I see a few for free , I can message your gumtree account next time Norm , Gumtree ,Zilch and Facebook market place I see free ones every now and then.
The other thing Max with any Victa mower base it is always worth $5 to me, the 2 bushes on the rear axle I use for the front axle. If I have to buy new ones they cost $5 a pair. I am also thinking of getting some blade carriers for the 24's laser cut out of 4mm plate. Not sure if there is any interest but the more I get cut the cheaper they are
I've seen good complete Victa power torque mowers at the side of the road Norm but haven't bothered picking them up , until i get all the mowers out I don't know how many bases I have to give you could be 20.
I wouldn't buy new bushes for $5. I have a heap of them.
Yep the 24 blade plate is worth a bit if buying new even second hand.
Cutting the plate out with a angle grinder then using the lathe I would have thought would be cheaper than laser cutting as long as the lathe is big enough to fit the blade plate.
I was thinking you could adapt another victa plate to fit by welding a small centre flat plate on then machine the centre out.. Rover have a big plate that may be adapted.
Nothing I have seen anywhere is close to being big enough for the 24. I will get my last one out tomorrow and take some measurements. It needs to be fairly heavy because it is the spinning mass weight that makes these machines so good. Don't stress about getting the bases out, in no rush. I probably have 50 here, I just have to repair and paint up another batch before the weather turns bad. I haven't bought any bushes because I have a small supply of bushes left but can never have too many
Hi Max, Thanks for that, $64 plus postage from GA Spares I will see what getting them laser cut will cost. As for the raised bit in the middle I would just get a hole cut to clear the spindle nut and then weld a disc over the hole, that will give me a 5mm recess, hopefully that will give enough clearance
The images were for the size comparison ,14 .5 inches ,the old rover is basically the same size the later 21 inch rover has a slightly smaller plate but may still work.
Yes I was thinking you would need to machine the centre out and machine a cap up then weld it to the plate.
Old Rovers are anywhere from Free to $20. for a cheap one.The Rover plate looks about the same dish or hollow as the Victa.
The problem may be how big a Lathe you are using to fit the blade plate in.
Thanks Max, the Rover plate is very close but probably not enough weight for what I want but good thoughts, I probably have a couple of those big plates here I could play with
Picked up 2 x 24's tonight, bit of a drive but there is still a few out there. One has a F/C the other a PT. PT doesn't look original so be interested to see what they have done with it. Thinking about it just now I'm sure I saw the sliding plate the F/C's bolt onto on the PT, so that should be interesting
Hi MF, I picked up the 2 x 24's a PT sidethrow and a F/C high arch no catcher all for $100 but it was an hour and a half drive each way, but well worth the effort I believe. None of them are running but the 24 bodies seem in reasonable condition with fuel tanks and good rear wheels
Hi NormK, Your are almost guaranteed to profit well from that haul. Here's a thumblatch catcher I successfully mended using my hot staple set you put me onto. I added a bracket on the end as it's a high stress point as it goes on and off the mower. It would fit on your FC high arch unless it's an early 70s VC series.
The beauty of this is you can't see it externally. Cutting the staple stems is the only down side and it leaves a sharp spike of metal, so you have to watch where you do it.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Sorry to disappoint you MF but the high arch with no cracks or damage is worth $7 in scrap and the motor has already been removed and is now on one of the 24's which hopefully will be finished tomorrow and ready for a test on long grass to make sure it is ready to go. The PT sidethrow runs and will need a refurb to freshen it up and I haven't looked at the PT 24 yet With the High arch motor it had a G3 carb so I turned up a G4 manifold and fitted that and it fired up first pull
I have the original mower it belongs to from 1986 so I'm anything but disappointed. I'm ecstatic. Good work getting it to run on a G4. G3s are overrated fiddly ass things that so many worship for some odd reasoning.
Last edited by Mowerfreak; 13/06/2209:38 PM. Reason: Felt like it.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Got another one of these 24's fired up this one is fitted with a PT on an early F/C base. It has a modified F/C adjuster plate to take the PT and I fitted a cut down PT edger pulley with the 10mm plate welded to it ( I believe this is factory) but it was too big in diameter to fit on the 24 so I cut it down to 135mm which still left it heavier than a standard boss and blade carrier with blades fitted. It starts easily no sign of kickback and now it is a good slasher. Only downside is I can't imagine the hours I have spent on this machine but at least I now know how to set up a PT on an early base. To do these I need to get F/C slider plates and 10mm discs laser cut and then I need to find a supply of pulleys so I can weld them to the 10mm discs. Now I have to decide if it is all worth the effort
