OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Identification of Particular Machines Victa Model 4 Automatic Specifications

Hi Gaz,

That is awesome, what a beauty....Any chance of getting a vid of it running?

found some time to tinker plenty of spark now ran for 10 minutes took 30 to clean

That looked cool, can see why they were not very successful

Hi Gman,
I have been looking at some original front flaps (photos) and was wondering about the red stripes on your front flap, and was this just a personal choice to paint them red or what did you go off from your reserch to decide to paint them red? as going off Unkimonks NOS flap they are not painted.



or the ones from the other thread that Blumbly put up that sold on Ebay I think, but very original looking flaps.




the only other one I noticed not being painted (however it's been restored) is the one in the YouTube video of the Victa collection from someone I dont know but have heard is from Sydney?? going from the Billy Cart through to the Model 5.

I am very interested in your thoughts.

Victa collection video link HERE!

Also another M4 that sold on Ebay recently for $1275 that puts the engine No with predicta set up in the 120's.

If anyone in sydney is after galmet paint in sydney I found a place in rockdale that stocks it and will tint it to the correct color I had some mixed up today and its almost an identical match to the bottom of my fuel tank and it only cost $35 for 1L from the dulux paint shop

409 Princes Hwy Rockdale

The only thing was they didnt know the formula but I got that after calling galmet and it is ss27 to 1L of gunmetal hammertone

ya got the idea from Mr Tony Cassar id say one of the best collections around he has the red paint strips on front flap just looks good in my eye's.

red striped front flap on this auto he has used red paint on the wheels on the fan. i have used sky blue on my Mk1 Fan

I agree Gman, I think the stripes look good, and Wow what a line up of mowers in that photo, sounds like you too have some very sought after mowers as well, would love to see more of your collection. would it be too much to ask for you to take some pics of the underside of the front and rear flaps and how all the bits are set up so we have a better understanding of the predicta operation? I only just got some incomplete parts and would like an idea of what else is needed to make the set up complete. any info at all like cable lengths etc, any help will be greatly appresiated.

Just saw one of these sell on ebay. Unrestored for $2600.00. Wow

Yes andyandeva, I would have loved to of had those very complete front and rear flaps, but that was all you got for your money as the rest was nothing really, $1300 a flap, I dont think so.

exactly! at 1600 I stated in a previous thread it had hit its peak....2600 for both flaps, crazy! 1200 tops for front and 500 rear...Hope they knew what they were buying as not much else was correct. ..

Photos of Instruction booklet for the Victa Automatic..

Hi Chris, and many thanks for posting a copy this important booklet. I feel it should be part of the Victa Model 4 Automatic Specifications thread, which at present is our most viewed topic.
I shall move it to that thread.

Hi to all ODK Members and Guests,
Here is a copy of a memo that was sent to all accredited Victa agents, dated 26th September, 1957, explaining the withholding the release of the Automatic from sale.

I feel this is an important part of the story of the enigmatic Victa Automatic.

Quite a while back this thread raised some interesting suggestions about the early development of the Predicta mechanism. Advertising images eluded to a possible first and second state of the mechanism, which was later confirmed by the above memo. Withheld from sale until the mower was updated to the revised second state, questions remained about exactly how the first state differed in its design. Where did the throttle cable run?Through the height adjusting trim rod? How many cables were there? What was it about the design that required such a drastic modification?

A patent application has now surfaced which goes a long way to answer these questions:







Somewhere out there, an original first state Predicta mechanism may just exist.

Hello bestseller

I do believe this is the first time anyone has seen the illustration
accompanying the patent application. Thank you, again, bestseller for
presenting this exciting information. I have now downloaded the patent,
thanks to your work.

What the application confirms is that Mervyn Richardson was the
'Actual Inventor'. What this does not show, of course, is whether
Mervyn claimed this as a proprietary right over engineers who were
Victa employees ...

Nonetheless, it does show Mervyn had a 'hands-on' approach.
What it does establish - for me - is that he wasn't a great engineer,
or that his engineering employees were more persuasive than competent ...

The important September 1957 memo is really peripheral - a production
or 'quality control' issue. The real failure of the Predicta was,
in my view, a overly complicated, overly mechanical, over-engineered,
slow mechanism for governing engine speed.

It may be that Mervyn wanted to match the impending fully-governed Villiers
7f design (released late 1957). That superb engine showed the true direction
rotary lawnmower engine design should take: an internal mechanical, or
external mechanical air-vane, or pneumatic vacuum system. A long-winded
mechanism of levers, cables, and a slide carby was just ... ridiculous.
[I'll put the kettle on love, shall I?]

The Ford Edsel - the running joke in automobile land - was rejected primarily
because of its styling. The Victa Automatic was rejected by the punters (and Victa itself!)
because it just didn't work reliably and predictably (pun intended) in the field.

I guess this is why the Victa Automatic is revered by some collectors, and now
commands unwarranted and commodified prices. It intrigues because of its
complexity and its rarity, and the story it tells. I love this mower!

It would take Victa a decade to even begin to get it right.

The rest is history.
------------------------
Jack