Victa Classic Cut Questions & Answers

Tip the mower on its side to drain some oil out then check the oil level with the dipstick. You may have already damaged the engine.

Drain both the oil and fuel. If you didn't run the engine with the incorrect fluids it may be fine. The fuel in the crankcase where oil is supposed will likely drain out fine and I'd do an oil flush by adding some oil, running the lawn mower for 5 minutes then dump the oil and replace with new oil. Oil in the fuel tank is more problematic as you need to drain the fuel tank (ideally flush it out with fresh fuel when not connected to the carby), the carby may also be gummed up with the oil/fuel mixture.

Easier to take it to a local small engine repair shop. Don't assume buying a new mower is better as the Bunnings Victas are pretty cheap and nasty.

In the manual it only says, REFERENCE NO. 0155… has no product number.. hope this helps

It depends on the type of blade carrier you have or if you have a bar blade. If you have a blade disc get a tape and measure the distance from the center of the two bolts on opposite sides of the blade disc that hold on the blades, if it is 260mm you have a standard sized blade disc and can buy regular 18" Victa blades.

If the distance between the two blade bolts is 230mm you have a 19" or 20" mower and will need larger 19"/20" blades.

If you have a bar blade the you need a suitable replacement bar blade.

If you have a bar blade you can get your local mower shop to convert the mower to a blade disc and swing blade setup which is superior if you're running over ground ground or have a lot of debris like honkey nuts. Swingback blades are significantly cheaper to replace then bar blades and with swingback blades you're less likely to damage you engine if you hit something hard like a stump in the ground.

Note that a blade disc has less weight and air drag which means less loss of power vs a blade carrier and swingback blades which have more weight, greater air drag and an accompanying loss of power which is why Victa sell their cheap lowend mowers with bar blades.

For 18" Classic Cut mowers with a blade disc and swingback blades with 260mm between the blade bolts the various 3 3/4 inch 18" blades should be fine but if in doubt (especially if the mower is secondhand) check with your local mower shop which likely sell good quality GA Spares Australian made blades made from Australian steel (wouldn't surprise me if official Victa blades are made in China and use inferior grade Chinese steel but I have not paid the Victa blade tax in years so I couldn't say either way) :

CA09305S (GA Spares part number BLD310 + required bolts, nuts and washers although normally sold as a complete set in mower shops) date back to 1974, no cutout on the flute so these may be louder then other blades types which have 1 or 2 cutouts on the flute to reduce noise but if you run the mower at 100% all the time for the cleanest grass cut like me you're unlikely to notice any noise difference between the blades.

CA09506S (CA09506B is the updated packaging of CA09506S) (GA Spares part number BNC3242) date back to 1974 and have a single cutout on the flute which is supposed to reduce noise generated by the blades. Likely the best blade for pure cutting performance due to the least amount of drag as air passes over the blade and highest RPM. Fitted as standard on many models of Victa lawn mowers likely due to these characteristics.

CA09433S (GA Spares part number BNC5883 also sold as a 4 pack BNC6328) are marketed as wider (57 vs 44mm on other blades) heavy duty mulching blades with a higher flute which means grass will be thrown higher but the higher flute also decreases RPM due to higher drag as air passes over the blades and increased noise so probably not a good choice on lower end mowers with sub-150cc engines and on very overgrown/dense lawns/vegetation. The blade cutting surface may last longer due to the increased width but if mowing lawns in decent condition without debris the flute often wears away quicker then the blade surface entirely so I doubt the value of the increased width.

My local mower shop recommends CA09305S and CA09506S for my circa June 2012 18" Victa Hurricane equipped with a 300mm outer diameter (260mm between blade bolts) mulching disc.

I always buy GA Spares parts as the cheap Chinese blades use inferior quality steel and don't last as long and it's annoying changing blades more often then you have to when the better quality GA Spares blades are only a few dollars more.

I have no affiliation with Victa or GA Spares. I have mowed 2200m2 bi-weekly for half a decade with a self push 18inch Victa Hurricane mower fitted with a 2-blade oval blade disc using the GA Spares clones of CA09305S and CA09506S. I've was recently looking at new mowers on this site but I ended up putting a new Loncin LC1P70FA (Honda GX200 clone) engine on an old 18" Victa deck with a trashed engine.

I'm young so self propelled mowers aren't worth the added cost in maintenance.

4-stroke.

Mine is working ok but Blows smoke

A very low end mower made in China to a price

I have one of those mowers. The instruction book says to only lay it back towards you if you need to do that. Ie, the handle would lay flat on the ground. I've successfully done this to hose mine off.

Returned it to Bunnings and they agreed it was faulty. I replaced it with a Masport mower. It has the same Briggs and Stratton engine as the Victor - Not impressed, but it is better than the Victor.

When you tip the mower with the air filter/carby down oil runs from the crankcase via the breather hose to the air filter box and may pour out of the air filter, if the engine loses enough oil you will damage the engine due to a lack of lubrication from insufficient oil. Laying the mower back is safest (get someone to hold the handles down or place something heavy on the handles like a 20Ltr bottle of oil or degreaser) and if you have to put the mower on its side make sure the air filter/carby is up and exhaust down.

the handle folds from the middle like many mowers if you turn the knobs but I figure it is just for storing etc.

it is not electric and does not have a battery, so no battery charger needed

Only put in the advised amount, the dip stick has two small holes in it as indicators, fill to the top hole no more.

Use 91 enough to fill the fuel tank from a fuel can.

It's fitted with a 140cc 4-stroke Briggs and Stratton 500E Series Engine..

We are not Victa members. Why ask a review site when you can get exact answers from Victa or Bunnings directly ?

Why call it a review site then.

Because this is where people who bought a product can review it and offer their opinion. It is not a site where people who work for or sell particular products come to answer questions. Occasionally someone from Victa, or from a retailer who sells Victa might be here but mostly it's just us people who bought one.

The one I bought a couple of months ago seems to have been assembled in China. I would guess the actual pressed steel mower body was made in China. It seems to be powder coated. Compared to the Rover I had for the last 20 years, that rusted through after about 5 years and I repaired by bolting on various pieces of steek and aluminium for the next 15 years, I'd guess this one might last about the same (with similar repairs).

The mower handle is not as sturdy as my old Rover, but I guess I could make a new one if it dies.

I'm assuming of course that the little Briggs and Stratton 500e might last 20 years like the B & S Quantum 5 did!

Overall, this one feels like it might, and the Easy Start function works nicely. Press the primer bulb 3 times to flood the carby. Set the throttle to half way. Pull the starter cord Gently, once to get some fuel vapour into the cylinder. Pull the starter cord Gently again to ignite the fuel vapour. Very occasionally - I might need to pull the cord Gently a third time, usually if I do something stupid like try to start it with the blade in deepish grass.

The box says the wheel bearings are 'Designed by Victa Australia'. They are definitely NOT ball or roller bearings. They feel like a slightly loose bush, probably designed so that grass cannot get into them. Easy enough to raise the mower a d spin the wheels loosely, but they don;t spin as long as I believe a ball or roller bearing would. The wheels are plastic. I suspect the wheels are made in China like most of the other bits apart from the bad Engine are.

I would recommend going to victa dealer,and they will give you correct size blades.

Check out the Honda range of mowers with cast Aluminum decks, very solid and very well designed, but you certainly pay for the quality