OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Four Stroke Lawn Mower Frames Honda SP - Chassis Replacement

Good thing with that paint is just brush it on and half an hour it is dry

That base is better than when it left the factory. You could say it's twice what it once was.
It'd be good if a Honda badge could be attached. Perhaps off the original.

Lovely finish Norm. Only thing he might need eventually is those tornado wheels changed for some with a proper bearing.

Interested to see how long it lasts in a contractor setting - is he rough on machines?


MF, half the time the letters come off the honda decks if looked at the wrong way.

I have a bitsa one that is a H DA

Tyler, the Tornado wheels are ball bearing already or so I believe.

Make it badge-less then. The new owner will realise what it is. Very pleased to see such a creative solution to utilise this Honda motor again.

MF, Tornado wheels are very similar to Talon ones, no two are the same, mixed bag of diameters, hubcaps are all over the place and about half them don't have bearing wheels. I'm guessing they will be a problem in the future.
Tyler, he is rough on everything, has no mechanical sympathy on anything, I have been repairing his motorbikes for years. He just bought a new Enfield twin so that means I shouldn't have to work on that for a while. I got him onto an Ariens self propelled last week and it has a Kawasaki motor on it and it has an oil filter so should be well capable of handling working on steep slopes because it is not relying on the splash feed to the bearings in the motor

Victa really cheaped out with alot of the tornado stuff. I have 2x PT tornados which are both of lower end - one is a pace the other a charger I think.

Both have those same wheels with that style hubcap, and neither even have a removable nylon bushing - just a holde drilled into the wheel. Nylon is fairly self lubricating, but this stuff obviously isn't. They are 15 year old, one has done little work, the other its fair share, but they both have more slop in the wheels than any other victa I have ever seen.

I pulled the wheels off the better one, put a bit of PTFE bearing grease one the axles and will see what affect it has.
Then they somehow chew through the rabbit ear type circlip things, so there is lateral play as well

Norm, is a shame his is rough with everything. Hopefully he doesn't break the chassis in half, but I think you have beefed it up enough to hopefully prevent that.

Never understand how people can be so careless with tools of their trade that they rely on.

I have amassed 6 or so pairs of 8" Tornado wheels off disposed rusted out chassis in decent shape, but you're not wrong about the caps. I only have one uniform set of undamaged caps including the wheels on two complete Tornado mowers. All have ball bearings though with two main tread designs from memory.
One solution is to fit a different pair each side or turn a disc of PVC and screw them on with a pair of screws.

I know that down the track I will have to put better wheels on it which means pull the axles out, cut the Victa stubs off and weld new ones in to suit whatever wheels we decide on. I think my welding of the base should stand up to it even though I only had my arc to do it. Lot easier if my mig was working

The victa easytrak wheels with sealed ball bearings are pretty hardy, I had a tornado with them on, and fitted them straight onto a 18in later on and from memory the went straight on

I am impressed you did that to that standard with an arc welder

Hi Tyler and Norm,

Is an arc welder a good choice for a beginner or should the deep end approach be the go if I'm going to do anything more ambitious than a small spot of welding? I may have answered my own question after seeing this job with the mower.
Any minimum power rating I should aim for?

MF, I have a small inverter arc welder. It works fine, but I am not the best with electrical resistance welding. I can braze great with an oxy, but the bottles are so damn expensive.

You really need a rod oven to get the moisture out of the rods which is a downside. Look in bunnings, half the welding rod packets have condensate in them.

With mig, you need to control gas flow, wire speed and voltage.

With stick welders you need to strike the stick like a match, then pull it away before it sticks.

Go with arc to start with, you will get the hang of it

Tyler and MF, I have been welding for nearly 60 years so I have had a bit of practice

I wish I could go down to my local Nock & Kirby hardware store and buy this.

My mate just rang me to say he is super happy with the widened Tornado base Honda powered mower, he is absolutely stoked. His only complaint is the Victa catcher is not big enough, he wants me to see if I can fit his Honda bag catcher to it. See how that goes

Another way to use up GXV160 motors, turns them into a bit of a monster but a brilliant machine

Never seen a mower like that NormK. Is It self propelled as well? Must be
Found this last night. Too good to cut down the middle yet.

Good score there MF, yes too good to cut down the middle.
Yes these Ariens are self propelled and the toughest around apart from the Deutschers and the old Mobilcos etc. So easy to completely rebuild the drive $45 for all the bearings replaced with decent sealed one. And with a Honda on them they are now my most like above the Victa 24. I have another 2 to rebuild here at the moment

G'day Norm and Mf


The bag catchers are easy to make Norm, just 5/16 rod welded together and I've had a few that people just used
green shade cloth on the outside ,works well.

Mf ,that welder in the Video I have here but never had a chance to try it out as I have a few ark welders ,this easy welder takes up more space and is not easily transported.

Cheers
Max

I'd be grateful for any. I can't rely on body filler and other assorted compounds to repair everything.

Hi Max,
I would have liked to fit a Honda catcher on it but it was too wide so I went with an Ariens catcher, which he already has for his self propelled Ariens which was to replace his self propelled Honda which was the start of this topic. So now he has all his bases covered for all the mowing/slashing jobs he does and hopes he does not have to buy another mower before he retires from mowing.
MF,
you can pick up a small arc welder for around $100 and that is all you need. Get an automatic headshield ($25/30) because it makes it easier to learn to weld with. I prefer the old flip front shields and now you can get the automatic lens for them for $10 , I find these the best. The full face helmets are a bit bulky

Hi NormK and maxwestern,
I checked oil level (just above minimum) and put in a bit of fuel and the Briggs 625 Series 190cc on the Tornado started up and ran.
It just needs some surface rust treated and the front axles firmed up and it'll be good mower.

I had a look at some low cost welders.
The cheapest was at Bunnings for $99 followed by $150 and the blue model on display at Gasweld was $219. I also looked at a couple of face shields there. The blue one was reduced to $119 from $149 and the guy there recommended it as much better than the cheapest model going for $79. The black one with green markings was $115, also a decent one.

Hi Norm and Mf

I've still got a couple Ariens mowers ,one has sat in the rain for many years so not a lot worth getting off that one except
the plastic discharge port shroud ,which was why I got that one in the first place.

$70 to $100 gets you a new Arc Welder these days Mf but I see people giving them away for free as it's not
worth the time to sell them for $20.

A swap meet or a market or Auction ,garage sale ,probably get one for $10.

I've seen a few thrown out at the side of the road ,but would only pick up the CIG ones ,that's also
where I got a good gas/ gasless mig welder that nothing was wrong with it after a slight adjustment.

For starting out I would buy a $20 second hand CIGWELD or get one for free and I would never
buy anything that says Ozito ,even if people give me new Ozito tools for free ,I'd probably say no,
or use it a few times and throw it in the bin, all the Ozito tools I've had last about 2 hours and end up
in the bin ,lucky I've never paid for Ozito but know a few people that have got a refund because
the tools don't last half a day.

Cheers
Max.

In that case, used is the way to go or heavily reduced clearance!

I just need something to begin on.

Yeah I'd go second hand $20. CIG ,should last longer than new Bunnings welder.

The old CIG welders are a bit like driving a bus, but in saying that my old Monarc welder I bought in 1966/67 still goes strong and I use it nearly every day. I had it in the back of my truck for years exposed to the rain and it has been underwater twice when it flooded here. The inverter welders are easier to use but as Max said if you can pick up something for $20 go for it just to start practicing with.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/262432880413?

Norm, how do you weld where the front axles locate?-just stick beads all around and grind until axle sits snug?

MF,
that is a bit tricky as it is a case of just tacking on and off not something I would try too early, you just have to go slowly and watch the temperature and if it starts getting too hot leave it to cool down and start again. I find 2mm rods best and keep the amps down just enough for it to melt the rod. It takes practice but don't practice on something that is important till you get an idea how it works. Then there is the problem where the axles have worn down and I just run welds along the axle where it has worn and then grind it back to be somewhere near round

I was mainly curious how you do it, not expecting to do it right off the bat. My main aim is to do some rust repairs in my car.

A cut n shut of a Tornado, now that's a long way off .

With car sheet metal you don't generally use an arc welder as too much heat will distort the panel so yes it could be done but is slow.

In my opinion Tig is best ,then Mig then oxy ,then LPG brazing and last is arc welding.

If it's not a structural repair on the car and is just a panel repair the easiest and cheapest way would be gasless mig
or LPG Brazing.


Cheers
Max.

Good to know this! I don't aim to be an expert, just competent enough to achieve the unmatched strength that comes with welding something as a repair.