A mate of mine brought over a Victa vac, in excellent condition, he has had it for many years and he only used it a couple of times. Does anybody use these anymore or were they replaced by blowers. This thing is in very good condition so I don't want to chop it up is there is a use for it. The wheels are good for a Victa slasher and I am sure the full crank motor can be put to good use
So what is the verdict, is it worth keeping or better to just strip it for the parts I can use? I don't like destroying machines that are in good condition but if they have no further use then I guess it is a strip and the rest off to the scrap. I have a chipper here that has only been used once and that will probably go the same way. Honda motor on that is probably the only thing worth keeping. Crazy thing is people keep buying these useless chippers for big money only to discover it takes a weeks to get a few branches through them
People all use hand held blower vacs these days. I think VVs came out before. They are only designed to be used on pathways I believe plus they have to be plugged in, so are not very versatile compared to B/V hands helds. Victa pumped out loads of the things so I don't imagine they would be of any value to a collector. Those wheels would be in near new condition to fit onto a mower. Another opinion or two would be of help. Maybe these had exceptional power and ability. I remember a man from across the street got himself a fancy toy in the form of a new b/v and it couldn't handle those spikey seed balls that fall off a maple tree that clogged the machine.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
I think this is probably too good to chop up but I think they have become outdated because the blowers are much smaller and easier to use. As you can see the bag is in perfect condition.
Now that would handle maple tree seed pods with ease. I had forgotten the petrol powered part. My former neighbour would have liked to borrow that! I was thinking of the electric one. This thing is industrial.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
And the funny thing is Electrolux made mowers through their Flymo arm, so we have a bit of overlap there.
Yep, and Flymo even owned Scott Bonnar, for a few years in the early 1970s.
Norm, I agree that this machine is in rather too good a condition to want to part it out. The drawback with these was always the cost of replacement bags - even now, aftermarket VictaVac bags are in the $195-250 range, depending on material!
Might possibly be worth something to a lawn/garden contractor who works around swimming pools a lot?
Cheers, Gadge
"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."
"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."
G'day all. The thing is that the Victa-Vac has nothing really to do with Electrolux or flymo. Sunbeam had control of Victa for a period from 1970. Electrolux had control of Scott Bonnar from 1970.
People all use hand held blower vacs these days. I think VVs came out before.
That's an interesting point.
Mechanical sweepers have been around sine the late 19th century. These looked like large side-wheel push mowers, but with a brush for a reel.
In fact, Rover was selling North American Lambert sweepers of that style in the 1980s!
Powered sweepers are big business today - for commercial use. In the domestic sphere the silly blowers reign supreme. [I love the sound of a leaf blower on a quiet Sunday Morning ]
Norm, are those wheels the same as the Victa Super 24s?
I think everyone is now using handheld blowers (pretty bloody useless).
I picked up an electric victa vac (about 5 years old), last year at the tip shop for $25. Luckily, the tip tests and tags electric, so you know that the motor works. It is great for vacuuming the back patio.
Probably with smaller house sizes, fewer people have the space for a reasonable size vac, let alone a petrol one. That said Norm, surely someone would still want a 2 stroke one in that good conditon.
CyberJack, I too find leaf blowers at 8 on a Sunday morning infuriating. But I think the worst ones are those who rev it for 1 second. Then idle and repeat. The gardeners (I use that term loosely) that were employed to keep the tiny garden of the next door units clean (when they were brand new and had home opens), would rev blip their Stihls for 15 minutes straight, then weed and tip their refuse over our fence.
Next day, just as I heard the real estate guy say to prospective buyers �the neighborhood is so quiet�� 2 stroke leaf blower time.
No doubt we will be hearing more 4 stroke leaf blowers in the future. Just saw one in the Aldi catalogue for $169 � will probably be popular like all those special buys are. I did find the fact they are offering a 4 stroke chainsaw very strange though.
Hi Jack, yes the wheels are the same as the Victa Super 24's, they caught my interest as I still have 4 or 5 of the 24's here that need rebuilding as all the repaired ones I had have gone and we are still in winter. In fact all the mowers I built over the winter months have gone in the last 2 weeks. Not sure what has caused this, we have only had a few warmer days recently.
I picked up an electric victa vac (about 5 years old), last year at the tip shop for $25. Luckily, the tip tests and tags electric, so you know that the motor works. It is great for vacuuming the back patio.
G'day Tyler A well-thought-out response there. I can't say the electric Victa-Vacs have been well documented. They were certainly a new design [see below]
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CyberJack, I too find leaf blowers at 8 on a Sunday morning infuriating. But I think the worst ones are those who rev it for 1 second. Then idle and repeat.
Don't get me started Tyler. There are two things that really grind my gears: lounge seats fitted to ride-ons, and leaf blowers. Those that rev them (as you described) is a particular annoyance. Who do they think they are? What are they in charge of? A racing car!
Roll and Rock may not be noise pollution but leaf blowers are! I wish we had an ODK Sniper Service for all this.
I'm going to take a cold shower! -------------------------------------------------- Jack
CyberJack, I too find leaf blowers at 8 on a Sunday morning infuriating. But I think the worst ones are those who rev it for 1 second. Then idle and repeat.
Don't get me started Tyler. There are two things that really grinds my gears: lounge seats fitted to ride-ons, and leaf blowings. Those that rev them (as you described) is a particular annoyance. Who do they think they are? What are they in charge of? A racing car!
Roll and Rock may not be noise pollution but leaf blowers are! I wish we had an ODK Sniper Service for all this.
I'm going to take a cold shower! -------------------------------------------------- Jack
You would hate my old 1989 Ryobi lawn Hornet with lawn sweeper attachment. It sounds like a WW2 air raid siren. Just be grateful I use it once a month if that and only for about 10 minutes max. You would prefer my friend's Weed Eater blower (aslo an Electrolux company) which is incredibly loud but at least has fixed throttle settings. Here is a vid of one like his with the sound. I quite like the noise to be honest!
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
And Jack, this is an email from a mate of mine who mows lawns and uses his 24 on a regular basis on lawns in the inner suburbs of Melb. He swears by it and the old G3 carb never gives him any problems. He has a chuckle when a Jims man goes past when he is using it, they nearly run off the road.
RECOA INC Mon, Aug 6, 9:43 PM (1 day ago) to me
They are amazing.
I did a back yard of a commercial property yesterday - went over it twice with the slasher - I raked up about 1/3 of a green bin of cuttings - the rest just kind of got spread out and could not be noticed.
You would hate my old 1989 Ryobi lawn Hornet with lawn sweeper attachment. It sounds like a WW2 air raid siren.
Hi Mowerfreak ... I feel 'Hate' is too strong a word for the Ryobi. I certainly loathe the advent of noisy leaf blowers.
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They were also painted grey Jack and fitted with a Honda motor, they were obviously still being made until recent times.I guess B&S put an end to them.
Hi Norm Yes, Norm. I guess this was Victa's most enduring model then? And yes, I think the VV did survive until the Briggs takeover. I note, though, that the electric Vac is still being sold.
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Was there a powertorque VictaVac?
I had to think about that ... Yes, Victa-Vacs were certainly fitted with Powertorques from the early eighties (best guess).
[/quote] You would hate my old 1989 Ryobi lawn Hornet with lawn sweeper attachment. It sounds like a WW2 air raid siren. Just be grateful I use it once a month if that and only for about 10 minutes max. You would prefer my friend's Weed Eater blower (aslo an Electrolux company) which is incredibly loud but at least has fixed throttle settings.
[/quote]
Not sure if i got that quote bit working right Mowerfreak.
That's the same leaf blower i normally use - except mines yellow since its a McCulloch - bought from the tip with the common loose cylinder head - bore wasnt too scored though. I saw the data sticker on it when I tore it down to fix - it said (effectively) 'Designed in italy, made in China and assembled in America'. i said straight out that it would probably try and kill me somehow. It did.
Turns out McCulloch cheaped out and put a thread on the crank shaft that will undo its self if not torqued to the point of shearing. Tuning carby, I hear this metallic pinking noise (the little end bolt) so i let off the throttle - the spinning was the only thing holding the blower impeller, and metal mulching blade plate (its supposedly a vac as well) on to the crankshaft. As soon as the momentum went, the impeller dropped off and the mulching blades went flying out the side (away from me luckily).
Now the nut is thoroughly loctite'd on
Those old Ryobis were good - I've grabbed 2 from the tip, the bores still had factory honing marks on both. I quite like those Ryan USA engines.
On a side note, I walked past a guy using an Oleo Mac Leaf blower today - sounded great and was amazingly smooth and quiet compared to the domestic use half cranks.
Hi Tyler, do you mean that Weed Eater was also badge engineered as the McCulloch you have? My friend's one got a loose head recently I believe, and he said the gasket had been put on at the factory with part of it folded over! Good to see somebody at last acknowledge how great the Ryan engines of the old Ryobis are. If nothing else, they are simple and have the torque to operate the assortment of optional attachments available at the time. I find that the older they are, the better as proven when I took a green 1980s built one and a later one from the 1990s in for a compression test and the green one came up trumps at 120psi vs something like 70psi for the later one. I still use it now.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Yes � Weedeater badge engineered Mcculloch � mine is called the McCulloch Electrolux BVM250 � don�t know the Weedeater model number though. I have actually seen an Orange Husky branded one exactly the same � must have been some low end stuff for a brand like husky. I can�t find this exact model, but I found their previous models shared (pictures attached). These were late 90s.
I know they ended up buying Talon, McCulloch (from Electrolux), Jonsered, Partner, and several others, so that�s probably why.
[Edit: Electrolux owned Husky - as well as Weedeater. Now the Husqvarna Group encompasses the above, plus Poulan and Flymo. I Learn Something new everyday :)]
The Weedeater Featherlite was the Mac TM251, the other I�ve got is a Weedeater WT 320 cls, same as MT 320 cls. Except colour.
In case you haven�t already guessed, I have a line trimmer addiction
With regards to the Ryobi Ryan motors, I too agree the older ones are better. One I�ve got it 1991 (roughly) and takes a cj6y plug, the other is mid 90s and takes a dj7y. I can�t make a distinction on compression � because only the earlier one has a clutch. The older one seems better though. I intend to get an older green one sometime, when I see one at the tip that is in ok condition.
There are slight differences in the bodies I see but can tell they are basically the same design, especially the Mac & Husky shells. I did notice the sound of an orange one I saw emitting that same distinct note as my friend's Weed Eater, which had me wondering. The orange Husky you have shown now explains it. Very happy to have picked up these tidbits of info regards the brand sharing here.
I have a Kazaa straight shaft whipper snipper I splurged on in 2005. I felt I deserved a high quality weed whacker so chose the most expensive model on display at Bunnings. The staff member said it would fit the bill as far as being up to the toughest tasks. It has a Mitsubishi TU26 two cycle motor that takes 25:1 mix so has the added bonus of taking the Victa fuel just like the Ryobi, without the need for a separate mix. The power delivery and smoothness is superb and continues to serve me very well, though it has always had a problem with fuel dripping through the fuel cap due to a dicky washer I just couldn't be bothered to chase up. I use whatever is on hand which only fixes the leak for a short while before I have to stick any old washer I can find in again and that fails too. I just try not to tip it sideways, and everything's good.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
I'm trying to find a fuel cap for a Mitsubishi at the moment, they seem to be a mongrel size. MF if you can find some 3mm nitrile sheet you can easily make up a washer, it is expensive but does a great job
Well my grandson found a use for the Victa Vac. He does a number of places that are long grass (can't call them lawns) that only get cut once a year, probably to keep the snakes and council off their backs. His problem was the time it was taking him to rake up the grass after running his 24 over it. He finds it is much quicker to run the Victa Vac over it and it gives a nice clean job
Tyler put me onto this Victa Vac with a straight fueled PT on it. Ok I thought I would grab it just for the wheels and tank as spares for any of the 24's I repair when I get a chance. Haven't seen any come up for sale for some time though. Anyway I am not sure where to go with this one, replace the motor or just part it out. Does anybody know how the motor connects to the fan wheel, does it just have the normal blade boss and nut arrangement. Reason I'm asking is I think I recall Max saying that you couldn't use the F/C motor on a mower because it had a straight output shaft and I'm wondering if they did the same with the PT motors. I'm guessing I will have to pull it apart to find out if it is worth fixing. Then I have the situation of weather I just hone it and put a set of rings in it. Not sure if anybody wants them anymore apart from Ironbark ( I haven't forgotten, hopefully heading your way end of April)
I had tried to send you the link to that powertorque-engined Vac but for some reason my phone wouldn’t let me do it. I thought it might be up your alley, especially being reasonably close by. I’m glad you got it.
I was planning to call and set up something for after Easter with your F/C so we’re on the same track. I’ll make sure there’s cake!
Hi Ironbark, Enfield Club has a weekend planned for the Lake Goldsmith steam rally and they are staying at Linton I believe and a mate of mine lives in Linton and I am planning on bringing up some doors and bonnet for his 56 Customline, just hope I can fit it all in the 6x4
I just had a look at 2 victa parts diagrams from the late 90s and the late 80s and have come up a blank
The late 80s one says the PT vac shares a crankshaft (hence output type) with a PT TAC edger. Looks like a straight drive not taper. Different than the regular motor
The 90s one says they all have the same crank an EN02118A – funnily enough this is the crank that both 80s and 90s manual says all the regular mustangs, commandos, etc have.
Maybe they standardised it in the early 90s, but whats confusing is both list the same part number for the fan impeller - hence same design.
Anyones guess until its torn down
By the way Norm, the newer manual says the super 600 uses a different flywheel – heavier maybe haha
Thanks Max and Tyler, Lots of good info there, if I get time today I will pull the motor off and see what we have here. Tyler, interesting and I would love to know how they fitted a heavier crank in there but I know I have a fix for them by adding 500 grams to the crank nut.. Not sure if I mentioned it with the 24 I built last week, but once I had fitted the F/C to the base and went to fit the decomp hose and took the cowl off and no decomp just a broken spark plug. I had been using this motor on my test mower with the Flintstone wheels and it was an easy starter with no issues starting.I thought low comp and I would have to put rings in it but I was against time as the bloke wanted it for a couple of jobs on the Saturday. Thought I would see if it would start but as you can guess the big kickback, just as bad as any the PT's could give. Put a decomp valve in it and perfect. The property the bloke wanted the 24 for, the owner had died at least 3 years ago and by the look of it probably hadn't been cut for a couple of years before she died. When I first saw the pics of the property I told the bloke he needed a 24, he had no idea what I was talking about but could I get him one in a hurry when I said to him it would get the place all chopped down in half/three quarters of an hour he couldn't believe it. All I could show him was a base and a box of bits a mower I would take the motor off he was staggered. I dropped the 24 off to him at the job on the Sat morning, showed him how to use it and before I had left he had the whole back yard slashed down in 20 minutes as he tapped on his watch. A very happy camper he is, couldn't wipe the smile off his face.
They’re definitely a good thing Norm. I noticed that Briggs discontinued them this month. For the first time in 50 years you can’t buy a new Super 24 or Super 600. Just when I reckon we’ll be needing more local production not less.
I’ve got two full crank motors partially disassembled at the moment; one off a 1972 Super 24 that had the points closed up and one off a 1974 alloy base Special 160 that needed a new flywheel. I’m debating whether I should pull off the cylinders give them a hone and replace rings while I’m down this far.
As soon as they dropped the 2 stroke motor the 24 was doomed, the 4 stroke motors they were putting on them were not a patch on the lightweight and powerful 2 strokes that you can just let rip. RIP the 24, I aim to try and save as many as I can
At least the 24 didn’t suffer the indignity of having one of the sumec chondas put on it.
I think part of the issue with them once the 2 stroke went was top rpm. As its 2:1 drive, although you double the torque you struggle with cut – the blade is just too slow.
A 4 stroke motor is spinning at 3200rpm if lucky – that’s 1600rpm at the disc (unless they changed ratio). I don’t own a 24 but I can’t get a decent cut of anything at 1600rpm
With a 2 stroke, they were going at between 3600 up to 4200 allowable on the FC
Hi Tyler, same old story with the old GP500 2 stroke race bikes, when they banned the 2 strokes they had to up the cc capacity to 1000cc so that the same riders on the same tracks could achieve the same lap times. Sort of tells you something. Anyway vac is stripped down and this one has a bog stock PT motor on it so now I am in a quandry, do I just put a motor on it and sell it as a vac or use the bits for a 24. Tough call now.
Norm, what I would do is post it on gumtree, state that "if anyone wants if for $x, it will be ready in a fortnight and will include the good bag, a newly honed and rebuild Powertorque and a modified carby."
If no one bites, then use it as a 24 parts donor
By the look of that fan disc with the holes on the opposite sides, I think I know what victa did with all the spare 1968-74 blade discs they had in stock (the ones that took the bolts with the big square heads)...
Drill a couple holes, whack a fan blade on and they were set
Hi Tyler, too late, already have it up and running, left the carby alone and as it works I'm not looking for extra work for myself. Another bizare thing is with the pull start, they must have used a special pull starter on these, because it is turned one hole . No problem I thought just turn the one on the motor I was fitting and good to go. Went to pull it but motor locked solid. Pulled the starter off and checked, everything looked ok. put it back on and same thing. Pulled the starter off the original motor and it worked fine and the motor started first pull. Id id think the fan wheel was an old blade carrier but I didn't bother checking it for measurements
That was quick Norm, I suppose it was just a case of pulling a previously checked working PT off the shelf as it was nothing special shaft wise.
Interesting about the starter. I looked in the old manual, but it doesn't really say much - pretty much every PT in there has a number thats slightly different
Hi Tyler, I just pulled the motor off a PT I had sitting here, gets another one off the floor and out of the way. Starter has me stumped. I have never tried moving one around on the holes before. but I will try on another PT and see what happens
I get what you mean now - with a vac you have the pull handle facing the cyl head and up - pretty much 180 deg out. I know the PT tac has a different bit on the starter as they do the same
I did see this Victa Vac on gumtree but have no idea if you can find anyone that wants one ,I still have a Heavycut Vac here with a Honda motor ,it's been sitting in the rain for 3 years.
I've dragged up another 35 mowers from the back yard to scrap I wonder how many I will have to scrap before I notice a difference because I still don't notice any gone. At least I notice all the ride on mowers gone.
Are you seriously scrapping all those 2 strokes Max, I can't bear to see that happen, I won't be able to sleep at night if you do. Just seemed a bit of a shame to scrap the vac, seeing I had enough bits to get it back working, but if all else fails I can scrap it and build up another 24. At the moment I need to get another 20 Victa bases repaired and painted before the weather goes bad but I might be running out of time, starting to get cold now
Most of the Mowers take thumb latch catchers Norm ,the catchers would be worth more than the mowers .
The engines and wheels will be removed as I have a lot a Victa utility mowers ,then the alloy bases can go to scrap alloy.
The steel bases can be dropped off to you. I've tried advertising some ,perfect alloy base running motor with a catcher $20. and no interest. If you have to buy points and condenser it's $28. and module would be $22.
The Victa Vac is worth fixing if you can make some profit from it ,otherwise the wheels and fuel tank can be used on a 24.
I know someone who took a trailer load of 2 stroke Victa motors to the scrap metal yard.
Hi Max, I'm not really interested in the mowers or catchers or wheels (I'm sick of dealing with crappy Victa wheels) I'm interested in motors, particularly F/C's for slashers, but if you are keeping the motors then I can rest easy
G'day Norm, Tyler and all, Some of the PT starters are able to be rotated and others are not. The early type(pic1) with the removable "plastic ring" can be rotated in any of the 3 positions as long as you drill and tap the screw holes to match where you want to screw the ring back on. This allows for the piston to come right through it's stroke at bottom dead centre. The all alloy starters come in two types, the first(pic 2) being able to be rotated 120 degrees from the usual position again because it's got the cut away for clearance at bottom dead centre in 2 locations and the last pic which shows a starter that will only fit in the usual position. I hope this clarifies your starter woes a little.
Ok, having thought about this vac with the PT on it, I think I will scrap it because the wheels and fuel tank are worth far more to me than I would ever get for the unit..Pity but the slashers are more important to me than the vac
I reckon most people now (unless you have flame trees or pies or something that puts out mass amounts of leaves/needles/seedpods) can get away with the smaller vacs.
The echo vacsac was available up to a few years ago and that is a great machine. The problem arises that when briggs took over parts distribution they cheaped out on the replacement impellers. They flog out and strip in as little as 10 mins.
I saw a star products vac at the tip, checked and since the impeller spun freely, figured it wasn't worth the effort. Talked to a mechanic mate and discovered potential fixes, so I went back 3 days later and it was still sitting there.
Same as an echo body wise, but a 1e34f china motor.
Turned out it (unlike echo) has a clutch. Replaced the carby, new throttle lever and fuel lines and it is perfect. Doesn't like big frangipani leaves but good otherwise.
For $20 plus modifying a ryobi bag, it is definitely worth it.
Its a shame that the big victa vacs don't sell, but most commercial operators just see them as a 30 yr old machine.
I can report that the Victa Vac is a fantastic piece of equipment in the right setting.
We have a decent number of deciduous trees and vines around the house and many of them don’t even start dropping leaves until late autumn. The Victa vac is great at sucking up larger volumes of leaves that would otherwise be pretty unmanageable. I previously picked them up with a normal mower, emptying a catcher repeatedly into a trailer and by raking up big piles and transferring them. Now, provided the leaves are not wet, I can do the same job in half the time.
I have the big vac out twice a week at the moment, weather permitting. A couple of hours of leaf vacuum work and I’m ready for a change of pace.
Hi Ironbark, I used the one I have here on a nature strip I had cut with a 24, which was excellent along the footpath and the road/gutter but when I tried on the nature strip the front height adjuster wheel kept digging into the ground. I was thinking it might work better with a mower type wheel on each end of the vacuum chute
I used a hand held blower vac to suck up several small but dense piles of leaves and sticks and it was slow going and clogged a fair few times where I had to pull out a clump of twigs blocking the chute. It would have been simpler just to put it all in the bin by hand by the time I fitted the vacuum attachments and the weight of the machine and bag. Wasn't helped by the motor wanting to cut out periodically thanks to a new found flat spot.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
I used the one I have here on a nature strip I had cut with a 24, which was excellent along the footpath and the road/gutter but when I tried on the nature strip the front height adjuster wheel kept digging into the ground. I was thinking it might work better with a mower type wheel on each end of the vacuum chute
G’day Norm
Yes, that can be a bit of an issue. Most of my use is on grass and I pull the front wheel fully down against the stop when doing so. Because of the turning issues and clearance at the corners I was thinking that I might make a larger diameter single front wheel. If my grass was thicker thatch then I’d already be on to it but most of the time it’s not a big problem so long as I maintain awareness.
I’d dearly love another couple of bags for the thing but it seems they’re out of production.
A Powertorque vacuum cleaner would be handy for vacuuming the house. The carpets will come up like new! Just remember to open all the doors and windows.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Gee I forgot how truly shocking The Young Ones was. I wouldn't mind that engine on a mower but a helicopter turbine would be better. It would mulch the grass into a fine mush!
Those memes were classic.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Mine sounds a bit like an early aeroplane. Definitely not something to use without good quality hearing protection as the muffler points straight at the steel fan housing magnifying the noise which then comes directly back at the operator.
I was using the PT one a week or so ago and I can't recall it being too noisy. It doesn't have the right cowling on it because when the mower shop pulled it apart they didn't put the cowl back on so it has gone for good
My nearest neighbour isn’t within shouting distance so impacts on neighbours are not really an issue for me.
I have half a dozen Victa 2-strokes that see use, including one with the old “fishtail” style exhaust and the Victa Vac is significantly louder than any of them. I don’t mind the noise. I mostly have full-crank motors which have a feel to them that I particularly like.
I’ve been using heavy equipment since I was at primary school. A lot of it, particularly in the early days, was a bit rough around the edges. I’ve played music since I was a kid too and we’d wear ear muffs back then before most people. So now, if something might be loud, I wear earmuffs. Some things are too loud even with good earmuffs so in those situations I wear earbuds as well.
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