OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Wanted Kirby Vertical Pull Starter

Good evening ODK Members,

I am looking for a vertical pull starter assembly to suit a Kirby engine, I have seen these fitted to the two stroke Kirby Engines but what is unusual about this model is that it’s a four stroke. Most probably the same starter though, first Kirby Four Stroke that I have seen with a dipstick as well.








Any help with model identification is welcome.

All the best
Paul

G'day paul and all,

It may not be the first Kirby Four Stroke that you have seen with a dipstick as well as a vertical pull start.

There are a few still getting around , SupaSwift with the same motor from about the mid seventies , https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/54245/5/supa-swift-some-models.html


I would usually look at the Rover mowers on Trove but lately their search engine doesn't look user friendly it also looks like
the tagged newspaper mower ads from Jack have disappeared .

Below image of a Wolf Garden with a similar motor .

Cheers
Max

Hi maxwestern and paul_c,
that cowl could be seen from space (with a spy satellite anyway).
Why is it so big?

G'day MF,
Styled in the mid-late 1970s - that must be one of the last motor models that Kirby made, before they exited small engine manufacture.
Have a look at the VC-Sports cowling, for Victa's version of that particular styling fetish...

Paul, that motor has an interesting feature combo; apart from the dipstick, the alloy muffler a la Kirby/Tecumseh 2-stroke is very unusual.

That would be one of Kirby's larger capacity 4-strokes; I'd say LKV 40 or VK40 models are likely candidates. I don't have any Rover repair manuals, as they're not really an interest of mine.

However, you may want to grab this one from the Bay of Fleas;
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Rotary-...nual-Series-99-1978-Edition/114195327915

Hi Mf ,Gadge and Paul



The Wolf Garden Cowl would work as a noise suppressor it's the 4 stroke version of the 2 stroke Victa Vortex.


The two top images are the 4 stroke and the 3rd image is a 2 stroke motor (different mowers).

Cheers
Max.

G'day all,
Ahh yes; mea culpa!

The muffler type on Paul's mower will still be definitive, wrt determining the engine model.

G'day all

I'm just following here...

The first two of Paul's images I guess are the mower in question -
a model 11 side discharge of about the mid 1970s.
[the last image - as Max and Gadge said - is a rear-discharge
2-stroke - probably a Regent.

The vertical pull starter appears to be identical to the one
that first appeared on the K series 2-strokes in the 1970s.

I can't find direct evidence (from Rover) at this time, but the vertical pull was
used on 4-stroke Tecumsehs. This is shown is Scott Bonnar
rotaries at this time - https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/85034/booklet-domestic-range-c1973.html

By the 1980s - with the advent of the TVL? series engines, the
vert. pull was standard on Tecumseh verticals. These were fully imported
engines. Kirby had stopped production.
[see Max's Wolf and Vulcan images].

I guess these early vert. pull 2-strokes are rare on Rovers.
By this time Briggs engines were favoured by Rover.

One reason might be the uncertainty and ending of
Kirby engines here.

I have clear memories of when the new Tecumsehs first
appeared here on the Barons. These were far less popular than
the original 'yellow' 9 series Briggs powered Barons.

Cheers and thanks
-----------------------------------
Jack