OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Events - Past & Present VICTA - Final 2-Stroke Models Announced

Hello Members

Victa have announced the end of the 2-stroke will occur this year.
They announced this on December 7, 2016.

wow !!!

Nearly $600 for a 2 stroker, don't think that will be overly successful.

Honestly most new mower purchasers have long opted for a 4 stroke machine all day long as there's no more messy fuel mixing and smoke choking situations along with noisy sound output, thus why the demise of this format in the first instance.

Basically they are no longer seen as environmentally friendly when machines are going back to either 4 cycle engines or electrically powered units which are so much quieter on a Sunday morning.

Cheers,
BB.

What are people going to do on slopes? Buy a second electric mower just to do them?
A couple of years ago I had heard (OBVIOUSLY FALSE)rumours that Victa had halted production of two strokes and when I asked a mower shop employee if it was true, he said not as far as he knew and brought up the point of 2 strokes being useful for the many sloped conditions which Australia has.

Can anyone also verify what a friend told me that he's heard that soon after Briggs & Stratton took over (and will probably run into the ground) there were rubbish skips outside Victa's factory, filled to the brim with discarded brand new Powertorques.
It made me sick to the stomach.

Hi Mowerfreak,

That wouldn't surprise me at all, just in my own field of expertise, it was amazing what Rover did to Scott Bonnar by discarding many things to change to their own way of thinking and also the marketing model that they work to.

This always happens with corporate takeovers.

I'm just wondering how blowers and brush cutters work with 4 cycle engines as they require a sump, oil pump etc. and these tools are used at all different angles where the two stroke was so adaptable, but from the general mowing point of view I can't see a 4 stroke not being able to do most things that a two stroke does.

Cheers,
BB.

The other thing is that the battery powered OPE tools such as what Stihl are marketing will work on the angles that a 4 stroker can't.

However, most people around here use a brush cutter/line trimmer on the hilly areas rather than a 2 stroke mower.

G'day Mod BB, MF and LRT

I feel the 4-stroke mower makers are correct in saying their
engines will operate on any 'safe' slope. The safety factor goes
to the safety of the user; not the engine.

It is no surprise cutters/trimmers have won this use application anyway.
4-stroke engines that run clever reservoir/pump designs
can accommodate any angle of operation - just like in aerobatic
aircraft engines, I guess?

Cheers
----------------
Jack

Usually aerobatic engines use a 'dry' sump lubrication system rather than a conventional 'wet' sump design to prevent oil starvation.

They also use fuel injection rather than a carby as the float closes the needle and shuts off the fuel when flying inverted.

That is the risky thing when doing loops with the Tiger Moths, as when you reached the top of the loop the fuel shuts off and sometimes the needle would stick shut. You then had to dive towards the ground to use the extra air speed to turn the engine over to try and re-start it, as they didn't have a starter motor. An interesting experience no doubt!

Is it worth buying a complete mower to store away or just buy a new 2 stroke engine at half the cost?

Briggs bought Victa from GUD Holdings Limited in 2008, so they've been the owners for a while now.

It wouldn't surprise me if the scrapping rate was very high for the early Chinese produced PowerTorque blocks, but that was some years earlier.

LRT, no point in buying a motor to store away, you can rebuild a 2 stroke Victa for a few pennies, so if you really felt the need rebuild a few and you will have plenty of motors stored away to see your days out. Problem is by the time people who really need a 2 stroke will not know they are not available till it is too late. The problem with using a dry sump motor in a small engine is that it requires 2 oil pumps a scavenge pump to pull the oil back from the sump and a feed pump to pump the oil back to the big end, which then drops to the bottom of the sump, splashed over the bore and bearings and then picked up by the scavenge pump to go the cycle again. Far too complex for a mower or whipper snipper. I know a few are claiming 4 stroke whipper snippers but as AVB said recently they are seeing them now coming into the shop, suffering oil starvation resulting in terminal damage

Evening all,

BB raised the subject of emission standards earlier. Where are we at in this country with regards this in relation to powered outdoor products?

Cheers,

Yes I thought as much. The people near here who still want Victas usually have side throws rather than a catcher as they're 'turning grass into lawn' and not wanting to empty the catcher every few feet. You're right about people not realising in time. I couldnt find any second hand ones for sale when I last looked. They turn up at the scrap metal places but not only do you have to have the spare time, you have to be really quick before someone takes it.

LRT, I'm doing my best to salvage as many 2 strokes as I can and I am slowly convincing people the advantages of a tough 2 stroke over the 4 stroke. I have sold quite a number of them and often get people ring back saying the can't believe the way a 2 stroke will rip into long grass.

I have seen the green mower already on sale at Stanfords was tempted but didn't buy it.

The current state of play is here: http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/air-quality/national-clean-air-agreement

From the Nov 2016 Mid-term Report linked there, the emission standards are under development, after which Commonwealth legislation will be drawn up to enable enforcement of these.

Current timeline is for this process to be complete in 2018:

Yes it looks great. Very tempting.

If I were buying some I'd get one each of these rather than a catcher type.

MSV562 Mulchmaster 560 ($1,299.00 RRP)


MSP602 Mastercut 600 ($1,655.00 RRP)

Why are they worth so much?
Do local councils still buy these? I recall council workers starting a utility up back in 88 and the powerful sound it made along with the whirr of the blades was phenominal!
Geez I have a lot of stand out Victa memories from the 1988/89 period!

I don't know. The Ballarat council still use Deutscher walk behinds I think. The Deutscher HE660 is $4,500 RRP!

I'll have to say that wood heaters are far more pollution orientated than any two stroke motor and from what I'm reading this is all about new machinery and not retro-ing legislation back to existing stuff out there.

I guess they feel that natural attrition will get rid of all the older gear over time as we are seeing plenty of Victa's hitting the scrap yards with their flimsy rusted out chassis's.

Honestly it's the stinkin' wood heaters that piss me off at night when the stench just hangs around and you can't leave clothes out on the line overnight.

Wow someone still using a Deutscher out there. I thought all Councils had done away with them and gone to ride ons which are far easier on the body and also allow for some circle work fun.

I must admit as Norm suggested it's true how a two strokers will power on through tough going stuff opposed to 4 strokes that just stall and toss in the towel.

Cheers,
BB.

No its not mine! Thats a picture is taken off their website.

Although I do have a 1970's FH model with a broken gearbox shaft that I plan to rebuild when I get the time.

Here's an FH model I re-powered early last year for a customer.



I do have a better picture of it with the belt cover on but I can't find it at the moment.