Hayter Envoy

I bought this machine about 4 years ago for a small lawn. It only manages to throw a small percentage of the clippings into the collection box, the rest is dumped unevenly over the lawn. It is significantly underpowered and will stop if asked to cut a lawn that has been allowed to get a little bit long. My main complaint is the weight. It weighs the proverbial ton, such that it exhausting to try try and lift it out of the garage. The only hope would be a straight run from storage to lawn with no lifting. The weight seems to offer no benefits in terms of performance except maybe cutting down on gym membership oover the summer.

Had this mower for a while now, and it runs perfectly fine. No problems with it at all.

Easy to use. The problem is that unless the grass is already short and bone dry the majority of the cuttings do not go into the grass box but tends to remain on the lawn. Cannot recommend.

Had to change my cylinder mower because it became too heavy and cumbersome. I thought the rotary electric mower would be better and chose the Hayter Envoy because of its construction compared to others. Hayter is a good name in mowers, my neighbour has the motorised equivalent and it gives a good cut. My Envoy I think is underpowered and doesn't give as good a cut, certainly not as good as my old cylinder model. If the grass is a bit wet, it doesn't throw the clippings into the collection bag and you have to keep clearing the blockage. Overall -- could be better

If you have a flatish lawn with lush green grass then buy the Hayter.

If, however, your lawn is a mix of clover,dandelion and other weeds with the odd patch of grass the Bosch Rotak will serve you better!

If mobility is also an issue again it's the Bosch you need as its half the weigh of the Hayter.

Hope this helps...

Having seen other reviews here about the Hayter Envoy not performing or being difficult to use I cannot disagree more ...and neither can my neighbour as we both have small gardens and bought one of these to share!

My own review does not correspond at all with others written here. I consulted my neighbour as we share the machine, and she has agreed with all my points made here.

This machine was bought to replace our two Qualcast mowers which were the most abysmal nasty machines we have ever had the misfortune to use. They did not cut grass but instead tore the top off it however much the blades were sharpened, and would never even get the grass into the collector box if the grass was less than bone dry. Hopeless! I had an ancient Qualcast machine from the 1980's (a metal one) which was far superior to the later ones - I had hoped that the newer Qualcast designs would be improved. How wrong I was!

Although I am myself an aircraft engineer, anyone with a modicum of sense, can easily fit and remove the Envoy collection box. Even my wife - a beautician with no concept of mechanics, and my seven year old son!

I simply cannot understand anyone writing these reviews saying the collector box is a silly design. It's just not true! We have also not experienced the collector box handle falling off either - I even had to recheck that I was looking at the correct reviews as I momentarily thought I was reading about a totally different mower!

As for the machine not picking up grass - neither myself or my neighbour have experienced any of this.

The only thing that did once happen was that some cut grass was not picked up at the sides when the cutting duct became dirty, but a five minute clean of the blade housing and the duct (routine maintenance) quickly resolved that issue.

We have now run the mower for well over two seasons and it still cuts and runs beautifully - quetly and smoothly - just as it did when it was new. The motor does not make any horrendous noises, and never has done!

My only criticisms of this mower are as follows:

It's got a slightly awkward pivot point - In a tight corner it is a bit awkward manhandling it around but I have quickly got used to this and 'learnt' the best technique for manouvering it in a given situation.

The machine is significantly heavier than the plastic Qualcast rubbish we used to have, and that can mean it's rather more awkward to lift it into the shed or off the kerb around my lawn and onto the driveway.

And lastly the Bail-bar is too flexible so if squeeezed at the left hand end and can sometimes result in the machine stopping.

But all those gripes are veryy minor ones.

The Envoy picks up cuttings easily and efficiently.

It creates great stripes in the lawn.

It's well built.

It's very quiet in operation.

It's totally reliable.

It's easy to use.

The collection box is NOT difficult to fit/remove - a seven year old child can do it.

In conclusion I can say this Hayter Envoy machine is a real joy to use, it's not difficult to maintain, both my lawn and my neighbours lawn look far far nicer than they have ever done when we were using our old Qualcasts which, were so bad I was not even prepared to give mine away, and instead took deep pleasure from smashing it into the skip at the local recycling yard!

I can only concur with the majority of rewiewers. Hayter clearly has a major design fault with its Envoy Mower.

With damp or lush grass if fails to do what you would expect of any mower, that being to cut the grass and transfer it easily into the grass box.

On a lawn 10m by 20m I can expect to stop five or six times, unplug and clear the transfer chute blockage by hand. Then the following day plan to cut the lawn again in order to pick up all the cut grass the machine it has failed to collect.

Any mug like to buy a used Hayter !!

After 15 years of good service my Qualcast mower finally fell apart. I decided to upgrade to a more upmarket mower. Big mistake.

I bought my first Hayter Envoy in 2006. It lasted exactly 3 years before the motor burned out. Because it actually cuts well, I bought another. This one lasted 2 years before again, the motor failed, showing signs of burning inside. This time I complained to the supplier and they took my case up with Hayter. They supplied me with a new motor and covered half the cost although I still had to pay £50. On the very day I got it back, it lasted precisely 5 minutes before it started smoking!!! Yet again, terminal failure of the motor.

2 weeks since returning it yet again, I am still waiting for a resolution of this.

I will never again buy any Hayter product and advise anyone reading this to do the same.

Having worked on Hayter products as a mechanic for the local council I thought the Envoy would be a good replacement for our old Qualcast which was still working after many years of service, this was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. The grass box is of such a ridiculous design that we dread having to remove it to empty it, the mower will not pick up when used on the lowest setting even when the grass is short, sometimes the motor will not start unless we clear the smallest amount of cut grass from the blade or if the grass below it is even a few inches long. We gave our old Qualcast away to a friend who is very happy with it, I sincerely wish we had it back, and I also regret not finding the information on this website before I wasted my money.

My mum bought this Hayter Envoy Mower in April 2009, really because of what we thought the very good name behind it and also years in the business. What a mistake. We had previously owned a Mountfield (Princess equivalent now) for over 20 years and never had one problem with it and only one replacement blade. An excellent mower. The Hayer on the other hand, we feel has been a very disappoining choice. The collection box is so very awkward to put on and off (as many other people comment on). We have taken it back to where we bought it from due to it burning and cutting out and the engine making an unusually loud noise which it shouldnt do. Also the handle on the collection box regularly comes off. We have since had it back and again, we are faced with the engine not sounding right (it sounds like its going to blow up), has to cool down then we can re start. We are now awaiting Hayer Head Office comments tomorrow via where we bought it from so we will wait and see. Like other people, we cannot be without a lawnmover in the summer and this really has been a very big disappointment and inconvenience.