Was given one of those. Previous owner had only used it a few times and the tab on the fuel tap had snapped off.Seemed OK otherwise, started and ran briefly with a squirt of fuel into the carb. The thread on the tap was odd, couldn't find anything to fit.
Masters had gone under by then but found out a place on Sydney Road in Melbourne had acquired their GMC spare parts and bought a tap.
i think its too late to want to keep the victa brand alive, id say if it sort of gets going it will only be for a year or 2 and it will become a dead end company again, and i bet ya 100% of the victas will be chinese made with an aussie assembling it, hardly worth buying cause its chinese still and the big difference is its only assembled here so the price will be much higher then it really should be.
i mention this alot to people the big problem is in australia USA UK anywhere is the wages. you have any country with high wages and then your end product is gonna be very expensive and you will need to try to find people willing to pay big bucks for that product, i can tell you now australians dont wanna spend money and thus all this australian made stuff dies out in favor of cheap chinese junk, look at all these ev's now all chinese junk and the aussies that buy them are buying cause they are what i would call tight asses. anyway wages and cost of living are 2 major things that dictate if you can manufacture and survive and when it comes down to it a country such as china their workers are getting bugger all per hour so for them to make products on a large scale and make it economical is very good and you cant compete in any market when you have a third world country making it for next to nothing compared to a first world country making it for a very big price due to wages and high costs of living. im afraid to say but i think most of these nice first world countries are going backwards and becoming the third world countries while the third world countries thrive cause they have lower costs of living.
i am ashamed to be an aussie today because we cant make anything cause we are paid very high wages and have high costs of living and we cant afford to build because of that, we are what you now call a sellers market where you sell in australia dont buy in australia, but back in the day our wages were low and our cost of living was low and thats why we could make and thrive but not anymore, we would only be able to go back to those days if everyone took pay cuts and the cost of living was greatly lowered but until then we will never go back to those days, the richer get richer and the poorer get poorer and id defo not wanna buy aussie made cause in the end of the day its chinese made Poo that some australian has assembled and it aint worth the price no way im gonna pay through the ass for chinese products assembled in asutralia its just a waste of money and i know it affects people livileyhood but thats the thing we are already up Poo creek.
When the mower starts surging after 10 minutes, hook the tester up and see if it will consistently jump a 6–8 mm gap. If it jumps strongly when cold but becomes weak or intermittent when hot, I'd be very suspicious of the ignition coil breaking down with heat. If the spark remains strong while the engine is surging, I'd go back to chasing a fuel-mixture problem.
You can get a spark tester under $20. Adjustable Ignition Spark Tester T&E Tools 3404
There's 20 + mowers sitting around here with sharp blades ready to go but thanks to lack of rainfall and few bright sunny days in our rural microclimate none of them have been touched since the beginning of March. Haven't needed to fire up any brushcutters in the last 3 1/2 months either. Kept busy chainsawing fallen trees and branches, splitting and stacking firewood, dealing with vast quantities of prunings and dead flower stems SHMBO piles up for me and mattocking saplings.
Most unusual not having to mow and brushcut for so long. Just felt a need to share:)
Well there you go Bumps that is correct quite a few years ago when we started modifying the cams so we could control the revs. I still fight those carbs because the float needles cause me so much greif. But when they work they are fantastic, but when they don't they kill me I will pm you
As I haven't tried this its just a suggestion. . I haven't looked at the videos yet but there are are few on youtube.
How to Fuse BMX Tires to Your Mower Wheels
To make sure the Sikaflex bonds permanently and handles the torque of the self-drive system, follow these steps:
Prep the Mower Wheel (Crucial Step):
Smooth plastic or old rubber is Sikaflex’s enemy.
Take some coarse sandpaper (around 40 or 60 grit) and scuff the absolute life out of the mower wheel's plastic surface. You want deep scratches for the adhesive to bite into.
Clean it thoroughly with mineral turps, wax & grease remover, or rubbing alcohol to get rid of all dirt and grease.
Prep the BMX Tyre: or mountain bike Tyre
Cut the tyre to the exact width of your mower wheel.
Cut the wire bead (the hard metal wire along the inside edge of the tire) off completely. You only want the flat, flexible tread section.
Cut it to length so it wraps perfectly around the circumference of the wheel with a tiny bit of tension.
Scuff the inside/underside of the tire with sandpaper as well, and clean it.
Applying the Sikaflex:
Use Sikaflex-291 or Sikaflex-11FC (polyurethane adhesive). Do not use standard silicone, as it lacks the structural strength required for a drive wheel.
Apply a generous, even layer to the mower wheel.
Clamping and Curing:
Wrap the cut tire tread tightly around the wheel.
To hold it in place while it cures, wrap the outside tightly with multiple layers of heavy-duty zip ties, duct tape, or heavy rubber bands.
Leave it alone for at least 24 to 48 hours. Polyurethane adhesives need time to cure completely, especially when sandwiched between rubber and plastic.
💡 Quick Tip: When you cut the tyre to length, try to cut it at a 40-to-45-degree angle (a scarf joint) rather than a straight vertical cut. When the wheel rotates forward, ensure the top flap of the joint points away from the direction of travel so the ground doesn't catch the lip and peel it back.
The Clearance Trap BMX tyres add about 5mm to 10mm of extra height (thickness) to your wheel. Before you glue anything, wrap the loose tyre around the wheel and test it on the mower. Make sure the new, thicker tyre doesn't rub against:
Yes, those are generally called radial shaft seals or sometimes wheel dust seals, and most bearing supply shops can usually match them if you bring the old one in and measure the ID, OD, and width accurately with calipers. A lot of mower manufacturers never sold them separately because they were considered part of the wheel assembly, which is why they can be frustrating to source individually. Since the Victa and Rover/MTD versions differ slightly in OD and thickness, your best bet may actually be an industrial seal supplier rather than mower parts dealers, because they can often cross-match generic seals that fit the axle and bearings correctly without needing to grind them down.
Radial shaft seals and wheel dust seals are often easier to source through an tbs industrial bearings and seals supplier than through mower dealers, especially for older Rover, MTD, and Victa models where the original parts were bundled with complete wheel assemblies. If you can measure the axle size, outer diameter, and thickness accurately, most Railway bearing shops can usually match a generic seal that fits properly without needing to modify or grind it down.
Thx Norm, appreciate the warm reply. Guess I should have waited for a reply from Forum members before rushing to make the purchase. ... Patience is a virtue, pit I'm short on it.
