OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames How to determine deck type on Victa range?

Hey all,

I have been occasionally looking for old Victas on the net that are for sale, and inquiring about the base type (steel or alloy). I seem to be getting a hell of a lot of "steel" responses so far, so I tried looking at some of the brochures on here to see if anything is certain. Let me know if I have this correct.

It seems like most mowers with the names of 'Corvette', 'Mustang' and whatever the big name of the time (eg: Vortex for the early/mid 80s brochures) have the alloy decks, while those in the lower tiers such as 'Commando', 'Sabre', 'Tornado' and so on have pressed steel. Is this a given for all eras? Or do they chop and change?

If I can work this out, it should prove easier to find one of the mowers I am looking for (I will still look for a newer 19 inch alloy deck for my current Tornado, but thought I might like an older model alloy to play with/learn on/mow with).

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Yes you are correct Sapper

Any deck with a thumb latch catcher (like you would have on your corvette - little paddle in the middle) is alloy deck.

Generally, any deck which you can identify with very sharp, chiseled edges is alloy - not pressed steel which has more rounded curves due to the press.

Steel Tornado Base 19"



https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...-fc-victa-mustang-40-on-gumtree-qld.html 18in alloy thumblatch

Hello Sapper and Tyler

I would just like to comment on two specific questions that Sapper raised.
The answer, for me, must be 'No' for the first and 'Maybe' for the second..

Victa's first rotaries were 'spun' steel toe-cutters.
That is, they were formed under roller pressure to form a shape.
This was not suited to mass production in the 1950s.

Victa's first alloy chassis appeared in about 1957.
You only have to look at a Victa Special base to understand
why this could not be formed by 'spinning'.

Victa returned to the steel base with their first rear catcher of
about 1962-63. This was a pressed steel job (not spun).

For unknown reasons, Victa gave up on that idea, and their
top-end mowers were all cast alloy for the 1960s and 1970s.
They chopped, then changed.

Victa re-introduced the steel base with their 1981 Commando.
The intention was clear: it was cheaper than the top-end alloy
models Victa made. That remains the situation today.



The point I make is this: -
advances in deep pressings of steel enabled Victa to
make cheaper mowers. That Victa could then use thinner
guages of steel,combined with poor design, meant that
their steel chassis had a limited life span.

They were destined to be 'entry level' lawnmowers.
Enter the disposable age for Victa.

--------------------------
Jack

Hello Tyler and Jack,

Thanks for the information. Tyler, that Tornado Classic is very similar to my Tornado 300, except the deck is silver, there is a shroud cover around the side, and the wheels on the 300 are a bit fancier. The other pictures show the deck I hope to get for the 300 engine sometime down the track.

The Corvette at the oldies house has the green thumblatch catcher, though parts of it have worn through unfortunately. I wish I knew a way to fix it up. Perhaps I will start another thread down the line with some pictures and see what others think regarding a fix. It doesn't have a rear handle on it though like the one you linked for sale. Just a top handle and 'Victa' in white along the side of it.

Jack, I still barely remember the first mower my parents had; it was one of the flying saucer green mowers and it said 'Victa 18 special' on it. It was kept for a while after they bought the Corvette in 79 or 80. The old bloke living next door, who already had a few of the old round saucer Victas asked if he could have it, so that was the end of that. I assume these are the mowers that you describe as spun steel?

I myself am looking for a Power Torque with an aluminium deck, however I was confused with which mowers actually had such a deck, so thought I would ask on here to see what the 'names' of these mowers were through the Power Torque (and late full crank, I wouldn't knock one of those back either haha) era so I could narrow my search down.

I am really just looking for something to play with and learn on without possibly stuffing up my primary mower or my oldies Corvette. I also plan on using the learning mower as a working unit too, so didn't want some rusty POS steel deck thing that would clutter up my limited workspace, though knowing me, I will become attached to it anyway. I am pretty anal about looking after my equipment. Perhaps further down the line, as I get better, I may try my hand at some rejuvenation of any I come across, but for now I am not at that level and only have limited space.

Thanks again for the info guys. It has made my search much easier; 'Big Name of the era (eg Vortex)' and 'Mustangs'. Late model FC Corvettes too.

Just as an aside, after looking at the brochures, I wonder...

Has anyone ever used one of those 85 CC small mowers? I haven't laid eyes on one before. How did they perform? Any still in the wild?

And the Vortex. Licensed from CSIRO? I am guessing they didn't match up to their hype? Still look like a cool unit to possibly change over to the regular cutting disk, if that is possible.

Hi Sapper,
Lots of questions there and bits going in all directions. The alloy base PT's are out there I have picked up a few of them, but these are 18 inch not the 19 inch that I have come across. The earlier F/C's are more common but usually the catchers are toast. Some of the black aftermarket ones are in good condition, just have to be lucky. I have fitted Rover catchers to a number of these high arch Victas and they work fine, just have to modify/make a new rear flap, fairly simple job. All depends on if you want to keep it original. The Vortex is a strange one great mower with a PT motor but surprisingly people shy away from them because believe it or not they can't see the motor. Never knock back a rusty PT, the motor is probably very good, just strip and dump the body and stick it in the corner, before too long they will no longer be available. Be careful, this fascination can quickly get out of hand.

Tell me about it. Just got my slimy hands on this for the good cover and base and now I'm trying to see if I can get the complete mower going and this is my first Silver Streak model and I'm in love with it already.

This has the catcher style Sapper described. They're notorious for cracking around the bottom lip and this one is being held together with creative use of pop riveting underneath. The later Vortex style catcher used on all Powertorque thumb latch models will also fit on this full crank base.

I'm fortunate to have a few Powertorque mowers with the thumb latch type base and believe me, they are the ultimate combination. They just cut and vacuum up overgrown grass like no other and are so satisfying to use.

Hey Norm,

Yeah, I will have to be careful to keep the enthusiasm in check. At least until I have more room and experience under my belt. I know that any I pick up will end up becoming obsessions that I have to get working again come hell or high water. And because so many people don't seem to want to 2 stroke mowers these days, I will end up having to buy an investment property to store them haha!

MF, that is the catcher there, except mine is green. And yes, the bottom lip is the culprit. I did think about some way of riveting some strips along the crack, but didn't want to cause further damage, as even though it is damaged, with great care, I have managed to keep it doing its job now for the past 20 years since the damage was really noticeable (before that I was too young to give a stuff about it). I will have to give it some more thought. Nice mower you have got yourself there.