OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa Powerplus Self Propelled Now Has Catcher.

I got this on Ebay on the cheap about four years ago.
It has been in storage since, waiting for a catcher and some motivation to try and get it fully functional.
It started when I first got it but made a couple of back firing noises and wouldn't restart. The self propel is stuck on and the mower has to be wheeled out by the front wheels. The whole cable outer moves when you push the lever (see close up pic showing the shiny bit that retracts when lever is activated. I think the end detached from the housing not allowing the inner cable to operate the gearbox).
It has a good body and I recently got a catcher that fits ok, though it isn't the original style it came with new.

MF.
Take the cable off and hang it up and oil the exposed section of cable with an oil can and allow the oil to run down inside the cable, sometimes it takes overnight for it to travel all the way. You have to keep oiling the top of the cable.

Hi MF,
looks good but definitely not the right catcher. I think i have a brand new one here somewhere, i'll have a look for it later.
If the cable is seized and you can remove it, coil it up and soak it in a 50/50 mix of acetone and trans fluid (aka penetrating fluid).

Nice Powerplus MF

50/50 acetone atf is one of the best penetrating fluids around - there was a restoration show on abc the other month and he was using it as he said it was the only thing that would get 100 year old seized things moving.

I have done Norm's method many times and it works really well. I ziptie and elastic band a rolled up gladbag or ziplock bag at the top in a fashion so it forms a funnel. That way you can leave it overnight and not have to keep oiling it every hour. Also, the 'head' of oil tends to get it through quicker as well

Make sure to put a bucket under the other end as a fair bit of black dirty oil will come out the bottom

Have also seen the same thing done with bluetack formed around the cable (just make sure absolutely no grease on the outer cable first)

I oil all the 4 stroke cables but they are easy, I just slip a piece of 1/4 inch clear plastic tube about 40mm long onto the end of the cable and fill it with oil and you can see when the oil has gone down and you can then top it up. Not so easy with the self propelled cable but you can do something similar

I opened it up ready to work on detaching the cable at the bottom and found years of caked up gunk in amongst the works so set about cleaning it out.
You can see the inner cable move and partially compress that springy thing at the end. After repeated squeezing of the handle trigger I am able too push the mower forward and backward by the rear wheels but with some varying resistance and some intermittent grinding sounds. You can turn the mower to the right by the rear wheels but it locks and when you try and turn left. There motor now turns over without moving the rear wheels. It seems this is a sign there are some points in the self propel system that need cleaning and lubrication.
That tensioner pulley won't pivot at all. Is it supposed to move freely side to side with your fingers or is that normal?

I had never thought of that - will definitely do it next time thanks

Hi MF, I'm pretty sure the tensioner pulley should move, that's how the drive engages.

Hi BT,
from memory the tensioner is just to hold tension on the belt so it is meant to be able to move. The drive is controlled by the lever on the end of the cable which is on the gearbox