OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Idle Chatter What is the most valueable/collectable mower ever

so am I looking for the word tiger stamped on the side of the crank case?

It would be at the front top part of the crankcase.

will chk it out. Whats it mean?

Found this:


Tiger was a Victa brand when selling engines separately. They were available in horizontal or vertical crank versions. At one stage the engine division was trading as Tiger Industries.

What makes u think it may have this? HOPE it does..

As I said I had one exactly the same and it had one.It's not a Victa base and it has the black tiger sticker on the fuel tank.

Ahh so you bought the Victa Alt model,Interesting,I had one of these in an old collection a while back.Not much is known about this model,Some will tell you they are a HG Palmer,running the Model 5 engine,and maybee they were,Mine was unbadged when I had it,Although it did have an original rear flap.(Note the 2 rear mount holes)I know of 2 of these models which actually have the victa badge still on them.1 is original another a restore,The badge is different to that of the model 2/3 rotos and early 60s steel based utilities.They came in 2 different handle bar versions,Snap locks for both,yours has the lower C bar where as the other is 2 piece lower 1 piece upper.This base also utilised the villiers 7f in "manual"form,from about 1961 on and was sold under the "HG Palmer" Depratment store name.Welded axles make it a pain for restore,but I just ground mine and pinned them.Wheels are correct as is the snorkel and choke.Believe it or not but the front and rear sheet guards covering the height adjust points are genuine even though they look like they are back yard made.Everything else seems correct and complete other than the rear guard and badge.As for value you piad what they seem to be worth,Ive actually seen them pass unsold,Mainly I think because nothing is known of them and they look made up,Either way you got a good buy with barely any parts to find:)And Just in case you didnt know..this victa is NOT the "round"3rd series model 5 base you may have been refering to..Actually this doesnt come in any VICTA class that I know of:)Anyways Good buy and I like this little known model,It will do up nice and add a bit of diversity to your Victa collection...Awesome!!!!
Oh and one more thing....You said you like "60s to 70s but you bought this thing"This actually fits in nicely at the low 60s end of your scale 61-63 id put it,Please correct me if im wrong:)

The tiger engine was marine and industrial usually,Ive seen them on everything before.While they are rarer,Ive not seen one on a purpose built victa series mower.Your engine should be AC.... from memory.But if it does have a tiger,then as blumbly says,its worth a bit more,but not as a mower,as an engine only...hope this helps:)

thanks Bluegmhtmonaro, thats lots of info there.

Looking back to my questions I can see why I was getting confused about this machine. I was trying to make it fit in with the info you were giving me LOL thats funny... was never going to fit in to that was it!

As u may of of already worked out - Didnt really know what I was buying - looked ok, its close to my home and wasnt too much $$. Looks like I may have a bit of an odd one with just a few parts to obtain - thats cool

Thanks again for the info!!

Oh to clarify my former post..."Ive seen tiger engines on everything before",My meaning was I have seen people put them on all sorts of mowers.Even saw one on a model 1 roto on ebay just a little while back and another on a 60s utility:)

no worries - the tiger sticker on the fuel tank makes it intresting?

Your most Welcome Pancake...And yes a pic first may help...Lmao...But hey you have just passed Victa 50s history 101 with flying colours...lols,and even learned a bit more!Again I think you got a good buy:)I may have for you a twin brother that goes with this one:)Send me a pm if you like.

Cant wait to see the pics,be interesting to see if it has a tiger on it!As blumbly said his had one:)Will add a few more pieces to the puzzle of this strange variant and also add a bit more crediblity to any other engine variants this model may have had:)So far its a few Victa 125s,Blumblys Tiger,and the villers 7f have all been found to be on this base.Any one know of any more mowers like Pancakes Under the HG PALMER name???And does anyone truly know if the two I have access to with the different Victa badge are actually real or just added later by their owners,Or are they all Just HG Palmer Department store models with the Tiger/Victa 125 engine???

Just done a quick run around Pancake.The two I have access to...One is definately a Tiger as Blumbly says,But it has a victa badge that seems to fit and was on it when he bought it.(funny thing is ive seen this mower many times and never looked at the engine.lols)The other is a late model 5 Victa series no AAA.....But has a Hg Palmer badge,Always thought it had a victa one to.I checked my notes and mine was unbadged with Std victa series no of AC...Ive found 3 others,One on here a very old post is a Tiger,another is an older ebay link I bid on a while back which was also std victa serial no...Hmmmm.While I know this mower fairly well I was never 100% sure of its engine,always thinking it just a victa 125 since id seen more of thes on them.I always knew it wasnt in the victa series line up.So since 3 tigers have been confirmed and their rarity I guess this may truly be the engine they came with.And since the base is that of the handful of Hg Palmer 7Fs ive come across then im gonna go with that:)"HG PALMER with a Victa Tiger 125cc engine"...Please can anyone else confirm this to be accurate,I want another one to go with my 7F Vlliers Variant since it will be its dated twin:)Oh and to help Pancake with a 100% accurate name for his new mower..Lmao

Well little dissapointing - appears not to be a tiger also has a side bit bolted onto to the height adjuster - not standard??? (pic 3)







Serial number is Ac 249243

No Pancake,Dont be dissapointed,Wait and see what other info comes up,it may be prefectly accurate,just a lter version:)I did forget to mention in all my info that it can also have left or right height adjusters:)As for the bracket do not discount it until ive checked out the ones I know more acurately.they did run a guide but i cant remember what it looked like so it could still be a real variant.These models were vary archaic/primative so often they would have brackets just bolted on instead of being integrated into the base to suit like later mowers.Now since mine was an AC.... also a late number more commonly ascociated with odd and late fitments."I will put this out there".It may still be an accurate Mower put togehter by TIGER Industries for HG Palmer Stores,just maybee a later version after the Tiger engine patent or run was over.I have seen marine engines of the same period with Tiger stamping and some without so who really knows.It does have its original tank as well,so it still carries the manufaturers name.Either way Id be very happy with your purchase.Just be patient and see if the other members know a bit more.Tiger engines pop up on ebay now and then so save your pennys.I think they go for around 100,I know I lost one by 1 dollar a while back..lols.Anyways I reakon shes a little ripper:)

thanks..

still happy with her was hoping to see tiger on the crank case. Lets wait and see and yes you are correct - she does the the original tank with tiger sticker.

Agreed its suprising to see how home made it looks.

Ps - I hate when u loose for a dollar, once bid on a vintage valve radio, 10 day auction, 2 bidders, 2 mins to go......worked up to $207 then SOLD...... to another for $208!!

JOe C will know more... calling Joe

lol

Dont worry its happened to me plenty of times,im always late or out when the auction finishes so cant follow it...oh well,I get most of my stuff outside of Ebay anyways:)

Thing that gets me is when you are all pumped because an auction end is coming up in an hour or so, you get distracted and go off and do something and come back and it finished 20 mins ago. (and went for effing heaps less than you would have paid)


I suppose thats better than getting suckered into an over inflated bidding war over some sub standard hunk of junk.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!You just said it all!As for the bidding war,I shake my head at some of the prices paid,especially for model 5s and model 4s..Some clown out there spread the word that if it has four skirt holes its valuable!YES when complete,NOT when all the sale consists of is a model 4 base and nothing else,its pretty sad.What about the other 20 rare bits???But hey I paid 800.00 for a cyclops dinkie!!!
What???Well there are only 3 known to exist...Lols

and the badge that i now need......