That's a good deal. You don't see many in that shape with catcher included. Norm is right, that would make for a very practical alternative to any much newer self propelled lawn mower for domestic use, as long as the owner is acutely aware of the need to mix the fuel first.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
BTW a previous member called "Blumbly" put up a fairly good and definitive photographic history of all the Auto drives between Mk I and Mk IV along with all their differences.
If it was down the road from me, I would have definitely picked it up without a moments hesitation
Fewer houses have lawn or space to store collections (especially space taking things like mowers). Half the ads for mower on gumtree are 'moving into a unit, so no longer required'
I have noticed less Victa interest - but there is still a good amount on ODK fortunately
Yep Tyler I feel you've got it in one, many older folks that were big in lawn mowers as a bit of a retirement hobby are now moving out of their larger homes and into retirement villages and smaller homes where it's just not practical to take the hobby along with ones self.
I certainly have noticed the huge drop in Victa interest especially.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Hi Tyler and BB, I do my best to keep the interest in the 2 strokes going, but as we all know it is the end of an era much the same as the Shannons series on car manufacturing. My house is on a big block typical of the post war housing, 1/4 acre block, hardwood frame and conventional roof built on site,concrete stumps, brick veneer. Few current tradies would even know how to build this type of house now because unless they have a nice smooth slab to walk around on to erect their prefab walls and roof trusses they would be lost. This prefab building style has also come at the same time councils have allowed building being built fence to fence to enable bigger houses being built on very small blocks of land so lawns and gardens just don't exist in the new estates. The need for the tough old Victa is still there as there is still millions of homes built pre the mid nineties that still have reasonable sized yards, but the older generations that grew up mowing these tough old lawns are slowly disappearing and so is the Victa 2 stroke reputation. The Victa tough old reputation was also tarnished by the bad handle design on the pressed metal bases along with the ability of them to rust out quickly. Plenty of people have told me they couldn't kill the motor on their old Victa, but the body fell apart around it as we all know
Well since I got my Honda going perfectly (thanks again Norm) I'm now working on a Victa Corvette Die Cast chassis that I took the Honda power plant from for my genuine Honda mower.
I've fitted a Quantum 50 engine that I had taken off a rusted out steel pressed chassis as Norm has reminded us of above and had it stored away in the shed for 4 years and now I've put it on to this Victa chassis to make a reliable mower for someone to use which in turn is funding the repair of the Honda Mower for me to keep. The only thing I want off this Briggs engine is the mulching blade carrier and thus I require the boss that fit's onto the crankshaft as it's just a bit different to the boss (but same shaft diameter) that had the standard type blade carrier on the Honda engine that was fitted originally on the Victa. Oddly the Honda's used 2 different sized PTO shafts, 22 and 25mm. Another thing to stuff me around I guess. The Honda for Honda had 25mm, while the Honda for 3rd parties OEM used a 22mm shaft size diameter.
Anyway do you think I can get the boss off that Briggs engine ? ................No Way. I've used two different 3 jaw pullers and neither will budge it, unlike the 2 Honda engines that had theirs slide off relatively easy using the smaller of the 2 pullers.
The only thing I can see me doing now is to heat the boss up rapidly with my Oxy and try to keep the heat away from the shaft itself as that will only bugger up the crankshaft seal. Probably best to do this with the puller already installed and that way all I have to do is keep winding it up more and applying more pressure until it lets loose.
If anyone has got any other ideas as how to do this without heat being applied I'm all ears at this end.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Hi BB, there is no such thing as a simple engine swap with any Briggs motor (another reason I hate them) every time the blade carrier is different or the boss is different and that always cost about 2 hours just getting this simple thing fixed. Honda and Chonda bosses usually come off ok but sometimes the Briggs are a real pain. On dead Briggs I just cut the shaft with the boss still on it and throw it in my box of bosses so the if I need it later I can just put it in the press and push it out. As in your case I use a bearing puller I have had for years and it gets behind the boss and snug up against the shaft and then you can pull the boss off. Problem with the 3 jaw pullers is they are pulling from out too wide, you need to be in snug near the shaft. You can certainly make up a puller but it would take a few hours
Yeah the bearing clamp and puller have always worked for me but I don't use heat unless I want to melt the crank seal. If the boss won't move under tension you just support one side of the boss while you tap the other side with a hammer then retighten the puller, if you tap too much with the hammer on the side of the boss they can crack down one side. I usually use a fair amount of wd40 in the process.
I will use your method tomorrow as I have the exact type of gear you are showing in your photo, but as we have had 45 degrees today and much the same tomorrow I shall do this first thing in the morning so as to avoid the intense heat we are experiencing for the past 4 days now.
BTW when you refer to supporting the opposite side I gather you are implying placing a heavy hammer head etc. against the other side that's being struck simultaneously so as to absorb the shock and not transfer it down the crankshaft ?
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
G'day folks, I'd suggest a good penetrating lube [e.g CRC 5-56, Inox or Penetrene; or the homebrew one of 1:1 Acetone/Auto Trans Fluid], followed by a bit of heat, then another dose of lube. Then try the puller. A slide hammer type puller is likely to be more effective than a static [screw/hydraulic] type.
I don't rate WD40; it's good at de-watering, but lousy on penetration and even worse in lubricating properties. As the maker's spec states. Trouble is, it's often the only product folk outside the mechanical trades are familiar with!
Cheers, Gadge
"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."
"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."
WD40 is fine for removing a boss this way if you spray it from the engine side around the crank and into the keyway slot, straight auto fluid or Kerosene would also work.
Any hammering or slide hammering of the crank up or down is likely to crack the alloy end covers.
The bearing clamp must have the key way lined up so it doesn't get caught in the clamp when removing the boss,see A2 image.
I usually use the grey handled hammer under the boss then hit the other side of the boss with the other hammer but being careful not to collapse one of the 3 bolt holes in the boss.
Just an update as I decided to still have another crack at it tonight in the shade after dinner instead of out in the hot sun tomorrow.
Well I got the larger bearing puller set on to it and pulled up some serious tension, then using a small Thor Copper hammer and a solid steel block on the other side against the boss I gave it a few solid taps and suddenly it let go. All I had to do then is wind it up and off she came as easy as that.
Yes the square pull off the bearing puller jaws is far more of a positive even force opposed to a 3 jaw puller.
Cleaned it all up and now the boss slides on and off by hand just nicely like it would've done when it was first assembled by Victa.
Oh and not to forget, a good lashing of Loctite Silver Anti-Seize prior to assembly always helps for later on when the need arises.
Again thanks for all the suggestions, as we got a great result in the end.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Thanks for the update Bonnar Bloke. I have been trying to remove the boss from a Victa 125 without success by the two hammer method. I might try the 50/50 atf acetone brew before my next attempt.
Maxwestern that's the perfect puller for this application. Nice sound and evenly spread load that won't damage either the puller or the boss.
Gadge, for me, WD40 is code for penetrating oil of your choice, but WD40 has worked for me in the past in getting a siezed height adjuster going on my Victa utility after a week of soaking in and I recently found three near full cans of the stuff! I was told that WD 40 is among the finest substances on a molecular level, hence why it can find it's way through the finest gaps.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
MF, some of the Victa bosses are tight, I have a piece of RSJ that I sit the boss on and give it a couple of good hits with a hammer and they will pop off.I find the 2 hammer method just doesn't have enough impact to shock it off.
