OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa VC160 Auto Drive V109

Hi Alan,
Nice to hear that the half twin 85cc is going well. I would love to add that to my collection for sure!
As for my mowers, I am fortunate to have plenty of undercover space that is fast running out. I really have to concentrate on rationalisation.
I want to have a core collection of around five in the long run, but I keep finding ones I like and want to get going. I recently found a powertorque from the late 80s, just like a neighbour used to have and I admired. I replaced the muffler, fitted a spare blade holder, sharpened the blades up and made up some metal shims to stop movement in the front axle bushings and now I have a fantastic workhorse I enjoy using. I so wish I had a big lawn again!!
I hope someone else can help you with your 60s self propelled classic. Does it have a catcher? It would sure look nice with some re-chroming work on the engine cover. The base looks in really good shape.

That is a very nice collection of some reasonably rare mowers you have.
Well done!

Yes the old Victas from the UK look great Alan.

With the V37 this is what I would do,other people may have some other ideas as well.

I would make sure the spark timing is correct if it has not already been checked , when cleaning a carby I usually
push a length of fuse wire from the house fuse box into the main jet in the carby just to clear any blockage
because compressed air will not always dislodge a blocked jet. If I want to check that the starting problem is fuel related
I remove the air filter and spray start ya bastard into the air intake and if the motor will run for 10 seconds when
spraying the starter fluid it's most likely a fuel supply problem.
click here for link starter fluid example

If I have problems starting a mower especially with the wind up starters I use a drill to start the engine or bolt a later
zip starter on.

Cheers Max.

Thanks again for your comments and advice guys,

No catcher with this one unfortunately, I believe they would have been the metal type so probably didn't stand the test of time?

I don't think the timing is to blame as it will start once the engine has been primed up, it just wont continue running. I wasn't sure about poking wire down the jet as I thought it might damage/scratch the internal bore? I have to admit though I am sorely tempted to as I recon that's the problem although the jet hole on the 3Q carb is really tiny, not sure if even the finest fuse wire I have would fit.
As there's no de-compressor valve on this engine I bet its a a kick-back nightmare with a zip starter or drill? Looks like you have already done it though Max, so It's just a case of fitting a zip cup and starter then?

Cheers for the link and pics, "Start Ya Bastard..!!"

Noooo! That's sacrilege removing the impact start, though it looks surprisingly good with that round zip starter tacked on top.
I found a store brand once with the decomp port blocked off and had no real trouble starting it, but certainly appreciated what the valve did.

I had the chance a few months ago to pick up one of those half twin mowers with a few Powertorques I had won on ebay ( bit annoyed with that win because my grandson bid over me) anyway I ended up with them for $16 each, then the bloke offered me the half twin for $25 but I knocked it back

Hi NormK,
I would have grabbed it no question but I guess you want to offload later rather than collect.

I could see no future for it in my cost neutral hobby apart from it being another mower taking up space here and I have enough like that and I am on a mission to reduce the number I have here. That doesn't seem to be working too well at the moment either.

You're doomed too. Save yourselves. Stick with other brands.

It will probably make more sense if I explain why I use fuse wire.

In the image below I rubbed the copper fuse wire around the brass gas fitting with some force for at least 20 seconds and it did not even polish the
tarnish off the brass so the jets are undamaged with this method.


What materials are fuse elements made from?

Most Low Voltage fuse elements are made of copper (Cu). Fuse elements of fast acting fuses and High Voltage fuses are primarily made of silver (Ag). Silver plated copper is also commonly used. As a rule, fuse elements of time delay fuses contain low melting point materials, e.g. tin (Sn) or zinc (Zn) and alloys thereof. Formerly used alloys containing lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) have widely been eliminated.

What materials are jets made from?
Jets are fuel and air metering orifices. At least in most carburettors I�ve worked on they are made of brass and are screwed into suitable holes machined into the carb body.

A lot of manuals say don't go poking around jets,it's mainly so people don't force wire into the jet making the jet hole
larger than the standard jet but when you have a brass jet and a copper wire plated in silver, I have never scratched a jet hole larger than standard
when cleaning one in this way.

I use different amp size fuse wire for different sized jets in the image below this 8 amp wire looks to be about 10 thousands of an inch and should fit
a lot of the smaller jets.



No kick-back nightmare when using a zip starter or drill and once the engine is running well you can fit the impulse
starter back on if you prefer it,I just change the starter because it's quicker starting an old motor with the zip starter when
you have a problem with the motor.

Sold..!!!

You obviously know you're onions Max.

I'm convinced it's a blocked jet and I have been itching to poke some kind of wire through to clear it. I found some old 5amp fuse wire in the garage tonight which looks the right size, I also have the cup and zip starter from the donor VC that I had to pull apart for spares. Definitely something to try at the weekend I think.Thanks for taking the time/effort to explain it, very much appreciated.

NormK, if another one gets offered to you (for that kind of money) then I would take Mowerfreaks advice and snap it up! From what I have learnt on here I know the Twin/500 had its starting problems but I really don't know why Victa stopped making these as they are a reliable, light and powerful little machine. To this day I still kick myself for taking my first one to the tip when I thought the end bearings were shot, later I learned from here that the intermittent growling noise I was hearing was just the blade plate slipping... Absolutely gutted..!!

The old impact starer will be going back on once this is solved, great idea to save the extra wear and tear on the impact starter drum.

Another question, Do you think it would be best to start another thread now as this one has deviated far away from the original subject?

Oh mate, that is a shame indeed lol. I like how the motor is so little but still uses that chubby LM carburettor! That could explain the power. The little high arch base is nice too. At least you know when a cylinder has failed, unlike the twin. There must not have been enough of a market niche like there would be now, when they decided to discontinue it. Victa developed it at a time when they were at the peak their success and were very ambitious and wanted to offer a varied product line.


That might be a good idea, if for no other reason, the amount of pages in this thread!!