Hayter is a British high-end manufacturer and distributor of garden machinery, specialising in industrial and domestic lawn mowers. The company's headquarters are located in

Spellbrook Spellbrook is a hamlet in Hertfordshire, situated between Bishop's Stortford and Sawbridgeworth. Location Spellbrook is one mile south of Bishop's Stortford, thirteen miles east of Hertford and ten miles north of Epping. It lies on the A118 ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, where it was founded in 1946 by Douglas Hayter, a pioneer of the rotary mower."Our heritage"
Hayter website, accessed 14 April 2020. The company was awarded a

Royal Warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

in 1960.

History

The engineer Douglas Hayter (1914–2000) formed the idea of the rotary lawn mower after he visited the

London Science Museum The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...

where he saw a 100-year-old, horse drawn rotary mower, in around 1946. He returned to his house in

, where he built a frame using some accumulated parts and combined it with a second hand, two-stroke engine. The following day, the machine was in full working order. Local interest in his design grew and he made similar machines for his neighbours. He called it the Hayter Motor Scythe and put it into production in 1947. Among his first customers was Ipswich Town Council. Further work, including the installation of a safety stone guard, was fitted to the mower deck. Hayter changed the two-stroke engine to a four-stroke variant with a horizontal

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...

. Hayter's business became a limited company in 1946. The company was awarded a

in 1960 by Elizabeth II for the supply of horticultural equipment to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. To date, it is the sole supplier of lawn mowers to the British royal estate. Hayter was bought by the American horticultural company, Toro, in 2005.

Products

Hayter supply two types of machine;"Hayter range"
Hayter website, accessed 14 April 2020. Petrol powered *Spirit 41 AD - 41cm cut width. Aluminium chassis, ABS polymer covers and underdeck. Pull-cord start, autodrive (drive speed 2.5mph). Rear roller. *Harrier 41 VS - 41cm cut width. Push operated, pull start, rear roller, self-propelled engine with variable speed (set between 2.2 - 3.4mph). *Harrier 41 ES - 41cm cut width, electric push button start,self-propelled engine with variable speed lever (set between 2.1 - 3.3mph), two piece rear roller. *Harrier 41 PRO - 41cm cut width, fixed speed (3.2mph), auto-drive engine, aluminium cutter deck and steel rear roller. *Harrier 48 - 48cm cut width, rear roller, variable speed (approximately 2 tennis courts), adjustable drive speed of 2.1 - 3.3mph, split rear roller. *Harrier 48 BBC - 48cm cut width, variable speed (1.8 - 3.3mph), blade brake clutch system (allows you to stop the blade without turning off the engine), self propelled, split rear roller. *Harrier 48 - 48cm cut width, rear roller, variable speed, push-to-start electric starter, drive speed of 2.1 - 3.3mph, split rear roller. *Harrier 48 PRO - 48cm cut width, rear-roller, Crank-Safe Blade Brake Clutch (BBC) System, fixed speed (3.2mph), auto-drive, aluminium cutter deck, steel rear roller. *Harrier 56 - 56cm cut width, large rear roller (53cm), intuitive Sens-a-Speed system can be set between 1.0 - 2.9mph, split rear roller. *Harrier 56 - 56cm cut width, rear roller (56cm), auto driven, intuitive Sens-a-Speed system to adjust the drive speed to your walking pace (1.0 - 2.9mph), Blade Brake Clutch (BBC) System. *Harrier 56 ES - 56cm cut width, rear roller (56cm), auto driven, intuitive Sens-a-Speed system (1.0 - 2.9mph), push-button electric start. *Harrier 56 PRO, 56cm cut width, Crank-Safe Blade Brake Clutch System, fixed speed (3.2mph), auto-drive, aluminium cutter deck, steel rear roller. *Osprey 46 - Push Mower, 46cm cut width, 4-wheel, mulch plug and 3-in-1 blade that can recycle grass clippings by turning them into grass mulch. *Osprey 46 - auto drive, 46cm cut width, 4-wheel, fixed speed (2.0mph), mulch plug and 3-in-1 blade that can recycle grass clippings by turning them into grass mulch. Battery powered *Hawk 43 - 43cm cut width, push operated, 60V - cordless. *Hawk 43 AD 60V - 43cm cut width, self propelled, variable speed controlled, 60V - cordless. *Harrier 41 - 41cm cut width, self propelled, variable speed controlled 60V, adjustable speed of 1.8 - 3.0mph in auto mode and 2.1 - 3.3 mph in Boost Max mode, two-piece rear roller. *Harrier 48 - 48cm cut width, 60v - cordless, Power Boost software, self-propelled engine with adjustable speed of 1.7 - 2.9 mph in auto mode and 2.0 - 3.2 mph in Boost Max mode. two piece rear roller. *Osprey 46 - 46cm cut width, 60v - cordless, auto-drive Power-Boost technology. No rear roller. Specialist products *Scarifier - 36cm cut width. Push, pull start, petrol driven.

References

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External links

Hayter Official WebsiteMowers & Yard Tools DIY
Lawn mower manufacturers Companies based in Hertfordshire Engineering companies of the United Kingdom