Hayter, Mountfield or Stiga?
Ian
available.
Now looking to spend around �500 on a walk-behind Hayter, Mountfield or
Stiga. Any particularly good news/bad news on these makes?
--
Ian
A.Lee
I bought a Hayter Harrier 41 2 years ago. Nicely finished, British
Company etc. Couldnt really recommend it though, apart from if you have
a large garden, and it doesnt get long, and you dont want it too short.
It is useless with damp grass - clogs the grass exit really quickly. My
plastic belly pan has broken on both halves - they advertise as an
aluminium bed, that seemed to me to be the underneath bit, but
apparently not, the 'bed' is the chassis.The bits are not expensive, �15
and �25, but it is a pain having to change bits that are poorly
designed.
I've also found it cannot cut low enough for my liking on my own lawn.
I bought a Mountfield for �130 rec'nd, and found that is as good or
better than the Hayter - the Mountfiled actually cuts Ok on wet grass.
It is far more flimsy, but does a better job at a third of the new
price.
If I was buying a rotary mower again at that price point, I'd go for one
of the Honda models - these dont stop the engine, but just the blade
when you stop - a real time saver if you are doing it for a job.
If you have a good lawn, then a cylinder mower should be your first
choice.
Alan.
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Andy Dingley
> Now looking to spend around £500 on a walk-behind Hayter, Mountfield or
> Stiga. Any particularly good news/bad news on these makes?
Buy any of the good ones, and a brand you can get good local support
for from that list of good potentials. For this sort of money the
good ones will all pretty much work and there's not much between them.
Favoured engines (in order) would be Honda, Kohler, Tecumseh, Briggs &
Shatton (a _long_ way behind) then the Lucky Golden Hedgehogs. But the
market (sadly) belongs to Briggs & Stratton these days.
A while back we traded up a new Hayter for a new Lawnflite, swapping a
better build quality to get an electric start (Dad could no longer
work a pull cord). However the switch broke in no time, so I just pull
start it anyway. Neither of these machines are UK made or owned,
although Hayters look like they ought to be. Hayter are owned by Toro
(US), Lawnflite are MTD (US). Besides which, MTD are now building the
cheap range for Toro anyway, although I'm not sure if this includes
the Hayters.
No mower works well on wet grass, but a cylinder mower is only useful
for those with flat lawns, the opportunity to use dry weather to mow
when they can, and the inclination to mow frequently. Otherwise (and
this means most of us) a rotary will be more tolerant of long damp
grass. They all block if it's wet.
Personally I keep a strimmer handy. If it's weeks old and wet, strim
and rake it first.
Tim S
> Ian <hel...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>> My 40-year old petrol mower has finally bitten the dust, parts no longer
>> available.
>>
>> Now looking to spend around �500 on a walk-behind Hayter, Mountfield or
>> Stiga. Any particularly good news/bad news on these makes?
>
> I bought a Hayter Harrier 41 2 years ago. Nicely finished, British
> Company etc. Couldnt really recommend it though, apart from if you have
> a large garden, and it doesnt get long, and you dont want it too short.
> It is useless with damp grass - clogs the grass exit really quickly. My
> plastic belly pan has broken on both halves - they advertise as an
> aluminium bed, that seemed to me to be the underneath bit, but
> apparently not, the 'bed' is the chassis.The bits are not expensive, �15
> and �25, but it is a pain having to change bits that are poorly
> designed.
> I've also found it cannot cut low enough for my liking on my own lawn.
I have a Hayter Spirit 41. It's not bad in my opinion. Possibly because I
can only compare it to electrics, I've pretty pleased. Fairly powerful for
its size and cuts well enough.
However, I would agree with with Alan that the grass chute does block on all
but the driest grass, although less so if working without the collector
bin.
The only fault in mine so far was the rip cord broke due to a cheap guide on
the handle stem. Cost a couple of quid and 20 minutes to replace.
The only other thing was that I did notice that when I reground the blade
(after chopping a brick in half) that I got a better balance on the blade
than when it was new (less vibration) and I wasn't trying that hard.
Cheers
Tim
ianp...@googlemail.com
>Ian <hel...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>> My 40-year old petrol mower has finally bitten the dust, parts no longer
>> available.
>>
>> Now looking to spend around �500 on a walk-behind Hayter, Mountfield or
>> Stiga. Any particularly good news/bad news on these makes?
>
>
>If I was buying a rotary mower again at that price point, I'd go for one
>of the Honda models - these dont stop the engine, but just the blade
>when you stop - a real time saver if you are doing it for a job.
>
I liked the idea of the "Blade brake clutch" on the Hondas but was
strongly advised against this by several dealers and a couple of local
gardeners who had experience of short lifetime of these expensive
parts. Three of the dealers I visited sold Hondas as well as other
brands. They seemed :
1) unanimous in their liking for Honda or the more 'professional' B&S
Intek engines (the ones without plastic carbs and oil leaks).
2) to think most of the Hayter range was now made down to a price
3) to dislike ABS decks since they were very easy to crack on anything
but nice smooth lawns.
Final recommendations came down to John Deere and Rover. I'd not heard
of the latter but, having seen the build quality, robust but simple
design I chose that. The 22" I got was a little more expensive than
the OP wants at �700 but I am very satisfied with it. Built like the
old Hayters used to be. Has swing(ish) blades like the old Hayterette.
Has Honda engine, which starts after half a pull. Is self propelled.
Single point height adjuster. One and a bit years on and I'm still
very pleased with it. It feels like it will last many years. I do not
know whether the smaller ones share the same grade of Honda engine or
the build quality but worth a look IMHO.
http://www.justlawnmowers.co.uk/pages/productspages/Rover_22M_Honda.htm
HTH
Please reply to group - email address is not monitored
Ian
Clive George
news:wxBD+YBnC$bKFw$o...@ntlworld.com...
AOL to those who said Honda engines. Our Honda was bought secondhand 10
years ago, originally built in 1993 I think, and is still really good. Ours
is old enough to not have a blade lock, which I like, but that's a seperate
problem.
Years of swearing at starting B+S engines has left me with a possibly
unjustified hatred of them. I like our Honda engines.
The Natural Philosopher
start yet. As long as the carb is clean and the fuel is good and the
fuel pipes not blocked. Which is the same for any engine.
Jim
> > Years of swearing at starting B+S engines has left me with a possibly
> > unjustified hatred of them. I like our Honda engines.
>
> years of swearing at anything BUT B&S makes me love em. Never failed to
> start yet. As long as the carb is clean and the fuel is good and the
> fuel pipes not blocked. Which is the same for any engine.
We have a *censored* mower with a B&S 5hp engine which doesn't have a
throttle, just a governor which means it's virtually impossible to start
once warm. Luckily it has a side discharge so the technique is to cut
the whole lawn in one shot.
I hate it.
Andy Dingley
> AOL to those who said Honda engines. Our Honda was bought secondhand 10
> years ago, originally built in 1993 I think, and is still really good.
My Honda engines are mostly knackered, having been thrashed into the
ground over several years. However I can easily and affordably get the
bits to fix them up again afterwards, and they're in a state where
they're still repairable.
I also have a pile of scrap crankshafts from BS engines where they've
totalled the whole engine.
Ian White
>
>Final recommendations came down to John Deere and Rover. I'd not heard
>of the latter but, having seen the build quality, robust but simple
>design I chose that. The 22" I got was a little more expensive than the
>OP wants at �700 but I am very satisfied with it. Built like the old
>Hayters used to be. Has swing(ish) blades like the old Hayterette. Has
>Honda engine, which starts after half a pull. Is self propelled. Single
>point height adjuster. One and a bit years on and I'm still very
>pleased with it. It feels like it will last many years. I do not know
>whether the smaller ones share the same grade of Honda engine or the
>build quality but worth a look IMHO.
>http://www.justlawnmowers.co.uk/pages/productspages/Rover_22M_Honda.htm HTH
Five years on, I'm still very pleased with the Rover 861M35, which is an
older 22in walk-behind model with a B&S Quantum engine (metal carb,
cast iron sleeve, no problems).
Rover mowers are a very good example of no-nonsense Aussie engineering,
and the local dealers say it's the only brand that can stand up to hire
and contract work in this county. The blades and deck certainly take a
lot of punishment here, from half-buried rocks and boulders. The wide
open back is also excellent for throwing wet grass.
Expensive, but money well spent. If I had to buy another, it would
definitely be another Rover... but I don't think I'll ever need to.
--
Ian White