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The question of demand for lawn mowers arises in the summer for summer residents and owners of private yards with a large adjacent territory. Now it is not difficult to buy a tool for cutting green vegetation. But craftsmen always try to get out of the situation themselves. In a short time, a do-it-yourself lawn mower can be assembled from an old electric motor and other improvised means.
The device of homemade lawn mowers
To mow your small yard, you should not buy expensive equipment. There are two solutions to be found here:
- purchase a mechanical lawn mower;
- make your own electric or gasoline unit.
The first option is easier, but requires a lot of effort. After all, a mechanical mower constantly needs to be pushed by hand.
A self-made unit with an electric or gasoline engine also needs to be pushed by hand, but the process of mowing grass is easier and faster. However, here, too, you need to find the best solution for yourself. An electric motor is easier to find. It can be removed from old household appliances: vacuum cleaner, washing machine, fan. However, a motorized lawnmower is permanently tethered to a power outlet and will always have a cable trailing behind it.
The gasoline engine can be removed from the chainsaw. Such a mower will turn out to be mobile and powerful. The disadvantage is the constant preparation of the fuel mixture for a two-stroke engine, loud noise and exhaust gases.
The basis of a homemade lawn mower is a steel sheet with a minimum thickness of 3 mm, welded to a frame of metal corners. A motor is attached to this platform from above, and a knife is installed from below. A U-shaped handle is welded to the mower frame. Four wheels are attached under the platform.
If the choice for homemade fell on an electric motor, then you need to know the design features of this equipment. Electric motors are flange-mounted and foot-mounted. The first option is the most successful for a lawn mower. The flange is located at the end of the motor. That is, it is placed vertically on the frame. The working shaft protrudes perpendicular to the ground. It remains only to put a knife on him.
When using an electric motor on paws, it will have to be mounted horizontally. Then, to transmit torque to the knife, you will have to design a system of pulleys. It is possible to install such a motor vertically. In this case, you need to weld two racks to the steel platform of the mower and bolt the engine legs to them.
Mechanical lawn mowers
A mechanical lawn mower has the simplest device. The basis of technology is the body. A knife system is installed inside. Two wheels and a working handle are fixed to the body. There is no engine in a mechanical mower. The movement occurs due to the pushing efforts of the operator. During the movement of the mower, the knives begin to rotate, which cut the grass.
Now let’s take a closer look at all the components of a mechanical mower:
- The mower blades are assembled in a block. It consists of one fixed and a set of movable elements. The fixed blade must lie close to the lawn, so it is attached to the bottom of the body. The movable blades are twisted in a spiral and fixed on the drum. This whole mechanism rotates on an axis. Often mechanical mowers are called spindle or cylindrical. There is no big difference here. It’s just that the name comes from the drum. The fixed blade is made of harder steel than the moving parts. During rotation, the knives come into contact, and they sharpen themselves. However, this option is only suitable for a contact type lawn mower unit. For a mower with a contactless unit, the gap between the fixed and moving knives is about 0,05 mm. The blades themselves are not sharpened, but the mechanism moves through the grass more easily and makes less noise.
- The wheel diameter is calculated by the manufacturer based on the size of the mechanical lawn mower. This takes into account the width, as well as the tread pattern that prevents slipping on the grass. The speed of rotation of the knife block depends on the wheels.
- The handle is usually foldable to make the mower easier to transport.
- The body of the mechanical mower covers the blades. It can be made of plastic or steel.
The tool works very simply. The man pushes the mower in front of him with the handle. The rotation of the wheels sets the knife block in motion. Here it is worth noting another important detail. Knives rotate several times faster than wheels. This happens due to the step-up gearbox. Its gears transmit torque from the wheels to the drum.
Rotating blades capture green vegetation, press it against a fixed element, as a result of which a cut occurs.
All mechanical lawn mowers are arranged in almost the same way. Depending on the model, the working width can range from 30 to 40 cm. The cutting height varies from 12 to 55 mm. Adjustment occurs smoothly or in steps, which are usually from 3 to 7 pieces. 4 or 5 movable blades are installed on the drum. The mass of the tool is in the range of 6–10 kg.
Self-assembly of a mower from an old washing machine
When making a lawn mower from a washing machine with your own hands, it is implied to use only an electric motor along with a starting relay and a capacitor. It is desirable that the motor power is at least 180 watts.
The wheels for the mower will fit from a trolley or baby stroller. In extreme cases, they can be cut out of thick textolite on their own, and a seat for bearings can be cut in the center. The diameter of the wheels is selected so that the height of the knife from the ground is about 5 cm. Although this distance can be maintained by attaching the chassis to the racks. Wheels are desirable to put 4 pieces. You can get by with three, but it will be more difficult to manage such a mower. A maneuverable lawn mower will turn out on two wheels, but you will need to get used to such a unit.
For the platform, the best option is a steel sheet measuring 30×50 cm. Sometimes craftsmen, in the absence of this material, assemble a wooden shield from boards.
For the manufacture of a knife, hard, but not brittle steel is selected. If the farm has a used wood saw, then it will make a good cutting element.
And now let’s look at how to make a lawn mower with your own hands from selected materials:
- We start making a lawn mower with a frame. It is welded from a corner with a section of 40×40 mm. The axles for the wheels are fixed from below. A ready-made chassis from a baby stroller or trolley will greatly simplify the task. It can be used as a frame for attaching a steel sheet platform.
- The handle is bent with the letter “P” from a steel round pipe with a diameter of 15–20 mm. For the comfort of the hands, you can pull the rubber hose on top of the tube. The handle is welded to the frame. So that it does not break off, the joints are reinforced with scarves from pieces of steel sheet.
- A hole is drilled in the center of the platform from a steel sheet. Its diameter is made arbitrarily a few millimeters more than the thickness of the motor shaft.
- A protective grille is bolted to the bottom of the platform. It is needed for safety in case the knife spontaneously flies off the shaft. The gap between the grate and the cutting element is about 1 cm. A gap of at least 2 cm must be maintained to the ground.
- The electric motor is vertically placed on the platform, driving the shaft into the prepared hole. The motor is bolted on. A sharpened knife is put on the shaft and firmly clamped with a nut. A long electrical cable is connected to the engine. To wind it on the frame, you will have to weld a couple of pins. Alternatively, the wire from the motor can be brought out short with a plug, and the connection to the mains can be made through a long carrying.
The knife of a homemade lawn mower must first be turned by hand. If it does not cling anywhere, you can try to plug it into the network and start mowing the grass.