Older Hayter 56 Lawnmowers, what is so good about them?

I have seen on this sate several members stating the older Hayter 56 are good machines. As my experience of the older Hayter 48 has been far from good, I am curious to know what makes the 56 an attractive machine.Is it only down to the fitting of a high flow blade or is there more to it. And how much difference does a high flow blade really make to the collection of wet grass or even not so wet grass? I realise it is difficult to quantify.I am interested to establish if I should purchase an early 1990s model which has only ever had private use. Assuming everything is as it should be, how much is it worth?In reality I believe this machines private use would only equate to about 3 to 4 months of commercial use.Thanks for any help.

If anyone has a machine with a sideshaft B&S engine and the engine is on its last legs........ the sideshaft, complete with the bottom engine plate and camshaft can be removed and swapped onto a good engine without the sideshaft. Takes a couple of hours by the time you remove the engine etc.
Reminds me of the time I bought a complete replacement engine with a sideshaft off Ebay for £30 to fit on my Masport........ fitted it on, started it up and ran beautifully. Thenengaged the drive and the mower went backwards!!....... turns out B&S had changed the direction of the driveshaft on later engines. Removed engine and swapped shaft bits over from the duff engine.

Steve Kenyon The Garden Company said:

basicly its down to the old type side driven b&s engine allowing a full width opening at the rear for the exit of grass cutting from the deck ! also there is no plastic at all on them , compared to the model after this with the direct drive , the newer b&s intek , im led to believe the reason why b&s stopped the manufacture of the old intek was due to noise levels, what is good about the machine is that hayter did not release this machine as a commercail grade machine, but it stud the test of time , a real workhorse with very few critics

Replies

GORDON March 20, 2010 at 8:13pm

Hi Steve

thanks for that. Do you use the high flow/ high lift blade and if so are you able to advise me of your source?

Thanks
Gordon
HM GARDENS March 21, 2010 at 9:55am

Hi I was given some advice to get the best £100 I could get so ended up buying an old Hayter light green coloured it's like a tank with roller on the back.
I had a large communal garden to do so it was ok but for other small domestic it's just not pratical, I've since bought a second hand mountfield size is more pratical, but have been told to hang onto the hayter as I would never get another one like it but space may become an issue.
Should I offer it to a museum, are they sought after any advice appreciated.

Miranda
Geoff Norfolk March 21, 2010 at 10:17am

If anyone has a machine with a sideshaft B&S engine and the engine is on its last legs........ the sideshaft, complete with the bottom engine plate and camshaft can be removed and swapped onto a good engine without the sideshaft. Takes a couple of hours by the time you remove the engine etc.
Reminds me of the time I bought a complete replacement engine with a sideshaft off Ebay for £30 to fit on my Masport........ fitted it on, started it up and ran beautifully. Thenengaged the drive and the mower went backwards!!....... turns out B&S had changed the direction of the driveshaft on later engines. Removed engine and swapped shaft bits over from the duff engine.

Steve Kenyon The Garden Company said:
basicly its down to the old type side driven b&s engine allowing a full width opening at the rear for the exit of grass cutting from the deck ! also there is no plastic at all on them , compared to the model after this with the direct drive , the newer b&s intek , im led to believe the reason why b&s stopped the manufacture of the old intek was due to noise levels, what is good about the machine is that hayter did not release this machine as a commercail grade machine, but it stud the test of time , a real workhorse with very few critics
Matt Rolls March 26, 2010 at 8:49pm

I just bought an older Hayter 56 from Ebay for around £150 and its just been serviced so not too bad price me thinks.
I'm also looking at Honda model HR216qx mowers as a second mower.

Which one would you say is best?
Roy Bretton April 22, 2010 at 10:42am

I have not used the latest Hayter 56 models, but I have used the older version for many years. The biggest problem I had was there ability to cut wet grass, I have always been very happy with the finish the Harrier makes and there reliability has been very good.

I was speaking to a contractor / engineer the other day and he told me that he adds another blade and a longer bolt and he seems to think that it really works well in the wet. (I don't know if this is possible to do on the models with a blade clutch)

Has anyone else tried this?
Lawncare-4u.co.uk April 24, 2010 at 1:18am

i luv my 48 auto-cut ............. not too big , fits in van ,easier to handle.solid. whats a few extra lines ??

thought abot it and nearly bought one 2nd hand , also the silver pro at show but now realise

48 does all and more (1998 model) good condition. full service (over due), next week - cant wait :-)