OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Victa Commercial 21" 850 I/C SP

Victa have had an on-again, off-again approach to their commercial / professional mower lineup over the years. Sure, they have been consistent with the Mulchmaster and MasterCut utilities, but the pro-grade catcher models have come and gone. Since I started to get into mowers in the very late 90's, and since then Victa have had three different attempts at offering heavy duty, wide-cut models for professional use.

Back in the late 90's, Victa offered the Pro-Series, which in addition to the utility models offered the 20-inch 505-Pro Self-propelled, which was 2-stroke only.

Then, in the early 2000's Victa renamed the pro-line as the Master Series. That range included the 19-inch Mastercut 480 (based on the alloy Mustang chassis) and the self-propelled 20-inch Mastercut 510 catcher models. These were powered by the Powertorque and Honda GCV160 engines.





In the late 2000's, Victa started offering a 21-inch alloy self-propelled commercial model called the Turfmaster 530. These mowers were powered by the Briggs 850 and Honda GXV160, no 2-stroke. They also offered a 3-speed gearbox and what Victa called "Vari-Mulch", which was a lever that could alter the mulching / catching ratio on the fly. I have never personally seen one of these machines and finding reference to them online is non-existent. The following images I've taken from one of the many brochures I've collected over the years.





In the early 2010's, Victa was offering the Pro 19-inch. Again, these were short lived and I've only spotted a couple over the years. Based on the 19-inch Mustang chassis and using either Briggs or Honda GXV160 engines, Victa also fitted the pro-grade wheels and chunkier side wear strips.





Then in the mid-2010's, Victa started to offer a more serious commercial package. Available in push and self-propelled variants, these mowers were again based on the 19-inch Mustang chassis. However, Victa fitted steel side wear strips, a new heavy duty front clip / bumper, pro-grade wheels, fabric catcher, and side mounted double bolted handles with adjustable angle. Engines offered were the Honda GXV160 and the Briggs DOV, which was renamed "Vanguard" for this application. I've had one of those DOV engines and it wasn't all that special, mainly lacking torque and having more valve clatter than Briggs would have you believe.







And so we arrive at the current offering, which have been on the market for number of years. The main difference is the addition of a new 21-inch alloy chassis, the deletion of the Honda engines. and Vanguard replaced by the Briggs 850. Frankly, I could never understand why Victa under Briggs and Stratton ownership were allowed to fit Honda engines. Also, in recent years, Victa have offered those horrible V-Series 4-stroke engines with 200cc.

Initially, Victa offered both push and self-propelled 19- and 21-inch models, however they ditched the push 21-inch pretty quickly, and for good reason.

19-inch push........................



21-inch SP..........................................



In effect, the 21-inch version is a widened 19-inch, both featuring the same steel wear strips, pro wheels, heavy duty adjustable angle handles and fabric catchers.

The point I'm making here is that there wasn't always a commercial / wide-cut mower available in Victa showrooms. And for me personally, every time I was in the market for a commercial mower, Victa seemed to be in between offerings.

Despite the current pro-grade models being available for a while now, there just isn't much out there in terms of review or feedback surrounding these mowers, particularly the 21-inch model. Because of this, I struggled to commit to buying one. However, back in early 2024, I took the plunge and placed an order for a Commercial 21-inch self-propel with the Briggs 850. I decided that I would be the one providing the review content for others to view and read.



To be continued............................