Victa Tornado Questions & Answers

Some models of the Tornado support mulching, others don't. Would be easiest to take it down to your local independent mower store, don't want your time going to Bunnings, Mitre 10 or similar big box hardware stores as the staff tend to be pretty clueless.

Model number example: TMS482 1st letter is T for Tornado 2nd letter is M for Mulching compatible 3rd letter is S for steel deck 1st two digits are cutting width, in this case 48 for 48cm (19inches) 3rd digit = engine type, 2 for a 2-stroke engine or 4 for a 4-stroke engine, 3rd digit does not designate engine type on all Victa mowers so beware.

If you have a Victa Tornado where the second character in the model name is M then it it mulching compatible, the mulching support bracket is on the rear underside of the mower on the right.

It depends on the vintage of your Victa 2-stroke engine. With older Victa 2-stroke engines 25:1 is recommended regardless of oil type (I've run high spec JASO FC and FD semi-synthetic oil 50:1 on these older Victa 2-stroke engines myself without issues as have others I know but there's no guarantees).

The newer Eco Torque engines were optimised for lower oil use and reduced emissions and can run 50:1 with the right types of high quality 2-stroke oil.

For late model Victa 2-stroke Eco Torque engines (commonly have an E in the engine name for example VE40, VE50, VE60, VEX60) JASO FA, FB or older spec mineral 2-stroke oil needs to be mixed 25:1.

Newer semi-sythetic or fully synthetic JASO FC and FD spec 2-stroke oils can be mixed at 50:1 for late model Victa 2-stroke Eco Torque engines. Some JASO FD oils suggest mixing at 100:1 but I'd advise against as it would likely kill the engine.

If your mower has had a hard/long life and/or suspected engine wear it wouldn't hurt to give it a little more oil, say 40:1 if you use JASO FC or FD spec oil.

Even at 25:1 JASO FC and FD spec oils will burn significantly cleaner then older mineral and JASO FB oil leaving less carbon deposits in your engine due to better detergents and dispersants.

I run 50:1 Prokut semi-synthetic JASO FC 2-stroke oil (most independent mower shops sell it and current batches may be upgraded to FD spec oil) in my 2-stroke Victas, once the engine has warmed up there is no visible smoke and only the faintest smell of burning oil, so much nicer then back in the day when we had to use older and far more polluting low spec mineral 2-stroke oils.

Beware of Penrite Greenkeepers 2-stroke oil as while Penrite normally make quality oils their Greenkeepers oil is low spec JASO FB mineral oil and has to be mixed 25:1.

Victa often suggest 25:1 as they'd rather you overlubricate then underlubricate your engine.

With overlubrication there may potentially be more carbon deposits in the engine which might cause it to not run as well as it ages but it will still run.

When you under lubricate your engine by using too little oil you may wreck the engine and cause it to cease. Wear around the exhaust port, wrecked piston rings and wear on the pistol skirt are telltale signs of a lack of oil.

A lot of people don't know not all 2-stroke oils are the same and that there are different oil specs for 2-stroke oils which affect mixing ratios for some engines.

Often only fitted with two blades as standard (to reduce the recommended retail price) but can be fitted with 4 blades to give a cleaner cut but whether you'll notice it depends on your lawn quality.

You must remove the two old worn blades and install 4 new blades if you want to add additional blades.

Adding two new blades when you have two existing worn and/or damaged blades may cause the mower to go out of balance and vibrate excessively which could be dangerous.

Four blades is standard on the mulching blade disc, how many did you pay for in the service? If you only paid for 2, then that's what they put on. If you paid for 4 then take it back. Cheers

Thank you for the answer. I only paid for two replaced blades, but wondering if originally I had four blades, I assume that is the way bit was designed ntio give the best performance. I'm happy bro take back to get the extra two put on. What do you advise please.

I was told to run 2 by a mate that used to service lawn mowers, but it never revved as well and they blades they gave me were 18 inch cut. I just replaced them with 4 blades and the proper 19 inch cut and it revs better and cuts like a dream.

There are no 'points' it is electronic ignition (coil). If you mean the plug gap it is 0.8mm for a B&S engine

what is the gap on the coil

Had the same problem with my recently acquired Victa Tornado 375 4 stroke mower After using the red primer quite a few times, it would start and run for just a few seconds - and then stop. Apparently the main jet in the carby had become blocked (possibly because of dirty fuel) so I had to clean it out. It did require the removal of the carby to do that but in doing so please be careful as it is plastic.