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

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...

Now thats an Impressive Document Unkie!. Its so rare people share these original documents. Thankyou to the Donor:)

So it seems right to conclude the last tin wheel models finished production around this time,Jan-Feb 57,of course allowing a little time for tin wheel stocks to run out.

At this point I still maintain the tin wheel transition was around the 75,000+ mark.
The highest tin wheel version I have seen was recently on Ebay with a 74,600 serial. My own 2 near this serial are 71 and 73,000. Now this is inconclusive at present,but all mowers above this number I have seen are Platsic/Poly wheels and would amount to more than 50 examples.

Please could any memeber contribute their Rotomo 2 serial numbers (not the complete serial if you dont wish) If they are between 70,000 and 100,000 and whether they are Tin or Plastic. Then we can narrow it down and finsih this topic completely.

Thanks again for confirmation Unkie

Mine;
71,445 T
73,876 T
86,753 P
91,196 P
94,240 P

Since This thread is Rotomo Afterall...It wouldnt be complete with out an Original Owners Manual.

Im unclear if their were 2 manuals Issued( But I think its likely).Now since its been confirmed Rotomo went well into 57,this coincides with the move to Milperra.

So as with many things at this time, (Ie..Fuel Tank Stickers) It may have been ameneded at the very least, with the Milperra Address. But Im not aware of any Pictorial or text change from the original. Any other examples To confirm would be appreciated.

Oooooh, nice manual!

May as well make this a Serial Register of sorts?! Mine:

19,431 (Should be tin, but isn't lol) Model 1 base, Model 1 badge

51,015 Tin wheels, Model 2 base

Oh and forgot to mention, that manual was still being used until September,1956 as it is the same as the one with the previously mentioned sales receipt of serial number 38,952

Coool! But you know,this now raises more questions in relation to the Roto the Auto and Milperra! Some things dont ad up!....To be continued...lols.

Hi to All,
As this thread was 'off topic' also, I have moved it here to the correct forum area.

So Iv'e been passed on a couple of genuine date/serial numbers to complement the ones we already have - these really help develop a better idea of a production/sale/serial correlation. We already have:

15/9/1956 for Victa 18" Rotomo with serial No. 38,952

Now these:

22/12/56 for Victa 18" Rotomo with serial No. 54,062

23/12/56 for Victa 18" Rotomo with serial No. 52,825

Both are verified dates/serials from sales receipts/guarantees. Gives a nice indication of production volumes and stock distribution/turnover aswell

I did some quick calculations on those numbers and arrived at a ball park figure of 4,700 units being produced each month. Given static production rates (which is a little unlikely, but helpful none the less) the following date of sale/serial correlations can be reached:

15/8/1956 - #34,252
15/7/1956 - #29,552
15/6/1956 - #24,852
15/5/1956 - #20,152
15/4/1956 - #15,452
15/3/1956 - #10,752
15/2/1956 - #6,052
15/1/1956 - #1,352
6/1/1956 - #0001

Allowing a generous %20 margin of error to accommodate fluctuations in monthly production rates, arrives at a +/- 6,800 units, suggesting a date range for the first Model 2 sold to be between the start of December, 1955 and the end of February, 1956. In reality, it's probably much closer to a January start date, but this 3 month window gives us something solid to base any further research on.

Hey guys, these dates have got me real anxes as I have been talking with an older member of our work force and he tells me he has a 1955 Rotomo at home and is going to bring it to work for me to see if I would want it, trying not to sound to excited I said that would be good, he tells me it has 7 1/2 meters of fire wood stacked around it but when he can get to it he will fetch it down, I just hope his wood burns quick and it remains cold he is a fastidious bloke and I normally hold a lot of reservations about what people say what they have but not so much with this bloke, so with a bit of luck could end up with a Rotomo model 1?????

Hey jonesy, I'd be round at his place right now re-stackin' that firewood!
Good luck mate, and a good score!