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Perhaps a lawn mower is not an essential household item. But in the dacha, which is primarily a place of rest, and only secondarily – it pleases with a harvest, a lawn mower is very necessary. To enjoy a tidy lawn, you need to either work very hard with a scythe, or lay out a tidy sum for a branded tool. There is also a third option, which we will discuss in the article. So, how to make a lawn mower with your own hands, and at the same time get rid of old things – a Soviet vacuum cleaner or a chainsaw, for example.
Device description
A homemade mower consists of an engine, knives and a comfortable handle. Since the engine is powered by the mains, you will also need the longest possible cord with a plug and a switch. For ease of use, wheels should be attached to the bottom of the lawn mower. And in order to hold it all together, you need a frame.
Selection of parts
The most important question is where to get the engine to assemble the lawn mower. Virtually any serviceable engine from old household appliances or power tools will do: a drill, a vacuum cleaner, a grinder, a chainsaw, even a washing machine. An engine with a power of at least five hundred watts is suitable, although a power of 1 kilowatt or more would be ideal – this will allow you to work at lower engine speeds and sharpen knives less often. In any case, the choice of engine is related to the diameter of the blade and the overall dimensions of the lawn mower. In short – the more area a homemade lawn mower needs to capture at a time – the more powerful the engine should be.
The next important detail is the knife. This is almost the main working part of the mechanism, and it depends on the quality of the knife how long your lawn mower will work and whether it will please you with the results. Therefore, to make a knife, you need high-quality hard steel. In shape, the knife can be one solid piece up to 50 centimeters long, with a hole for a screw in the center, and sharpened on both sides, possibly slightly curved, following the example of branded lawn mowers. Another option is a compound knife, when two small metal sharply sharpened pieces are bolted or welded to a strip of steel. Also, the strip of steel from which the knife is made can be figured, usually in the form of a trapezoid – this protects the knife from winding grass. And, finally, the most unusual knife is a solid round sharpened disk.
Craftsmen advise this form for safety reasons – a knife made of a strip of steel can break and injure when it hits a stone or stick, and almost nothing threatens a solid metal disk. The handle for a lawn mower can be any. It is common practice to use the chassis from old strollers – this solves three problems at once – the wheels, the frame, and the handle. In the absence of an old stroller at hand, the handle can be welded from a metal pipe or even made from a shovel handle.
The power cord can be taken from any household appliance that is out of order. In principle, with a short cord length, you can reach it to the network through extension cords. The wheels can be adapted from a baby stroller or a large car, or cut yourself from a thick wooden board, or use the wheels of an old vacuum cleaner. For the frame you will need a piece of metal or thick plywood. It is also worth making a protective cover so that do-it-yourself lawn mower repairs are required as little as possible. A good material for the casing is metal.
Assembling the lawnmower
To assemble the lawn mower, we need a hacksaw and a welding machine.
The first step is to make a frame for the engine. To do this, take a metal sheet with a thickness of at least three millimeters. The size of the frame is selected based on the length of the blade, but the maximum width of the lawn mower rarely exceeds sixty centimeters. Thus, you need to cut a square of metal with a side of 50 or 60 centimeters. In the center of the square you need to make a hole for the engine. The flange motor is attached to the frame with the shaft down. If the engine has ears, then additional fasteners must be welded to the frame.
Such a frame can also be made from a board or plywood, but metal is still preferable, since it is less susceptible to deformation. The casing is designed to protect the motor shaft from debris and grass clippings. The simplest casing can be made from a metal tin can. More complex options will have to tinker. If the finished casing is tall, it will also protect the electric mechanism of the lawn mower. If not, then to protect the connections with a wire, you need to make another casing.
The casing is put on the motor shaft. Then a sharpened knife is put on and the whole mechanism is fixed with a bolt. Next, the wheels are attached to the frame. To do this, corners with holes drilled in them must be welded onto the frame. The diameter of the wheels is selected so that the knife passes at a height of five to seven centimeters above the ground. If the knife goes lower, there is a high chance that it will get stuck in the ground. At higher altitudes, the grass is crushed rather than cut.
Regardless of what the handle is made of, it needs to be adjusted to the height of the person who will most often use the lawn mower. Usually the optimal length of the handle is about 90 centimeters. The final stage of work is the connection of the power cord. Do-it-yourself electric lawn mower is ready, you can test it in your own summer cottage. In order to protect against cut grass, a net is attached above the lawn mower.
The second option is to make a frame of a special curved shape. This technique described the assembly of a lawn mower to a standard shape. Options – a lawn mower from a drill, on which a wide knife is fixed instead of a drill. At the same time, the drill itself needs to be attached to the frame with a handle – the advantages of such a home-made lawn mower are that you don’t have to fool your head with connecting the cord – the drill mechanism is used. Secondly, such lawn mowers can be used to cut grass under trees and at curbs.
In a similar way, you can make a lawn mower from a chainsaw. For it, you need to prepare a special frame frame, for example, weld it from pieces of pipe. Next, move the chainsaw engine onto it. The network has both drawings and videos on attaching knives to such a lawn mower. Due to the power of the engine, a lawn mower from a chainsaw copes even with small shrubs.
Video “Overview of a handmade lawn mower”
Video review of a handmade lawn mower.
Advantages and disadvantages of a homemade option
The main advantage of self-assembly of a lawn mower is its low cost and environmental friendliness, because it can be used for units of faulty equipment, from a chainsaw to a table lamp. Otherwise, the advantages and disadvantages depend on the parts used. As for the engine, the masters actively recommend asynchronous – for low noise. But this is not an absolute option, in the absence of an asynchronous one, any one will do. After all, mechanical cleaning of grass is much more convenient than manual cleaning, so the noise can sometimes be endured.
Some craftsmen categorically do not advise taking the engine from a vacuum cleaner, because it quickly overheats, and in this case they advise the engine from a chainsaw or grinder. The correct casing with holes or from a frequent metal mesh helps to deal with engine overheating. The disadvantage of homemade mowers is the inability to adjust the height of the knife. Although with the desire and skill, this shortcoming can be overcome.
To make the knife happy and blunt as little as possible, use high-quality steel. To keep the motor shaft from damage, the knife must be sharpened unevenly – make it sharp to the edge and not touch it at the point of contact with the shaft, since the grass near the place where the knife and shaft are attached is still poorly cut, but rather gets worn out and wound onto the knife. Additional options will significantly improve the homemade lawn mower – adjustable handle length, safety bumpers that do not allow the knife to come into contact with the ground, or a grass collector for mowed grass.
Operational safety
A homemade lawn mower requires careful observance of safety precautions. This is due both to the fact that the tool is electric, and to the presence of knives. The first thing to do before connecting the lawn mower to the mains and starting work is to check its serviceability, the sharpness of the knives, the reliability of fastening all the bolts, and the free wheeling of the wheels. It is highly desirable to collect debris from the area, as stones or wooden blocks can cause damage to the lawn mower or injury to the mower. Children or pets must leave the work area.
Proper use of the lawnmower is to push it away from you. If there is a need to stop working with the lawn mower for a while, and then return to it, then it is necessary to disconnect the mechanism from the power supply, and not with the button near the engine, but remove the plug from the outlet. And most importantly, working with an electric lawn mower is strictly prohibited in rain or on wet grass. Cleaning or repairs may only be carried out with the machine switched off and cooled down. Subject to these simple rules, a self-assembled lawn mower will delight you for many years to come.
Video “How a lawn mower works from a juicer”
This video shows how a do-it-yourself lawn mower from a juicer works perfectly.
