My 1960 Hayter Hayterette
Hi....I found this mower in a family member's shed and my wife wanted to throw it away....I thought otherwise and completely renovated it to use on my lawn....fabulous cut.
I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed bringing it back to life......BTW I haven't seen many early Hayterettes (late 50's / early sixties) so I have no idea if this mower is of any interest - it being so old.
Cheers
Al
Forums
Hi Wristspin....the engine is
Hi Wristspin....the engine is the original as the Briggs + Stratton engine codes match the codes in the manual I got from Hayter.....there's a machine code stamped on the front of the mower chassis...
I stripped the engine down and it was in remarkable good shape so I'm guessing these old B+S Engines were made to last!
The Hayter manual told me that it was made/sold in 1960....the engine dates from Dec 1959.
Fair play when I first started and it spluttered into life I was quite frankly amazed.
I use it on my lawn for 'winter' cuts...where I don't mind leaving clippings...the cut from the four bladed disc is very impressive.
Thanks for your interest
Cheers
Al
Interesting, there can’t be
Interesting, there can’t be many of that era still about. Do you have the full Model, Type and Code numbers from the engine itself?
Hello
Hello
Interesting to see your early Hayterette, what is the serial number on the chassis usually just near the hole through the top, we have a couple of early Hayterettes one is No. 169 (1958) with the villiers engine which I believe only appeared on the first 1903 machines with the Briggs & Stratton being used from machine No. 1904 onwards which would have been 1960.
Our earliest Briggs model from memory is No. 2249.
Hi there ...yes I've got the
Hi there ...yes I've got the serial nos. etc....
The Hayterette is machine number: 2199
The B+S nos. are : 61702. 907539. 5912110
In the manual I obtained from Hayter (who were really helpful) it states that m/c no. 2199 has a 61702 Briggs Engine.
What does puzzle me is that the engine was painted silver not red....there was no sign of red whatsoever....so I'm assuming it's original colour was silver......would this be usual for this age of Hayter?
.....the machine number photo
.....the machine number photo
That 61702. number makes it
That 61702. number makes it a 6 cubic inch 3 HP lump not a 5 as I first thought which makes far more sense. The perspective of the images makes it look taller!
Your comment about the engine being silver raises another query! Your very first image shows what I see as a "bronze" coloured engine, I have always been under the impression that BS only used bronze for replacement engines and that the original supplies to Hayter would have been red on a Hayterette. Later engine Type numbers include a trim code which would now give a clue. In the light of Hortimech's comments, in another thread, about Hayter's production variations it possibly suggests that they ran out of red engines and bought the "bronze" replacements to keep the production line working. Alternatively your machine was supplied with a Villiers engine and, early in its life, was re-engined. Brian Bell's Seventy years of Garden machinery says that in 1958 the new Hayterettes were fitted with a Villiers 98cc engine ( a two-stroke, I believe) .and cost £36. The illustration in the book shows a red fuel tank and wheels.
Hi there.... unfortunately
Hi there.... unfortunately the bronze colour is just surface rust...the picture doesn't do it justice....there's no sign of any other colour on the engine except silver.
I've inserted pictures of from the Hayter manual that shows my Hayterette (2199) was fitted with a Briggs.....fair play these old manuals are a work of art.
I understand from the Briggs maintenance manuals that some part of the middle number of the engine's serial number indicates what colour it was when it left the factory.... maybe someone knows how to decipher this?
.... again thanks for your interest.
Cheers
Al
The Briggs “serial” number -
The Briggs “serial” number - Code in their speak just relates to the year, month, day and shift of manufacture. The Model number to the general engine build and it is the Type number that may give a clue to the colour. I will do a bit of research there!
Great...let me know how you
Great...let me know how you get on?
Here are some images of our
Here are some images of our Hayterettes, No. 169 1958 with Villiers engine & No. 2249 1960 with Briggs & Stratton, interesting that the latter one is only 50 machines away from yours, so both could have been in the factory at the same time!!
Hi, sorry to jump in, Hayter
Hi, sorry to jump in, Hayter question, I'm watching a Hayter on eBay not far from me, with a ratchet type starting handle, do you know when these were fitted, I'm sure at the AGM there was another rotary mower with the same sort of handle, can't remember if it was a Hayter though, eBay no 123790062004, I don't think it's particularly early like the beauties above, but are they "rare" with these sort of stsrter handles, as the seller thinks? Any info greatly appreciated.
Ask the seller to read off
Ask the seller to read off the Model, Type and Code numbers from the label above the exhaust on blower housing . The Code will date it. Those wind up starters were a good idea - that wasn’t ! Once the engine became a bit worn or just out of tune they didn’t have enough “ umph” to start them. The oldest Haytettes such as the one on this thread have the “ nut and bolt” height adjusters. The next generation such as the one on fleabay have the addition of of the spring lever quadrants for spannerless height adjustment. The fleabay machine, unusually, seems to have the levers all in tact, possibly due to starting difficulties it was abandoned to the back of the shed. Machines with those height adjusters were coming into us for service in the early eighties, usually with one or mor broken levers which soon became unavailable.
Cheers WP.,
Cheers WP.,
The wind up starting device
The wind up starting device was an optional extra shown in catalogues as early as 1966.
On the subject of early Hayterettes this one on ebay is No. 9297 which dates it 1961/2 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-HAYTER-MOWER/163749288247?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
Cheers for info Clive, I
Cheers for info Clive, I might treat myself to it, haven't bought a mower since May. I'm getting a twitch.
That is certainly an early
That is certainly an early chassis as indicated by the individual wheel adjusters needing a spanner. It appears to have been retro-fitted with a 5hp Briggs and Stratton engine which I don’t think was fitted at that time . If you have dated it using the engine code it could be older than you think; production started in 1957 and only ended in 2018.The period engine for that chassis could have been a Villiers, Clinton or 3.5hp BS. Several model updates later the 5hp BS appeared on the Hayterette Professional. The very early Hayterettes had an unpainted chassis.