Mowing ..

[danzvtil]

Equipment update.
My husqvarna telescopic hedger has been getting a bit gravelly in the gearbox of late.
On a whim I bought one of these
https://www.husqvarna.com/au/hedge-trimmers/525ihe3/
Non telescopic, 90% of my work is at ground level, so this is perfect, and only half the weight.
Right on cue, the old one threw a gear linkage out the side of the gearbox cover (again), it’s like it knew.

[Citroënbender]

Thank you Mr B. I didn’t write that post very well, sorry.

The suckers are adjacent to where I poisoned exposed lengths of root - I didn’t inject poison into the suckers themselves.

It’s interesting to watch the progress of this herbicide. First the mature leaves wilt a little. Then, emerging leaves start to look a bit scrambled, like a head of Cos lettuce. Immature leaves brown, rapidly blacken at their tips. Then the mature growth wilts heavily and the whole lot starts to dry out/shrivel/blacken. Quite different to the way glyphosate poisoning manifests in most weeds.

[DFB FGXR6]

After countless hours researching, parts shopping and learning on the fly, I now have the little Victa 18 Special running again.

After rebuilding and refitting the carburetor, cleaning out the fuel tank, rebuilding the fuel tap, installing a temporary intake snorkel and fitting a new blade carrier, two pulls of the cord and the engine came to life..............briefly.



Sadly, it just wouldn't run smoothly. It would rev out super strong, then fall on its face. It got to the point where it wouldn't restart. Thinking it was fuel related and assuming I'd have to pull it apart again, I decided to cool off and plot my next move before tearing into it again.

A few hours later I'm like, I never did inspect the spark plug. So, out I went and pulled the plug and instantly found the problem....................



I promise, there is an electrode in there somewhere! Testing it with the plug wire connected, it was only achieving a very mild orange-white spark. Connecting another plug, it then produced lovely blue-white spark.

Luckily, the replacement plug I ordered showed up first thing this morning..................



I even fitted a replacement plug boot........................



New plug installed, fuel tap opened, a few tickles of the tickler, two pulls of the rope and boooom, she erupted into life. I let the engine warm up a little before kicking it in the slats and was rewarded with a consistent, strong revving engine. For those that don't know, other than the throttle, these engines effectively have no governor so you can rev them as hard as you like. So, problem solved, it just wasn't getting enough spark.



I also tracked down some vintage cable clamps for the throttle...................





Pictured here with the temporary intake snorkel, which will make way for the standard low-mount pod assembly. I also removed the fabric sheath covering the throttle cable, it was in tatters and looked disheveled. With everything tidied up on the handle, it looks so much better.



As it stands, I'm waiting on the specific NOS bolt set so that I can fit the blades, then I can cut some grass with it!

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

As it stands, I'm waiting on the specific NOS bolt set so that I can fit the blades, then I can cut some grass with it!

And hopefully not your toes!

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

And hopefully not your toes!

Ha ha, you aren't the first person to say that!

Victa designed these to have an exact 18-inch cut, but for some reason they didn't design the deck to fully enclose the blades, so they poke out the side of the deck by 5mm each side.



They did offer a dealer fit accessory called the "Clip-on Safety Rim"...............

[LG17]

My old man had one of those early Victas, without the safety rim. I don't remember exactly what he was doing but he ended up slicing the tips of his fingers, blood everywhere. He wrapped his fingers in a hanky and we walked to the tram stop to catch a tram to the hospital where they managed to fix them all. This would have been late 50s or early 60s.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by LG17

My old man had one of those early Victas, without the safety rim. I don't remember exactly what he was doing but he ended up slicing the tips of his fingers, blood everywhere. He wrapped his fingers in a hanky and we walked to the tram stop to catch a tram to the hospital where they managed to fix them all. This would have been late 50s or early 60s.

Geez, I doubting my plans to put blades on it now.

[John 13]

Originally Posted by LG17

My old man had one of those early Victas, without the safety rim. I don't remember exactly what he was doing but he ended up slicing the tips of his fingers, blood everywhere. He wrapped his fingers in a hanky and we walked to the tram stop to catch a tram to the hospital where they managed to fix them all. This would have been late 50s or early 60s.

I used one of those mowers, cutting overgrown yard, in the early 1960's. One time pulled it back over my sand shoes (Tennis shoes in some states) and severely bruised the toes on one foot.
Using the same machine a year or two later, in the same yard, it started to vibrate seriously and became hard to push. Turned out one blade had let go and speared into a back wheel, blocking it from turning.
In this case the owner (property on Roach Creek in central QLD) fashioned two new blades out of hoop iron, managed to make the bolt holes using a punch from both sides.

[John 13]

Ref. DFB FGXR6 and his old Victa.

My father having a mowing round in that era used Pope mowers. They were always cantankerous to start. It was largely because they specified a fuel oil mix (SAE 30)of 1/2 pint to the gallon, While Victa used 1/3 pint to the gallon. Anyway he soon learned to always have a few spare spark plugs with him. He cleaned on set them methodically. Some of them could be disassembled and therefor very easy to clean. In addition, always after a few unsuccessful pulls on the recoil, he removed the spark plug AND the front plug in the crank case, tilted the machine forward and with a few pulls cleared out unburnt fuel . A replacement plug and with one pull the machine would burst into life.
Probably because of the richer fuel mix the Popes invariably outlasted any Victa of the day.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by John 13

Ref. DFB FGXR6 and his old Victa.

My father having a mowing round in that era used Pope mowers. They were always cantankerous to start. It was largely because they specified a fuel oil mix (SAE 30)of 1/2 pint to the gallon, While Victa used 1/3 pint to the gallon. Anyway he soon learned to always have a few spare spark plugs with him. He cleaned on set them methodically. Some of them could be disassembled and therefor very easy to clean. In addition, always after a few unsuccessful pulls on the recoil, he removed the spark plug AND the front plug in the crank case, tilted the machine forward and with a few pulls cleared out unburnt fuel . A replacement plug and with one pull the machine would burst into life.
Probably because of the richer fuel mix the Popes invariably outlasted any Victa of the day.

They had a crankcase drain plug on the Victa engine as well, first time I've seen such a thing on a 2-stroker. I actually removed it when I was having troubles re-starting the engine but nothing came out.

[mad2]

welll ..... only got the front yard cleaned up with the whippersnipper. so now i'm doing the back yard. just had thunder and then after a coupla minutes ..... showers!.


already 20 degrees & on it's way to 41!.


need a mower thingy for DFB big boss


anyway ...... i'm goin back outside for more....

[OneMadMan]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

They had a crankcase drain plug on the Victa engine as well, first time I've seen such a thing on a 2-stroker. I actually removed it when I was having troubles re-starting the engine but nothing came out. image

Speaking of the crankcase plug.. I picked up a freeby Victa when I was a lot younger, whacked in a new CJ8, and the bugga still wouldn't go.

It had spark and comp.. so I figured the donator of the mower to me flooded it way badly. Turns out the float had a hole in it..

Anyway, I removed the plug, up ended the thing, then chucked some thinners in there, and what da ya know, couple of pulls on the zippy, couple of coughs later, and yes a couple more plug cleans to, she fired up good as gold.

Good idea that, the drain / sump plug I'm alluding to.


One Mad Man