How To Make A Hayter Harrier Drive Properly!

gardenequipmen...
In this particular video, I would like to show you how to make a Hayter Harrier drive properly!
I have probably owned around 10 to 12 of these particular Hayter Harrier 56 models over the years; unfortunately, this particular model as shown in the video has a very poor and inadequate drive system. I believe that this Hayter Harrier has been superseded by a newer model this year. However, I believe this model is still available, although I wouldn’t recommend it. I would go for the latest Hayter Harrier model or a Weibang which is a slightly heavier mower.
Weibang has a much stronger drive system on their machine and a better collection system. Weibang also offers five years warranty for domestic use and three years warranty for commercial use, which is pretty good. More to come on this subject in a future post!
You can see the range of Weibang mowers here.
gardenequipmen...
This Hayter Harrier does not have the best drive system in the world; the previous models had a much better drive system. I believe that Briggs & Stratton stopped making an engine with a power takeoff on, so Hayter had to design a completely new drive system, but in my mind, they have failed miserably.
The grass collection is also very poor. I live in a fairly dry part of the UK in East Anglia, and even with our dry conditions the grass chute can very easily block even when the grass is dry. I appreciate that it is of great importance to keep the grass bag clean and to either power wash it regularly or to blow the bag out with an airline. If the grass bag is not kept clean then the air cannot flow through the back, which in turn, will not make the collection process effective. This process needs to be carried out regularly to keep the collection process running efficiently. However, even with a very clean bag it is very unusual to be able to fill the grass box to brimming full as the airflow doesn’t have the power to throw the grass to the back of the box.
On this particular machine, the belts had been replaced just six weeks ago, and already the Hayter Harrier is struggling to pull itself along. It actually starts off driving quite well but almost after half an hour, sometimes more, sometimes less, it will not drive efficiently, and I end up having to push the machine slightly to keep it going, this is not good! I would expect a machine of this size to be able to drive itself for long periods. I don’t know if the belts heat up and then become less effective in their driving capacity, all I know is that Hayter should be able to produce a much better drive system than on this particular model of Hayter Harrier.
Let’s Make The Hayter Harrier Drive!
So now I am going to turn the mower on its side making sure that exhaust is on the bottom side and that the fuel tank and air filter are at the highest point as shown in the video. In turning the lawnmower this way up it stops any fuel and oil running into the air filter. I normally blow the machine down with a leaf blower which gets all the dead grass and debris out from underneath. I do this process every time I use the lawnmower as I don’t want rotting grass and other debris laying inside the lawnmower.
Anti-Slip Belt Dressing
I use an anti-slip belt dressing, as shown in the video to lubricate the belt underneath the machine. It is slightly difficult to see the drive belt and even more difficult to see the drive belt on the video as I’m trying to hold the camera and spray the drive belt at the same time!
I normally turn the blade a fraction of a turn and spray the drive belt covering a few inches or centimetres at a time, after repeating this process approximately five times, the drive belt should be completely lubricated with the anti-slip belt dressing.
Wear And Tear
While the Hayter Harrier is on its side, I would like to show you some of the wear and tear under the cutting deck. As you can see there is like a plastic-type of insert that is broken and ideally needs replacing to stop grass and debris getting into the gearbox et cetera. I would expect something a bit better them this from a manufacturer like Hayter.
I believe it was in the 60s when Hayter was making many mowers, and they actually couldn’t sell enough machines as they had been manufactured to a very high standard so that people were not replacing them! Maybe that’s not too good for Hayter, but great for the customer.
I have owned many Hayter products over the years, and I have really liked them. The Hayter Harrier 56 and the other rear roller models do leave a very British striped finish to your lawn, which we all like to see.
I’m hoping the latest models of Hayter Harrier will be much improved, and I am told that the drive system is much better and also the collection system, I will write about this in a future blog post.
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[@paulnewton6407]

Disconnect the spark plug lead before you turn the blade (basics)!

[@GregsMowing]

If belts are 6 weeks chances are gearbox is bad and or sprockets need replacing. Make sure chain cover has no holes in. Yep exhaust side down. Don’t need the engine running for this. Push drive bar and pull the mower towards you. Do the rollers roll back? Note on the hole in the plastic. You want to get that replaced as crap will get in and probably affect belts etc. Wouldn’t use a weibang ever again!

[@GardenEquipmentReview]

Hello Greg, thanks for taking the time to comment, I do appreciate it. In my experience of using this particular model of Hayter Harrier 56, I have never found the drive to be particularly good, it has a fragile feeling about it. After the two belts were replaced, it pulled really well for a few weeks and then gradually the mower seems to become tired out! The odd thing is that when I first use the mower it pulls quite well and gradually it slows down after about 30 minutes use, whether this is due to the belts warming up, I don't know. I have also experienced precisely the same thing with several other Hayter Harrier 56 models, do you have any idea why this is, please? Definitely using the belt dressing has made a huge difference, the machine pulls really well at the moment. I usually find with this particular model of Hayter Harrier that I am having to push the Harrier to keep it moving. The rollers rollback okay Greg. I hear you regarding the hole in the plastic, I actually blow the machine down after each use. There is quite a bit of grass and debris coming out of the mower, which as you mention is probably due to the hole in the plastic, which needs replacing. It's interesting what you say about the Weibang mower, I use a 22-inch model which I much prefer to the Hayter, probably mainly due to the drive and the collecting capabilities. I appreciate that it is a heavier machine, though. I would be interested to hear how you are getting on with your new Hayter, I will go to the video you made earlier this year and comment again.

[@GregsMowing]

@@GardenEquipmentReview well if you engage the drive bar and you can pull the mower backwards, that suggest the internals of the drive are worn out, i have a video on how to repair drive on last year 56 pro, which is the same system as your one, gearbox design, look at that then look at yours as belts might not need replacing if they are getting worn out quickly then it can only be a pulley being worn out, so id first check the pulleys to make sure there isn't any horrible marks in them or look scratched etc then take roller kit apart and go through all the bits from my video and replace the lot. I've heard the weibangs aren't great at collection unless you change blades ive seen guys online buy different blades and drill holes in them to fit their 48 pro or 56 pro, the weibang I had was a 4 wheeler. that should bag well. on factory settings it was useless once I put a weibang high lift blade on it and increased the revs it did bag well, but whether the blade was legal or not that's another problem which I'm not clued up on.

[@GardenEquipmentReview]

@@GregsMowing Hello Greg, thank you for the information, I will take a look at your video, I haven't looked yet but I guess it's quite popular due to the issues with this machine. I will take a look at the pulleys and find out more, I hear what you're saying 100%. It's interesting what you're saying about the Weibang mowers, in theory, they should collect extremely well as there are no obstacles like the roller to stop the grass flow. The Weibang mower that I use is a Weibang Legacy 56 Pro 3 speed rear roller mower powered by a Kawasaki engine. So in other words, it is the top of the range mower and it is the only one I have ever used. I do make sure and power wash the bag out regularly which helps to keep the airflow working for efficient collecting. Sometimes I literally have to pull the grass out by hand as the mower has really packed the grass tightly into the box. The three-speed gearbox also seems to pull very well, I only use the fastest speed, but it really pulls extremely well and seems very sort of positive and objective. I'm not trying to run Hayter's down as I have always used their machines, in fact, my very first mower was a Hayter 21 inch, identical to the old 24-inch Osprey. That was back in 1983 when I was 18 years old, I actually thought I had a massive mower! I have owned many Hayter's since then. It's always great to hear about other people's experience with particular machines.