Thanks for your reply Tyler. The mower is sitting in the "morgue" along with a few others needing an autopsy before being either scrapped or put in the queue for repairs. Have been putting some oil on the stuck nut every now and then and have found what looks to be an identical flywheel nut from an old B&S defunct motor in case I have to resort to the angle grinder and cold chisel trick.
I find it interesting to ponder just why the DOV motor was so pleasant to use. Modifications and developments in OHV operation methodology have always been made with the aim of reducing/eliminating valve flutter or bounce at high rpm - think Ducati and their small desmodromic singles of the 1950s and 60s which developed a lot of HP from very few CCs, albeit fast but fragile.
Yet the Victa DOV just plods along slowly revwise with a very wide smooth powerband.
Anyway hopefully I'll be able to get that motor running again. Meanwhile I was given a Gardenline mower last week with a B&S Sprint 375 motor. Usually I wouldn't bother giving anything Gardenline a second look but this one has a really solid rustfree deck, only needed the air filter foam replaced and an oil change and it is flying, may even get an extra pair of blades added to the two blade carrier.
