Chapter 13 – A Ture Workhorse.
This purchase was much more functional, although mixed with a little “I want it” factor as well.
After reading about Victa Mulchmasters and how good they were, I began looking closely at getting one. The Mulchmaster is very much commercial grade mower, and for decades they have been prized for their durability and cut quality. These machines are very expensive and sell in low numbers, making used examples in decent condition very desirable. The earlier versions were called the Mulchmaster 550 and mostly powered by the HO 2-Stroke.
The Mulchmaster was updated in the early 2010’s and renamed the 560, powered by a variety of engines. The 2-Stroke was included in the range but phased out a couple of years ago. This version was the VEX60 variant and had a large capacity remote fuel tank for extended use.
Likewise, Honda engines were used on the Mulchmaster but discontinued a couple of years ago. Both the OHC GCV160 and the OHV GXV160 were offered depending on how Victa was feeling at the time.
There were also two Briggs and Stratton engines offered, initially the 190cc 850, followed by the rebranded DOV Vanguard, before returning to the 850 again.
Once again, the Victa website made choosing and ordering difficult. In September 2016 when I went shopping for one, both Vanguard and 850 engines were briefly sold side by side. Except Victa did not represent the 850 for sale despite there being a model code which dealers could order against. I eventually managed to get an 850 ordered in for me, the shop having never seen them before!
As mentioned earlier, the Mulchmaster is a commercial mower, suited to larger open spaces and where catching was not important. They could be operated in mulching mode or side discharge mode with the bung removed. Despite only having two blades, these mowers mulched brilliantly, and I could get finished results nearly equal to using a catcher. You can imagine how much time and effort that was saving me not have to bag and dispose of clippings. The large 21inch cut was also appreciated.
Victa sold both push and self-propel variants of the Mulchmaster and considering how heavy these mowers are, respect to anyone who ordered the push version! The belt driven gearbox was labelled as variable speed, offering a walking pace from 3.4 to 5.7 kph.
It took me a little while to learn how to “drive” this thing, mainly due to the heaviness of the machine and trying to mauver around corners or obstacles. I also had to remove the goofy side discharge shroud, it just got in the way and ground out too much.
This machine was the most expensive mower I had bought up to that point, costing me $1249 in 2016. The Mulchmaster range has been rationalized down to a single variant now, the self-propel 850 at $1749.
https://www.victa.com/au/en_au/produ...aster-560.html
Maintenance wise, I have replaced the belt twice and had the driveline refurbished. I have also gone through three of the rubber leveling flaps at the back of the machine. Apart from that it’s been the usual oil, filters, blades and plugs. I also added some bike handlebar padded tape to the handle to make it more comfortable to use, a strange omission in my opinion.
This saved me a lot of time over the years and has paid for itself many, many times over. I have no intent on replacing it any time soon!