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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Looking for a starter project

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i have no experience with small petrol engines or any other engines for that matter. Am fascinated by mowers. Have a couple of acres of reclaimed moorland and have three old hayters, hayterette, osprey and harrier. All working. I would like to be able to maintain them... understand them a bit better. Looking for tips and advice. Thanks for having me here. Any suggestions?

cwj123 Mon, 31/07/2017

You tube as ever has some great uploads for mowers.See mower man or retro restore or others.

wristpin Mon, 31/07/2017

Welcome to the forum with your all Hayter fleet.

As they are all runners, obtaining original (or copy) operator's manuals will be a good start so I'm posting a link to the one for the 21. Suggest that you print it off as the link wont be there for ever. If you let us know what model Harrier you have I will do the same for that. The Hayterette is pretty simple but, again, if you post the model or an image I expect that I can find a manual.   

I assume that they all have Briggs and Stratton engines which makes life easy as there is plenty of information available and spares are readily available.

In the meanwhile, always check the oil levels before use!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k3h6ih0snwnojcq/Hayter%20Osprey%20and%2021%20…

Chudleigh Fri, 04/08/2017

Hi Wristspin, thanks for this. The harrier is about five years old and runs well with an annual service. The hayterette was out of the ark I had a new engine fitted last year after the original seemed to die. The  osprey starts ok. You need shoulders like Garth though to yank on the cord. It needs a service and new blades. The drive mechanism is very very weak...I want it to operate properly. I guess I need another trip to the repairer... I want to open one up... take it to bits and have a look... perhaps the harrier? 

hortimech Fri, 04/08/2017

If the Harrier is running okay, then leave it alone, you might make it worse. The osprey on the other hand seems a likely candidate for a coat of looking at, it should be just as easy to start as the Harrier. Remove the deck drive belt and see if this makes it easier to start, if it does, have a good look at the deck spindle, is it binding, have the bearings seized or are they worn out. If it doesn't and it is still hard to start (by this I mean, it takes a lot of force) then it sounds like there is something wrong with the compression relief, the usual cause is some one being a bit too overeager when setting the tappet gaps. You set them by machining a slight amount of the end of the valve, but people have been known to remove too much and then the compression relief doesn't work. If you have access to a compression tester this can be checked, if you get much more than 60-70 psi, then compression relief isn't working. This is the only thing you can use a compression tester to find on an engine with compression relief, because you could get similar low pressures on a tired engine as on a good engine.

As for the drive, this isn't really something I can tell you how to fix, I would need to show you, as it involves so many different checks, cleaning and adjustments, most of which you do with the chain cover removed.

 

hortimech Sat, 05/08/2017

Well, it might help, but there is a lot missing, for instance there is nothing about screwing the cable adjuster all the way in whilst you adjust the main adjuster. It also tells you to take the cutter deck off, there is no need to do this.

wristpin Sat, 05/08/2017

Well, it might help, but there is a lot missing, for instance there is nothing about screwing the cable adjuster all the way in whilst you adjust the main adjuster. It also tells you to take the cutter deck off, there is no need to do this.

As you say, there is a bit missing such as the condition of the bushes in the hub and in the friction sprocket. Worn bushes lead  to wobble and clutch grab etc. Edit - sorry just relised that it does mention worn bushes!

The Hayter roving service man who called on us in the 80s had a 21 / Osprey back axle and clutch set up in the back of his van and used to conduct on the spot tutorials in clutch adjustment and clutch lever "fettling" . He suggested not winding the cable adjuster fully in but leaving just a small amount of "wiggle" room.

The machines with the castle nut adjustment were relatively easy to grt right but the earlier ones with just the split or roll  pin were a bit of a pain.

Chudleigh Mon, 07/08/2017

I think this is all going to be helpful to me. I just thought that I would say that I am driving to the other side of Taunton this evening to collect 2 Suffolk colts.. (in running order) that have been bought for a song.

Chudleigh Tue, 08/08/2017

One of the new acquisitions.... it works fine too. The other one I gave to my mate as a birthday present. Both of them in good order.