OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Identification of Particular Machines Victa Rotomo Specifications

Can anyone tell me which model Rotomo the following mufflers are off (the third is likley not a Rotomo muffler)? They all vary slightly in size and shape, but the two on the left both came off of early to mid run Model twos. The one on the right - who knows. As for the clips, which is correct for a model 2?

The last three images are of a rear flap that came off a Model two in the low 15,000's. Has traces of original paint, and does appear to have been factory produced, rather than home made, but could be wrong. Anyone know much about these? I've never seen one until this, and am curious as to weather it is original to the mower.

Hey Unkie,
The mufflers are all technically correct.

The left is Rotomo aftermarket.

The centre is Rotomo Original" with original clamp and bolt.

The right is a later Replacement for the OEM muffler for Rotomo and also Original HG palmer 2 stroke utility. I think this style were around in the early 60s and onwards.

I wont attest to the flap being NON genuine as Ive never seen one before,but it looks well made... ( Also the screws and nuts arent period VICTA") Some HG Noble dept store Rotomos ran a flap set up but Im not sure if this is it. The later toe ring For Roto 2,2a and 3 you have probably seen im sure,and wrapped completely around the base. Ill check the HG noble and see if its similar,BUT Im not hopeful. Id put it on even if its not original for nostalgia, Run Victa 1/4 bolts and nuts,will look nice)The owner may have made it,and it shows initiative from the period

Thanks mate! I thought the middle one was the keeper. Was there any variation between model 1 and model 2 mufflers?

The middle one came off #15,100 , which had a bunch of other model 1 parts on it. Speaking of serial numbers, what kind of date range would that number suggest?

As for keeping the flap, I totally agree. I would love it if it were something rare and "genuine" though!

No worries Unkie,

Yes...Model 1 muffler is different,same style as the 2 but the outer half is larger/wider,making it look like 2 even halves.

I thought we did a date on yours? lols. It will be early 56. And yes, A lot of early Rotos had model 1 parts,in particular barrel, brass nut carb,unmarked Model 1 Engine and Other bits and pieces. Rarley see mufflers or heads on early model 2s though.

Agreed,if its real youll have something mighty special...Good luck!

Thanks to the helpful fella that found this add, trying to workout the correct specs for a Model 2 just became a whole lot easier!

This first appeared in the Women's Weekly, on the 3rd of October, 1956:

The next ad appeared in the Women's Weekly, 28th November, 1956:







The same ad with a variation appeared on the 6th of February, 1957. Notice the black wheels?

A few more undated Rotomo images that appeared on various Victa leaflets:

And finally, some model 3 pics that show a very nice straight bar spanner and cowel sticker. Again, all are from undated Victa leaflets:

The way your going Unkie youll have the whole range done in a week!!! Wonderful research and images again Unkie! Ahh finally confirmation of the straight bar on the spanner!. The issue of the straight bar was confined to the Automatic,But since the model 3 came right after it,It seems higly probable that it was actually released on the Auto. Well spotted! Seemingly another Myth Dispelled?.

Did you also note the use of the 2a pulley on the model 3 Unkie.
This is accurate to the early release of the model 3,Again As with previous models to use up left over parts. The model 2a run was one of the shortest of the Victas,so the pulleys were used up quickly,and are rarely seen on the Model 3 STD. Great image!

Since your delving in Rotomo,Check your archives some more when you have time Unkie,You should find some Ads on The Model 1 also.

The Model 1 Rotomo Is shown in many ads,one of the earliest being in the "Canberra times" for Sept 1955. This ad has been reproduced many times,also in colour. If im not mistaken, it was the first ever Rotomo Ad. Im sure you will love to add this to your timeline.

You mean this one? It first appeared in black and white in the Canberra Times, 6th October, 1955. It also appeared in colour in a Victa poster, as seen here:







The earliest Canberra times reference to a Rotomo I could find is this, dated 12th August 1955. It also appears to be the first mention of the Victa 125cc, so probably counts as the first advertisement of the Model 1 Rotomo (non-fan, offering a pretty clear indication of the release date for this model:





And the earliest single mention of a Rotomo? lol! Here it is...20th of September, 1952 in the Sydney Morning Herald:



And here is the earliest pictorial advertisement, from the 14th of April, 1954, in the Sydney Morning Herald:



Phew...

I knew youd find an earlier advert! lols. The one with the lady is the one I was refering to,yes. I always thought July was the release month,So since this Ad is August, Ive no doubt youve found the Earliest AD! Especially as you said its states the 125cc.

The 1952 Advert for the Rotomo will be for the Billy Cart" as it is known,(But its correct name was Rotomo) And was The First Production Rotary Mower",as I believe a Reel Mower was the First Production Victa

The last Ad which im sure You now know is for the Fan. Possibly a late MK1,as its Ad date is april,Id dearly love to see the base clearly to confirm if it has the Flat base and legs(mk1).
(I think,And its only theory at this point ) that the Mk2 started its run later in the year,possibly around sept. But so few remain its hard to get an accurate pattern. Ive been told production run for the three Villiers powered Rotomos was around 5,000. But we can research this down the track

Man,Unkie Youre doing an amazing job!!!! And also confirming a couple things id only known by word of mouth! Thankyou for your efforts!

This is the next available pictorial advertisement, and dates to the 5th of December, 1954




Looks like the dog-leg was still selling at least until the start of December '54!

Well I think I may have found something that may cause a few waves...bare with me. So here is the supposed earliest pictorial advertisement for Victa, dated (apparently) to the month of September, 1952 (yet to be confirmed):



And as I mentioned earlier, the first mention of the term "Rotomo" appeared in the above pictured, small advertisement of the 20th of September, 1952. It all seems to fit pretty neatly, and according to bio's on the start of the Victa company, that small advertisement represents the earliest evidence of the company's establishment.

This is where it gets interesting; the following ad is from the 17th of March *1951*



To clear up any doubt, the next is from the 31st of March, *1951*




So Victa was selling mowers a full 18 months before previously thought...release the dogs

This december ad for the Mk1 fan,Im thinking would be for the very last,and maybe they kept the same image? My fan mk 2 is Definately October 1954 engine build and my Mk1 engine is august 1954,so they may have intersected?.

Your assumption is correct,This is the First production Rotary Rotomo the "Billy cart" This is all accurate.

BUT do you remember my reference in the previous post to the Reel mower being the first mower Mervin sold? Read the Ad Carefully...What do you see? Victa 14 Inch Petrol mower...No reference to Rotomo or rotary...You are correct in the fact that he sold mowers before The Victa Company Was founded. But As far as im aware they were heavy cumbersome and very pricey and didnt suit australias needs. This is where his ideas for the Rotary came about,and the Prototype was Born....Focus your research now on the Prototype and the reel mower...This is where the Victa story comes in handy,im sure all the info is in there. I will see if i can find a pic of the reel mower for you...Hope this helps. So YES your assumptions proved correct,he sold mowers Prior to the First Ad you found.

Ahhhh, reel mowers, I get it. This entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography explains it pretty well:


Would love to see one of those reel mowers! Has one ever been seen?

Ahhh I see the extract,Yes thats the story...So they were sold under the Victa company name,my appologies I thought the company never started until the first Production Rotary, The Billy cart...Need to stop relying solely on my memory alone lols.

But seriously 60 mowers in this time was pretty poor. I guess this is why Victa wasnt really recognised until the Introduction of their first production rotary. And why the Victa story For most really starts here Ive only ever seen one reel mower Image,just need to find it for you:) But man its UGLY!

This Rotomo bill of sale is up on eBay at the moment, and has some interesting info on it:



It's a little hard to read, but states a sale date of 15/9/1956 for a Victa 18" Rotomo with serial No. 38952 and a sale price of 49 pounds 18 shillings. That serial is a little later than I was expecting, but helps pinpoint a date/serial correlation quite well.

Yes unkie they have.....

Photo courtesy of Martin (MVC), a member of OutdoorKing.
See the thread Click HERE

Amazing! Thanks Deejay. Great link to that thread also - It's all starting to build a pretty detailed history of Victa's early days. Keep em' coming!

You Found it Deejay! I looked for an hour. lols.

Unkie,Do you mean you think the serial number is way to low for this date? If so I agree totally.
The first ad you posted for Sept,shows clearly the plastic wheel rotomo( check the wheels carefully) and also the plastic metal throttle control,Both features of the Later Rotomo 2. And since many mower examples have also shown clearly that the plastic wheel Rotomo started around the 75,000 mark,this puts The Rotomo Production of "38952" much earlier on in 1956. Now since this is a sales receipt NOT a production date,then I would have to say that through transport,consignment and sale it could have been sitting around for months before it was sold. Hope This is what you meant by the serial?

Have a look at the Ad that follows the Sept one..Nov womens weekly. See how all The Images are showing the Tin wheels AFTER the Sept Plastic Wheel Ad? Odd isnt it. But the Add is very flashy and maybe it was already held by womens weekly and reused,as its only a month difference from the Original Victa AD . I think ive said before they sometimes recycled or used the same ad for longer than they should have after new models were released,as we saw with the 2a and the model 3...What are your thoughts Unkie?

Yes mate, that number seems pretty low, but given the high production runs for that model in such a short time, I would assume turnover was also quite rapid. I think it would be fair to assume that mower spent probably no more than 2 months on the shelf between manufacture and sale, giving it a production date around July 56. Its always possible it could be earlier, but what it does confirm is a terminal date for production on that serial number range. The bill of sale does confirm with little doubt, that no Model 2 with a number after 38952 predates a production date of September 56.

I also was thinking about the black plastic wheel ad, and what it suggests. Given that no example of a black plastic wheeled Rotomo has come to light, and that to my knowledge the ad appeared only once in this form, it would suggest that it represents the very first adoption of plastic wheels, at least in concept form. I would interpret it as proof that at the time of this ad (Feb 57), the first attempts at producing plastic wheels were being considered, but the design had not been finalised - hence the colour change. Prototypes had probably been developed and in their rush to generate sales, they had depicted them in the ad in question, before they had been officially adopted. Sounds like aggressive marketing strategy to me.

I think that what the ad does demonstrate is that in all likelyhood, plastic wheels were not introduced until after the appearance of this ad, thus all plastic wheeled Rotomo's, as you've said - #75000 onwards - were produced no earlier than February, 1957.

So, in short, these two terminal dates of production (the bill of sale and the plastic wheel advertisement), by my reckoning, would work out something like this:

1) Serial #38952 onwards produced no later than September 56
2) Serial #75000 onwards produced no earlier than February 57

I guess what would be interesting is to find out how many mowers they were turning out per month during this time...ahh here we go:

Aus Dic of Biography

10,000 per month! Damn....

I know all this probably slides previously assumed manufacturing dates forward a little, but the evidence is what it is. Whadaya reckon?

Forgot to mention, we also know for a fact that white plastic wheels had been adopted by the 24th of August, 1957, as this is when the Automatic was first advertised. Never thought I would write an essay on plastic wheels

I agree with most youve said.

BUT Firstly the Ad I was refering to is not the black plastic wheel one it is the First Ad you put in this thread... Womens weekly dated 3rd of October...Look at the second Image..These ARE plastic wheels and plastic metal throttle control,these were not on the earlier Rotomo Note the groove distance and the curvature. The Tin Wheel tyre has very fine grooves and flat edges:)

The date approx for release fo the plastic wheels would have been somewhere around sept or october. The date Feb 57 would have been the winding down or end of the Rotomo 2. So from sept/oct 56 to febuary 57 would have been the last 25,000 plastic wheel rotomos.

In addition the quote for the 148,000 export mowers is for 1958 and does not include the rotomo,In addition export models did not use our serial sequence. I will try and find figures for 1956 as from memory it states that 60,000 mowers were produced in this year. ( I need to find you this reference) So from Aug 55 The start of the Model 1 in your Ad to Oct 56 will give you a Total of 75000 mowers yes? So since the model 1 had approx 8-9,000 in its run,that leaves 65,000 Tin wheel Rotomos. What needs to be found is when the Model 2 started,we have no Ad confirming this as yet. Since before the move to Milperra production was nowhere near that of 58. I would put production at approx half that,possibly making the Rotomo 2 start at the beggingng of 56. Your date of manufacture for 38952 would be as you said Im thinking between may and June Now what you reakon? lols.. But seriously if the first rotom 2 Ad can be found,then we can count from then to Oct 56 then to Feb 57 and get a near perfect picture

Definately by then Unkie,But you forget the Use of plastic wheels on the Last Rotomo 2 the 2a then the model 4 Automatic. Up until then would have been a total of 35,000 mowers with plastic wheels,before the Automatic In August.

In relation to black plastic wheels,Id say its for the Image only or concept..On NO mower example,image,part no or Advert other than this Have I seen reference to Black plastic wheels.

When something is unusual or different it tends to bring up questionsy many,but in 25 years Ive not seen or heard or read a post or article on The use of Black wheels...But please Feel free to find what you can,Id love to know otherwise. But seriously I think it is just the way the advert was made..

This confirms Your Ad 12 August for the Rotomo 1 with the new 125 cc engine to be spot on the money Unkie!

Quote from the Victa Story

"By April, 1955 it was ready to offer its new engine to the public and by June, eight weeks later, it was producing sufficient to swing its whole mower production completely away from the old engine"
So production was in full swing in June. So allowing some time for transport and dealer Set up,this Ad would almost certainly be the First!

Here is the Sales for 1956/7...

"Mower sales during the second stage of Victa's marketing plan showed a substantial increase over sales made in the previous two-year period. Sales rose from 35,577 to 59,974 (in 1956-57), and then to an all-time high of 66,742 (in 1957-58)" these are

So approximately 60,000 mowers for 56-57....The next sales Detail shows the 148,000 sales total including the exports..

Nice, so that also suggests a production to sale time frame of around 8 weeks. Neat as a pin!

Back to the plastic wheel topic, from what I gather, you are suggesting we ignore the ads of 28 November 56 (tin wheels) and 6 of Feb 57 (black plastic) as demonstrative of a transition and rely on solely on the ad of 30 October 56 to establish the introduction of plastic wheels, which to my eye could swing either way? I'm probably relying to much on tangible evidence, but that's the academic in me

Given that you think the production figure of 143,000 p/a by 1958 be ignored, and would be allot lower (ie 60,000 for 1956, as you said) that would average out at 5,000 per month. From June - January would see them at #35,000. This would suggest that mower number 38952 would have been manufactured around the end of January, and then left on the shelf for 7 months - sounds like a stretch

As you said, I think we need to find that illusive Model 2 ad for a little more clarity

Ahhh, just caught your sales figures - need time to absorb it

You're gonna love this, Blue. Remember this image we were debating?




It's actually from the Women's Weekly of the 20th of March, 1957.

Notice the "plastic" wheels?

Well here is the original, un-molested image and its first appearance dated the 3rd of October, *1956* Say hello to the earliest image of the Model 2:






Sorry for doubting you on the plastic wheel assertion, but in my defence, they were pretty badly retouched images of some tin wheels

Sorry, should have said "earlier" as in earlier than the plastic wheel version of the SAME ad. This ad appeared three times, the earliest, with the un-doctored tin wheels, on 3/10/56. The later appearance of the same ad on 20/3/57 has the altered "plastic" wheels.

A very generous collector from Melbourne has brought to my attention some info that pretty much closes the case on the introduction of plastic wheels. As requested, I won't post an image of the document, but its a page from the internal company memorandum (titled: Victa Cuttings), as circulated to distributors each month during that time. The following is the relevant excerpt, as it appears, un-edidted and unchanged:


So as I theorised in earlier posts, polythene wheels were definitely introduced in either February or March of 1957 - more likely February, as this is a March circular.

This confirmation allows us to narrow down a production date/serial number correlation. Now all we need to find is the earliest confirmed "plastic" wheeled Rotomo serial number...