OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Sanli Disposable Mower At Big W.

I came across this today. It's been a while since I've seen any mower for sale at one of these discount stores.
I did see one recently actually, but forget which of the 2 main discount chains.

There are 4 in my local big w - 1 display & 3 boxed. been sitting there since last july - havent sold one. At least some people have some sense (or havent seen them).

A mate of a mate rang a few months ago - bought the red bull ant sanli model from stratco in the morning. Would start for 2 minutes every half hour, then nothing. Fuel tap was off from the factory, but still leaked a bit.

Says it all really

Some people would see that as being a great replacement for their two stroke Victa with a minor issue. Oooooh a fancy four stroke. Alien technology. Bah!!

"I just don't want to be mixing petrol and oil" is all they can say.

Used 2 Victas to mow the lawns over the weekend - a 1985 Commando PT, and 1999 Victa Pace (complete with a no decompressor cylinder head), and the finish is bloody good as always.
Got 2 catchers full off the front and 1.5 off the back. Went through less than a litre with a line trimmer, blower, and ryobi expand it edger.

Just can't beat a Victa 2 stroke

And I really hate bar blades on those cheap mowers by the way

G'day Mowerfreak and Tyler,

It's funny you mention that Tyler, when I was last at the Victa Gold dealer getting some parts for the Victa a younger mechanic in the shop said to me the exact same thing "Oh I can't be bothered mixing oil with fuel, it's easier to just use a 4 stroke". I think nowadays alot of people must be thinking the same thing as this younger mechanic and the general public.

Those Sanli mowers are garbage, I think I may have seen them on sale at K-mart some years ago. They had one on display and it looked like people had started to take bits off the display model in the store! lol

I drove past a Cash Converters store the other day, and it looked like they had a couple of these style mowers second hand for sale at the front of the store...lol I think they end up at Cash Converters if they still work, and if not they end up at your local tip...lol

Speaking of good old Victa 2 strokes, the other day I was driving down a main road and I spotted someone mowing the nature strip with a good old Victa 2 stroke powertorque! I wound down my window so I could hear that legendary machine doing it's work! Yes it's becoming a rare thing to see someone mowing with a 2 stroke mower these days.

Cheers!

Then you have the other young people (although in the minority) that want a 2 stroke. I had a bloke pick up one a few days ago because his grandfather has one, his father has a couple so he wanted one. These people consider mixing the fuel just part of the procedure of mowing the lawn. I give everyone who buys a mower a plastic 150mm beaker and just tell them to put that much oil in 4 liters of petrol and that is all they need to do. It is easier for people to understand than just words.

That's good to hear NormK, it also doesn't help when major retailers like Bunnings haven't had a 2 stroke lawnmower on display or for sale for probably 10 years now or longer, they have only pushed Victa's with 4 stroke engines on them. This is probably also because of B&S who owns Victa and want people to just buy their B&S 4 stroke engines over the aussie 2 strokes.

The majority of people now that shop at big retailers like Bunnings will just buy what they see in the store, and you only have one choice if you want a petrol engine, 4 stroke. Then there is also electric mowers available now also.

Although now it's too late and it's the last days of whatever new 2 stroke mowers are left to be sold in Victa dealers only.

Hi Everyone,

I'm just wondering if one day Briggs can redesign the 2-stroke PT into a hybrid 2-stroke with 4-Stroke oil and keeping the same LM/G4 carburetor means no more mixing of oil and petrol and less emission. The 2-Stroke can ran with pure petrol and less emission. I know you will ask me how to lubricate the engine while it's running. One possibility way is to divert the fuel into a fuel diversion chamber during down stroke while the crankcase is filled with 4-stroke oil to lubricate the engine. Crankcase and diversion chamber are totally separate. Maybe I'm just thinking too far and wanted to revive the PT into a new generation engine.

Cheers,
TheCarbyMaster

CarbyMaster, I like your out of the square thinking, that is how inventors think, and inventions are created

Problem is what incentive is there for briggs to do such a clever thing when they can pump out and sell as many of their cheap 4 strokes to gullible buyers

Maybe direct oil injection CarbyMaster?

Hi Tyler,

There is no incentive whatever so it will never happen, sure a prototype could be built but no manufacturer would think twice about it unless there was some financial benefit for them. Millions of engine designs have been tried over the years and eventually it all ends up back at the cheapest current design which is the 4 stroke OHC motors. The reality of it is if you consider the cost of any mowers back in the 50s/60/s at several months wages just to pay for it compared to the hours, not months needed to buy one today, the consumer is way better off buying a cheapie from wherever and just buying a new one each year

Just came back from bunnings half an hour ago (nice and quiet at this time), had a look at their $199 yard king. It is so cheap that if you lightly push down on the cowl, the pull cord wont pull over. A very nasty mower. The throttle lever almost snapped off in my hand, and that was only a gentle flick

As Norm says, a few hours pay v weeks.

There was actually a manufacturers name on the engine, but it now alludes me

G-day everybody,
I thought would it be worth getting this mower which has the powertorque mounting hole for $400?
I can use the Briggs during the warranty period and when it develops problems, I can fit a lightly honed pt with new rings to it and have a good body that I have taken care of my way.
It's (slightly) cheaper than ordering a new PT Victa and I have plenty of PT motors that work. Unfortunately classic cut means no mulch plug.

MF ,
If you really felt like just spending money, I would just find a good PT base, pay somebody to repair/weld the base so it is in good condition, then get it sand blasted and hot dip galvanized. This way you will have a mower for life and have in a very minor way reduced the pollution Briggs is doing to the world with all this throw away equipment. Pollution is still pollution even if it is created way over in China. They worry about plastic bags and drink straws when the big polluters are deliberately creating products that will not last or can be or worth repairing.

One of the bunnings near me were clearing that model 2 weeks ago - $290 for the unboxed or $320 in box. They also had that awful Victa Thunder SP with the useless catcher for $299. They also were clearing the Victa pole pruner attachments for $80.

I think Norm is on the right track, why pay B&S money for a lump of soon to be useless metal

G'day Mowerfreak when I was last at my Victa dealer they offered me one of those last 2 stroke Victa mowers for $499. It's still a bit much I know but this was before they got the news about the extension on selling them until 1st July 2020.

If you have a local Victa dealer that can get you one of the last remaining 2 stroke mowers just ask what price they can do on one. Also remember there was a dealer in Queensland a while ago that had 10 of them for sale at only $369 and they were advertised on Gumtree.

Yes I agree I think it's gone a bit mad, and let's not forget plastic bottles now also are a problem. I thought the whole reason we had this whole recycling thing was to recycle all our paper, plastic, glass etc. I also saw a clip once on a news channel that the CSIRO was working on some special sort of plastic that would dissolve when it was in contact with saltwater from the ocean. I never heard about that news story again? And yes those thicker reusable plastic bags actually create more pollution to produce than the old cheaper thin grey bags. I also noticed alot of rubbish bins down the road that were over full had all those 15c Coles reusable bags all chucked out in the bins full of rubbish.

We are throwing away so much stuff now than we ever have. It's a throwaway society. Gone are the days when people used to buy things and intend on keeping them for 10 to 20 years and even longer. Well they also made things to last a bit better back in the old days. Now they are designed to only last as long as the warranty lasts.

I agree Converse, it has got to a situation where people seem to now be buying things, and throwing them out before they actually use them

I too have noticed the replacement of the 15c bags discarded in the street - I suppose everyone figures 15c is SFA.

Our toaster is 10 years old, and I have repaired it several times over this period - always the electro magnet that holds it down gets crumbs in it and stops working. Most people would throw it away the first time it happened

And apparently saying my mobile phone is 'only 7 years old' is quite funny - people seemingly expect them to last 4. The ironing board is 35 year old (arc welded twice), the clothes dryer from the early 80s, last TV lasted 15 years, still have my great grandfathers Black and White TV and Panasonic Radio.

The companies now seem to have a knack for making something break fast enough to have you continually buying new ones, but just long enough so people don't begin thinking of their products as complete crap.

When I built this house I figured that if whatever I did would last 40 years I would think that was a fair thing. I have lived here for 39 years and now a lot of things are starting to require a fair bit of maintenance. I think I started my 40 year plan when I was a bit too young because it is now starting to be a problem for me

I know what you mean Norm- as soon as a house hits 30 odd, the gutters start drooping or rusting out, the soak wells have filled up with muck (even with gutter guard), the roof tiles decay, the paving starts getting uneven so you trip over in the dark, tree roots start getting in water pipes, water hammer in the pipes, all the taps needing new stainless seats and new spindles, the cupboards start de-laminating and all the flywires need replacing

And conifers planted 30 years ago spontaneously die, and are bloody huge job to take out

Tyler, if only those conifers would die, but you give me some hope. Some idiot owner next door about 3 owners ago planted 7 cypress pencil pines about 250mm off the fence along their drive on the blind side of my place. You can imagine what they now look like, 40 feet high and 25/7 they drop their rubbish and as you say constantly fill the gutters. The people next door could only be described in the most flattering way as grubs, absolute bottom of the barrel people who would not pick a thing up unless it got to difficult for them to step over and even then they would only just move enough so the rubbish was back to being high enough for them to step over again. I believe the inside of the house is the same. Sadly in this world you are unable to pick your neighbours.
Back to the conifers I have consider poisoning them, as the trunks are up against the fence, I am replacing the fence at the moment on my side, but I figured it might be obvious even if I poisoned every second one of them