Victa Mastercut

Great mower – Great mower have the two stroke version which I believe is now discontinued. Never once had an issue Only thing is it is a relatively small deck so a 21 or even 30 inch deck would be awesome however my block is quite hilly with a few trees so it all depends on your application Show details

A simple, reliable 2 stroke mower with a lot of power! If you know how to start it, I do – I have used the 2 stroke victa engines to mow my lawns for at least 10 years. I'd like to address concerns about, difficulty starting and the engine cutting out. In the time I've been using these mowers I've gotten very good at starting them. A lot of the negative points are to do with starting the 2 stroke mower so I thought I'd post my start… Read more

sequence which will often cold start in 1 pull.

After using the mower stop it by closing the fuel valve and let it run out of fuel, otherwise you will have difficulty starting it later. There is really no point in ever stopping it with the control lever if you ever plan on starting it again, as the engine will flood during the spin down, during which it's inhaling fuel.

To start I open the fuel valve, put the throttle on half and "don't" press the primer, pull the cord first, if it doesn't start then press primer "once", pull again it will probably fire now.

It is VERY easy to flood it when starting, use the primer "very sparingly" and it will start easily. If you use the mower weekly it usually starts on the first pull.

Then once it's running don't start mowing until the engine is hot. One day I decided to just get started immediately from a cold start, and about 15 mins later the main bearing was ruined. So I should have just kept to my instincts and let it get hot first, which gives you time to pack up the garden hose while you wait.

It's a very torquey engine with smooth power when you get under load and no perceivable smoke once you get mowing. Always use 25:1 fuel.

The fuel tank is large enough to mow continuously for 5 hours and only use 2/3rds of the tank. After that amount of mowing it's time for a beer anyway so that's a plus.

Some negative things:

Some say the engine cuts out and I too was scratching my head at this when this first happened to me. I discovered that if you don't torque down the fuel cap like it's a head bolt it will work fine, it only needs to be tight enough that it doesn't undo, not tighter than that, the looser the better and there will be no problem but this is a design fault and will catch out many people.

The circlip that holds the height adjustment bar in for the front wheels can vibrate off, it's too loose and needs to be much tighter.

The cover on the discharge to stop stones breaking windows or hitting people is too restrictive and needs to be less safety mad and allow more grass to flow out.

Conclusion:

It has it's quirks (don't torque down the fuel cap... the loose circlip issue), but it's a powerful little mower that will plow through nightmare height grass all day long and still be eager to keep going long after you've thrown in the towel. Once you have the starting sequence down pat, it's the easiest thing to start since fuel injected cars, and being a 2 stroke it maintains itself and (if you don't mow on a cold engine) it will outlast the press steel chassis which has roughly a 15 year life before it's rusted.

I hope this was helpful to some people. Thanks for reading.

Cheers

My new Victa lawn mower is a fire hazard – Dear Mr (or Mrs) Victa , if you want the iconic name 'Victa' to remain iconic, I suggest your manufacturing quality control and possibly the design and engineering on your 2 stroke mower has to significantly improve. Please allow me to explain why. Like my grandfather and father before me, today I became the proud owner of my first brand new… Read more

Victa. This beautiful machine underwent pre-delivery check' at the point of sale (South Coast Outdoor Products, Narooma NSW) and was placed in the back of my station wagon. From then on the mower chose to leak copious amounts of fuel into my car, which it continued to do so on my first attempt to start it. The leaks from the carburettor and fuel tank cap were so serious I avoided the very real risk of 'self-immolation-by-mower', by returning it to the point of sale.

The point of sale people were very helpful and agreed the 'risk-of-being burnt' problem was serious and have taken the mower back for repairs.

Yours in fire prevention.

Ross Constable

Fragile and unreliable – I purchased one of these for my lawn mowing business. I intended for it to be used on steep blocks where catching and neatness weren't high on the list of considerations. I thought it'd be a fantastic purchase as it was such a lightweight mower. Unfortunately, this mower just isn't worth its ridiculously exhorbitant $600 price tag. My first… Read more

problem was with the engine running sluggishly and stopping at random times. This problem was traced back to a vacuum having been created in the fuel tank because there was no ventilation hole in the fuel tank cap! However, even after fixing the cap, this mower was persistantly frustrating to start. I ended up almost pulling my shoulder from its socket and the mower almost took a one-way trip over a cliff. But I persevered... stupidly. After owning this mower for a grand total of 15 days and using it a mere 3 times, the wheels literally fell off. Well, just one - the front right-hand wheel, to be precise. That was enough for me - I took it straight back to the shop I purchased it from and demanded a full refund, which I got. I wouldn't recommend this if my life depended on it.

For around $600 I know you won't get a mower of the quality of a $1,600 Honda self-propelled lawn mower, but you should still expect and get a good-quality build and reliability. The Victa Mastercut 460 is neither and I've sworn off Victa lawn mowers permanently because of this. I wish I could give it no stars! Lightweight, very lightweight. Fragile, unreliable and ironically, lightweight in terms of build quality by comparison to much cheaper alternatives. Victa can do so much better.

460 – Had one of these for a few years. Used as a back up mower for my 550's. Reliable, light, easy to use. I mow a 2 acre block and found this filled in nicely when my 550 was in for a service or work. I would recommend these mowers to anyone on a suburban block. light, starts easy.

Brand new mower purchased, used for 10 mins, then it broke!!? – The bracket that goes from the height adjustment to the front wheel - it came away from the front wheel and had only used it for 10 minutes!!?? Light-weight, otherwise don't know - only used 10 mins before it broke! Doesn't seem to be strong enough to last until its first service?!

OK – A good mower, pity Victa don't offer an alloy deck option or rust treat the steel ones. I think the model with the Briggs and Stratton should have the Quantum 50 engine instead of the Quatro 40. The Quantum 50 is a much better power plant and less than $50.00 more. In summary a good mower let down by a short deck life. A nice light simple… Read more

little mower and the 2 stroke isn't short of power The steel deck needs cleaning and drying after use. I'm not a fan of steel decks. I saw a Victa Mastercut 460 in a mower repair workshop with rust holes in the deck, it was a sorry sight and it was less than 3 years old. It was obvious the owner never maintained it. I have an old Rover Rapid side throw with an alloy deck which is 15+ years old and the deck is still like new, the engine's worn out but the decks still good.

Excellent – This is far and away the best small engine product I have bought. If I ever needed a new mower, I would buy the same one again. After three years of total abuse it keeps on cutting... Bought because I tend to break everything I buy though hard use and this one is tougher than I can dish out. Rough ground, thick overgrown grass - it does the lot… Read more

with no whinging. I have the Victa 2-stroke engine with the 3l tank - can mow the whole acre twice without needing to refill. It has never broken down so I have never gotten out of mowing...