OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Tip & Curb Side Finds Victa Red Utility - c1970s

I did a computer job for a friend.... I mentioned ODK and he said he got rid of all his mowers, only a toecuter he was going to put in dumpster......
Now I have another project, good comptession.... a decompressor so it can't be that old. Maybe a 125cc.




cheers
speedy

It's a 160cc going by the spark plug position and decompression valve. It needs the fan replaced too.
The red toe cutter base and decompression valve ( zip start) combination places it as an early 1970s utility model.
Hope you find the necessary bits to get this back on the road. Nice model.

Yup. Through studs on the barrel make it a 160cc, serial number says 1974 model year.
Edit: So the VictaCode No. will be V144 or V168.

I've got pretty well all the rest of the bits for that Speedy. From the same model ute. Hope to be over there sometime mid July.

fantastic, it's coming together. I have a flywheeel.
That's a funny black plastic vane , looks like a B&S govener vane...
thanks
speedy

what if I just broke off the opposite pieces on the flywheel fan? It should be balanced. My other flywheel is from a different 160cc motor.
speedy

The fins are for cooling and operating the governor vane so if you break them off you are going to reduce both those functions. The one I have here has intact fins if you can hang on a week or two. Or if you feel like a day out you can take a run over :-)

Hi Speedy as Trev said they are for cooling and as it is a utility it isn't meant for just running over 1 inch high lawns, these are a hard working machine and the temps up around Bundy mean they need all the cooling they can get. This machine has a million years of life left in it so get the one from Trev, the motor will love you for it

Hi Trev, I'll wait. It will take a while to get motor going and run it first, then take it apart and soak in mollasses bath for 3 weeks then paint it.....
just thinking of a colour scheme.... original white and orange.
speedy

Hi speedy, what ratio do you use to water and do you use demineralised water or just tap water?
I noticed a largish jar of molasses (about 800g) at Coles for nearly $4.00 but a) it isn't enough and b) I have a feeling I can get a much greater quantity in a specialty store for not much more to soak an engine cowl.

Try your local pet store or produce store, you can get bulk supplies there.

As NormK says, stock/horse supplies joints - it only needs to be stock feed grade, not food grade. I've seen ratios from 1+5 to 1+10 molasses:water quoted. But being a tightarse, I mixed it at 1+10, which worked just fine. A 5kg tub was ~$13, last time I bought it.

Mix it up with hot tap water, especially at this time of year. Doesn't hurt to warm the molasses tub up by putting it in a bucket of hot water for a while beforehand, to make it flow more easily.

A few things about setting up the bath;

• It will have to be set up somewhere outdoors, as it gets pretty stinky
• The bath needs to be covered, to keep insects/vermin out
• Allow some headspace for froth, as it does foam up a bit, particularly in warm weather

Pic in this past post; https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/64611/prep_for_paintwork.html#Post64616

I have since found that while it doesn't seem to corrode heavy metal sections like tools, don't forget about light sheetmetal parts and leave them in more than a week without checking - I ruined a Primus kero stove top plate that way.

My 125 engine cowl will be my Guinea pig. I do hope it isn't a source of despair.
Where do you dispose of the waste afterward?

Thanks gadge for the reply, it's what I do. Get mollasses from farm products store at $1.60 a lt. I just made a pine frame and put plastic sheet in to fit a mower base. I just tip it on the lawn afterwards....
It's good to put any old rusty tools nuts and bolts etc etc.
good luck
speedy

What about the electrolysis rust removal method?

Mollasses is easy, never tried electrolysis.
speedy

It does indeed have its uses, but has the limitation that a workpiece of relatively large surface area [e.g. a mower deck]requires a very hefty low voltage DC power supply to drive it.

The critical factor here is current density, in terms of A/m^2 of surface area. For a largish surface area, you really need something along the lines of an old electroplating power supply unit, which aren't all that easy to come by, in the right size.

There are a fair few used units [a Google search for 'electroplating rectifier' finds these] on the market, as many 'jobber' electroplating shops have closed down in recent times, due to environmental compliance and waste disposal issues.

But these tend to be way too large, in both physical and capacity terms, for use in a home workshop. Like 415V 3 phase input, and several thousand amperes DC output...

testing testing
I greased the axles, faced and adjusted points. put a carb cable on bodgied a fuel tank.
It started after a few turns of the electric drill.
But the socket and shaft stayed on the mower, so I did a few runs of the front lawn.
Good power little smoke, now I'm ready to disassemble it into the mollasses bath......
cheers
speedy
Bundy

Nice capture of the running engine.
How do you rinse and dry the work once you take it out of the bath? I would be concerned about rust starting the minute you hose it off. I get OCD about this stuff.

I hose it off and then just let it dry in the sun and then start ripping the leftover paint off with that circular wire brush. Then get paint on asap.
I will take carb apart and clean and do a decoke too.
speedy

Can't wait to see this one painted up. I hope you find a good match with the colour.

I just had to mow the backyard, I needed a snorkel as was sucking in grass.....
Started easily with the Sidchrome/Bouch easystarter I made.
That govener must do something but it ran ok..
It messed up the guy next doors TV.... then it came good.....
I mowed lawns for 7 years when I was young and still don't like catchers......
I think I wil paint it orange with white handles...
cheers
speedy

That's hilarious!

I wonder what he would have thought seeing that 'duct tape' mower!?


Yes I don't like them either. Why push a mower 6 feet in long grass and have to keep carrying a heavy catcher when you can just use a side throw. They seem to be getting rare though�

Because a side throw leaves clumps of clippings all over your lawn.
A catcher model is hard work when dealing with a lawn that hasn't been cut in months and the grass is two feet tall.
I sure got a workout with my Victa Mustang V40 on some guy's modest sized front lawn in such conditions. The end result blew him away though. He was seriously impressed at how my mower transformed it!
I had to turn him down to do his large back yard full of chest high lawn though!

Chest high grass is easy peasy, a Victa 24, job done in a very short time. The 18 inch Victas will struggle in this but the 24 will laugh at it

Now that's how you sell a Victa 24. Grass is high enough to conceal a buffalo, pull out the big guns!

The big advantage of the 24 is the fact the cutting disc is mounted forward so when you stand it up on the back wheels the front of blade can be 12/14 inches above the ground and you just slash away and being a 2 stroke the motor being tilted up on that angle means no oil starvation as you would get in a 4 stroke which is where all the more current ones fitted with 4 strokes (because we must remember 2 strokes are bad for us) can end with engine failure if you are not careful

The Vicci 2 buzzer will run upside down I'd you want it to. What are people with 45� or worse lawns going to do??

The Lithium-iron battery powered outdoor power equipment will no doubt fill this void. Of course we will then have to throw out the batteries instead of 2-stroke fuel, so it's a great step forward to being green isn't it!

Victa 82 Volt Range

Stihl Battery Power System

At least you don't get 2 stroke fumes through your clothes. I can't imagine any li-ion battery being able to match the performance of a good Powertorque engine in top form, no matter how many ah the battery holds.