OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Corvette 2 to Vortex - Catching Efficiency

MF, the fumes don't bother him, he also has 2 Victa utilities and a 24 and he uses them regularly. He also has 3 Hondas but they are heavy, one has a blown tranny, one I have replaced the tranny twice, so he is careful when using that one and the other is a push Honda but for some reason Honda seem to want to build heavy mowers, which are fine for nice flat lawns. One of his problems is old houses on big blocks of land, front lawn is nice and manicured, back yard part jungle so he ends up doing the front lawn with a Honda and the back yard with his 24 and he swears by it saying it turns the Buffalo back yard into a fine looking lawn

Hi Norm,I will drop a couple of power torque steel bases off, I will give you a call next week Cheers.

Hi All,

This 1963 Corvette should have 2 discharge blades on top of the blade plate so when the discharge blades hit an object the blades can fully
retract and two flat blades under the blade plate so they can also fully retract upon impact with a foreign object.

The VC Victa was designed so the blades would also fully retract upon impact except the multi function discharge blades are under the blade plate.

A lot of other manufacturers mowers don't have this safety feature with discharge blades.
Regards
Max

Hi Max, no stress only when it suits you, I won't throw them out. Only bring the steel bases if you don't want them, I have a pile of them I will probably never get to use the way I am going with my leg.

What's wrong with your leg Norm? I hope it doesn't spell the end of your hobby. It's been an invaluable source of information here and I appreciate the Victa two stroke more than ever thanks to you, especially the G4 and LM plastic carburettor, which is a very reliable robust unit, once set up right.
I was using my full crank mower with your carby modification last week when this insipid woman covered her ears as she walked past, as a tacit slight toward the mighty two stroke. I guess she only likes battery powered junk now.

Hi Norm, I don't need the steel PT bases and you still have more PT engines than PT bases.

Ok no worries Max, whenever it suits you.
MF I have a lot of steel in my legs and it is becoming more difficult to walk and work on things over the last 12 months

^ time to use a comfy office chair and a network of ramps then!

Hi all

Thanks for the info on the Corvette blade set up, makes sense but was wondering if the flat blades on the lower plate would effect the throwing of the clippings when using the rear catcher. Maybe the discharge blades on top cause enough upward air draft ( with the side cover in place ) to lift the cuttings from the flat blades to them to be thrown out the discharge effectively ?

Cheers
wce

Gidday all,
Two discharge blades on the 1963 Corvette will be adequate as that's what the mower is designed for.

I see the 1983 Victa Vortex is advertised as having a high velocity arch.

Eight angled fins on the blade disc and the arch generate the air flow.

A few examples of different blade designs ,see image.

Cheers
Max.

If they suddenly introduced that Vortex today, without it never having been released in 1983, It would wow people now. Look at the beautiful pristine condition of that one in the pic. How long before it's first scratch appeared and it's first spot of iron oxide on the silverware?
Who would have expected Victa's future would be quite so bland after that came out?

MF, I have one that is in very good condition, plastics undamaged, couple of marks on the front of the base and I got no interest in it so I took it off gumtree, still contemplating putting the motor on a steel base and get rid of it. Pity but nobody wants that look of mower obviously.

The black arrows on the first image is the extra volume when comparing the two bases.

The second image shows where the high arch mower is more restricted compared with the low arch,this
may be because of the height adjuster rod that passes under the base.

Cheers
Max.

Slightly unrelated, but how do you remove that grass residue baked onto the underside as seen in the photos? I am in the middle of a glacial restoration oh a hi arch base and the pressure washer couldn't get rid of it all. I don't want to resort to simply painting over it in silver.

Hi MF, if the pressure washer wont remove it, scrape it off using a chisel

If your pressure washer is a low psi pressure it may not shift the gunk under the base, I have a few I use 1600 psi ,1800 psi ,2400 psi and
the rotating nozzles help a lot supposedly increasing cleaning output by 50 percent (turbo nozzles).

A standard wire brush works well under the base ,use it gently and you won't scratch gouges into the alloy.

I use a scraper to start with sometimes.

Hi Max and all,
sorry for the late reply here.
Some days, I feel like a rag doll, jumping about the forums

My comparison was not with low-arch mowers but with the mid-arch jobs
of the 1960s. The chute openings were similar - one wider, the other higher.

My argument was that the cutting efficiency between high-arch and mid-arch
mowers was minimal - if anything.

I guess my argument is that increased airflow accompanied by restricted higher chutes
produced the same result as mid-arch chutes with less restriction.

Max, maybe we agree about this?

Cheers
------------------------
Jack

Greetings CyberJack,
I have found that for regular mowing that is the case, but for running over piles of small branches and off cuts of sundry vegetation, the high arch base seems to handle this task better.

Gidday Jack and all,

I guess it depends on exactly what two mowers you are comparing,we were talking about Victa so
I compared Victa bases of the same time period.

I called the mower base a low arch but think of it as a mid arch when I think low arch I think of this SupaSwift (see image).

"The Victa Mayfair was a low-mid arch lawnmower made by Victa "

The Mayfair uses the same base height as the Victa I looked at.

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...model-the-first-mayfairs-c1965-1968.html


I was just looking at advantages and disadvantages over the different designs of mower
bases.


"I guess my argument is that increased airflow accompanied by restricted higher chutes
produced the same result as mid-arch chutes with less restriction."


I read that as a higher chute mower has a more restricted discharge compared with a
mid arch mower discharge .A restricted discharge works like a regulator no mater how
much air pressure you supply to the restriction your discharge volume will be
constant once you reach a certain discharge flow rate.



I still see the higher discharge mowers as having a less restricted discharge compared with
the low to mid arch mowers.

My point is by increasing the discharge area you get a greater flow rate dependent
on blade speed , the angle on the fluted blades etc.


"just like a garden hose, restricted flow increases velocity."

I find that a bad analogy for a high arch mower because when you restrict the
flow of a garden hose yes you get an increase in velocity but your flow rate is halved,
try filling a bucket with the hose restricted and then with the unrestricted hose,the unrestricted
hose will fill the bucket in half the time.

If you restrict the discharge more on the high arch mower compared with the mid arch you would
slow the clipping dispersal down and possibly clog the discharge port with grass.

The efficiency of a rotary cutting unit is directly related to the air flow within the deck.
If the discharge port is restricted air flow can be lower within the deck compared with the
unrestricted port.

The high arch mowers had more air flow compared with the mid arch mower ,bigger fluted blades
than the mid arch and a more unrestricted discharge ,comparing a VC to a Mayfair and other mowers.

High velocity sounds great but without a high dispersal rate with an unrestricted discharge port
you would just clog the discharge port with grass.It's like a balancing act changing one thing
effects another like more fan effect from the blades with a restricted discharge port can
waste power.


The Vortex mower ad says the blades only cut the grass but when you look at the blades in the
image you can see the fluted blades.I take it the mower has so much fan flow from the
angled fins on the disc that adding two more blades without increasing the discharge area
won't help in discharging the grass any better than if you used flat blades.
This is a great example as the discharge port is working like a regulator.


Looking at the information I see that's the conclusion I find.
Happy to hear any evidence that I have this wrong,it's the way I see the differences.


I realize I may be on a different tangent but I find the differences in mowers interesting
and any new information on mowers.

Glad to hear any conflicting points of view that's how you learn.

Regards
Max

Hi Max, I guess you have seen those MTD's , big bulky machines but when you look at the discharge hole in the back of them it is only about 150mm x 150mm square, can't understand what they were thinking

Hi Norm and all,

I have a few of those mowers,they have a very restricted discharge, there are a few other brands of mowers
that the discharge port is similar to the MTD's ,they must be designed to cut short dry grass only.

They are great for Briggs&Stratton parts and scrap metal, I removed the front blade shroud from one and
installed it into a side discharge mower,it made a huge difference.

Cheers
Max.