in styling to the aftermarket one on the right is seemingly exact but for the sleeve...Let me look into this one further as I still maintain there is only the one style made for this period of mowers,and the AM ones came out later as a replacement,possibly in the 60,s...Anyone else know of another Variant for the Rotos and Predicta? Id really like to know as well so I can amend my own records. Either way the one on the left we know is of the correct styling,and accurate for your Predicta Jonesy

Hi Mate i am sure that victa made Automatics up in the 123,124 and 125 thousands as my auto has never had the engine off the deck and was all original before i started the restoration and its number is 123 thousands, and my mates mower which is a original Automatic is 124 thousands and if the engine was rebuilt you would think it would have a lot later engine number!! unless it blow up the first time they used it?? and i have seen plenty of other Autos and ex autos with the bolts still on the deck with the engine number in the early 120 thousands,
Thanks Kyle

Your properly right there Kyle as far as I know there was never any documents to say what engine numbers had what set up and it is only through what people have found that we can come up with some theory of the numbers.
Also just curious as to (as I have seen it a lot in this thread) why we are calling the automatic a predicta ? I mean yes it had what they called a predicta setup but Victa never called it that. Sorry as I said I'm just curious as to why?

sorry to correct you but victa did mention it in many of there automatic adverts as (AMAZING predicta automatic accelerator) and also a few times in the Automatic Manual.

Kyle

Yes my point exactly mentioned. It wasn't called the Victa Perdicta it was called Automatic.