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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Hayter Osprey 21 clutch?

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Hi,  Google led me to this excellent site, but couldn't help with my questions so I thought I would sign up and see if anyone could help me.

I've resurrected from the bowels of our engineering shed at work an old Hayter Osprey 21 which with some fresh fuel and a little encouragement seems to run ok.  Everything drivewise was a bit seized up though, and on stripping it down it seems that the friction material has parted from the sprocket/driveplate/clutchplate area.  I'm sorry I'm not entirely sure what it would be called, but it certainly seems clutch like.

I've attached a couple of photos which hopefully make it a bit more clear.  My questions would be, what part do I need to try to obtain to put this right?  Also, where the heck might one go to to try and get it?

We're a boatyard and have some mean adhesives and at a pinch  I'd be tempted to try and reattach the friction lining...  If I knew which part it was supposed to be attached to....  I'm sure there's a fair bit of asbestos involved in the lining, so suitable precautions would be taken.

Thanks in advance

John

 

 

Forums

hillsider Tue, 17/04/2012

Hello and welcome to the Old Lawnmower Club,

I remember working on these mowers as an apprentice back in the late 60,s so I may overlook a few things in my reply. Re the clutch lining if indeed it was originally bonded to the clutch plate it may be possible to get it re bonded if you have a vehicle parts factors in your area who can still get brake shoes relined. It may also be possible to rivet the lining in place (like a clutch plate) although you will need to consider the asbestos factor if indeed the linings are of this type.

Alternatively you could try contacting a couple of the parts suppliers listed in the Technical Help/spare parts area of this site. There are a couple of folk listed there who specialise in older mowers and may be able to help with a parts list to prove what goes where.

If you post the Model, Type and Code numbers from the engine flywheel cover we can tell you when the engine was made, assuming this is the original engine it will then give you a clue to the age of the machine.

Ray.

 

Johntee Wed, 18/04/2012

Thanks for that Ray.  I figured I had nothing to lose, so enlisted my friend Mr West Systems and his excellent Epoxy Resin.  After cleaning everything up and bonding the old lining back onto the sprocket, I put everything back together and brought the mower home to give it a whirl.

I should probably add that necessity is the mother of rescuing old lawnmowers, as we've just moved house to a place which came with a meadow and aren't yet settled enough for a goat.

Anyway, with some trepidation I got the thing going, and set to, and 40 minutes or so later the job was done.

We're now calling this mower simply 'Beast' as it made short work of some serious undergrowth, although if I could travel back in time, I'd probably have tried to persuade the original buyer to go for the 7hp rather than the 5 as occasionally it did need a quick grab of the clutch and a tilt to prevent it stalling.

All in all it's a great mower, although quite a brute so I can see why it was put away some time in the past.  I'll try to get those numbers for you Ray when I get a chance.  I'd love to know the history.

hillsider Thu, 19/04/2012

Hi, an excellent result and a good find, especially as you are able to exercise the beast. 

I shall look out for the engine numbers post.

Ray.

wristpin Fri, 25/05/2012

Just a point of order!  The Hayter 21 and Osprey were two different models so if you ever need patrs it is as well to know what you've' got! Yours is a 21 with the 5hp BS lump, the Osprey had a wider cut and the bigger engine. Setting up the clutches so that you got full drive and full disengagement could be a bit of a black art especially on the early models that did not have the threaded axle with the big castellated nut  but just a roll pin securing the LH rear wheel. I have copies of the relevant service bulletins if anyone needs them.

They were both good machines in their day and were only killed off because it was going to cost too much to re-engineer them to meet new safety requirements - dead man's handles etc.