Hayter Harrier 41

Advantages: Long lasting, easy to start
Disadvantages: a bit narrow for the larger garden

I have had my Hayter Hunter 41 for 14 years now. It is still available and of course there are various derivative models available so what I write will apply to them also. I am lucky to have a large garden. The garden is not necessarily lucky to have me. I am not the worlds greatest gardener and having watched all the gardening programmes telling me the Latin names for all the plants the only Latin I know is Caveat Emptor and Carpe Diem. So consequently ...
...smallest of these is the Hayter Hunter. I will do reviews of the others at some stage but I will do the oldest first. The Hunter is petrol powered but the engine only powers the blades and does not drive it so you have to push it. The engine is the workhorse Briggs and Stratton which seems to power practically all UK made mowers. It starts by pull only so no electric start but even after a winter storage it has never failed to start. There is no ... Read review

Advantages: Easy start
Disadvantages: Poor grass pickup in the damp. Can be awkward

Nice looking mower but let down by having poor ergonomics- the fold down handle is difficult to stow away as it catches on the engine and is difficult to pull up again as then it's trying to turn the motor over as the starter cord is stretched. The grass bag won't hold its full capacity, and catches on the wires and starter cord when picked up off the mower. The mower has poor grass pickup if there is the slightest bit of damp which means the grass ...
...is a bit clumsy to get around the fiddly bits on the lawn. This is the electric start model, and it starts easily and is quite quiet in use. (It also starts easily on its pull start cord). I only use it on nice summer days, the rest of the time I've gone back to the old petrol push mower. This way I get more exercise! ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to use, reliable
Disadvantages: Heavy

As we have a large garden we chose this traditional model and in the 3 years we have had it we have found it reliable, easy to use but somewhat heavy. Starting this mower is easy - either by electric start or by hand crank toggle. You can adjust the speed of the rotor by use of the accelerator and choke so that you can walk at the pace you wish. IT has an assisted forward motion handle which can help move the mower along without too much effort. ...
...and uses unleaded petrol and SAE 30 engine oil. We find we can give a reasonable good strip, and adjusting the height of the cut is reasonably easy. Heavy growth as expected should be cut on the highest setting and sometimes causes problems. Removing the grass bag is also easy. We would recommend it but may have chosen a sit down model! ... Read review

Advantages: Sturdy, reliable, efficient, ideal for professional use.
Disadvantages: Heavy, too expensive for average domestic use.

...headache however can be avoided, all you need is a decent mower in the first place and you could do a lot worse than the Hayter Harrier. "What do you know about lawnmowers Howie, you're a film-nerd?" Well yeah, that's true but don't forget that I am (by day, anyway) a landscape gardener and between March and September I spend pretty much all day, every day walking behind a lawnmower. It pays to have decent equipment. Before I go any further, I think that the categories for the various models of Harrier need a little clarification. Ciao has twelve different sub-categories for the Hayter Harrier, but these are all essentially the same machine with some slight variations in size and specification. The number at the beginning of each model (41, 48 and 56) refers to the cutting width in centimetres. Each size comes with the option... Read review

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