Garden chopper with your own hands: how to create a functional design
Garden chopper with your own hands: how to create a functional design
The inevitable companion of the garden plot is plant debris in the form of grass and branches. It is impractical to throw away or burn such waste, because natural fertilizer can be obtained from it. It is enough to grind it to the state of chips. A garden shredder can easily cope with this task. However, if there is no financial opportunity to purchase it, then you can make a garden chopper with your own hands. How to do this – this article will tell you in detail.
The chopper allows you to grind branches and grass in the suburban area
Garden chopper with your own hands: basic design elements
A garden shredder, also known as a shredder or chipper, greatly facilitates the process of caring for a suburban area. With its help, you can easily clear the territory of branches and grass. Processed raw materials can be put into a compost pit to obtain natural fertilizer. The resulting fine wood is advisable to use as firewood for heating the house. Crushed wood chips from fruit trees are ideal for smoking meat.
A shredder for grass and branches will help to cope with plant debris on the site
The design of the garden shredder is quite simple. It consists of the following basic details:
- bunkers;
- drive;
- grinding mechanism;
- metal frame with protective casing.
Some models may be equipped with additional elements:
- a hopper for shredded organic garbage;
- with a pusher;
- a sieve for regulating the fraction of chips.
The principle of operation of any chopper is the same as that of a meat grinder and is as follows. When the shredder is turned on, the engine starts to start, which drives the working shaft equipped with a cutting mechanism. At this time, garden debris enters the receiving funnel and is crushed to a fine chip with the help of a cutting device.
Useful advice! When carrying out work related to the processing of garden waste, you should use personal protective equipment – glasses, gloves, etc.
Wood chips from crushed branches can be used as compost for plants
Grinding mechanism
Before you start creating a homemade shredder, you need to clearly determine the type of waste that it will process. This directly depends on its design features and performance characteristics. Garden shredders are classified according to three main parameters: the type and power of the engine and the type of shredding mechanism.
There are the following variants of the grinding mechanism:
- milling, for processing solid wood;
- knife universal;
- roller, for grinding thin branches of trees and shrubs;
- with rotating turbines for crushing thick branches;
- hammer, for the disposal of thin branches;
- trimmer, based on the use of fishing line, for soft debris.
When assembling the chopper independently, preference is given to a knife system or a set of circular saws. It is possible to perform a two-roll design, in which two or three knives are mounted on a massive disk and rotate towards each other.
Various types of grinding mechanism: 1 — hammer, 2 — milling, 3—knife milling-turbine, 4— knife disc
Engine type and power
The shredder can be equipped with an electric or gasoline engine. Each of them has its own important advantages and some disadvantages. The garden shredder, powered by gasoline, is more mobile. Its operation does not depend on the power supply. It is capable of processing thicker large branches. However, such chippers are more bulky and heavy. In addition, they emit harmful substances into the atmosphere in the course of their activities.
Shredders with an electric motor are lighter and more convenient to operate. However, they are inferior in terms of capacity and depend on energy resources.
The ability to recycle a certain type of garden garbage depends on the engine power. For small volumes of waste, where the diameter of the branches does not exceed 20 mm, a 1.5 kW engine is sufficient. If it is necessary to grind branches with a thickness of 20-40 mm, then it is advisable to use an engine with a capacity of at least 3.5-4 kW. Shredders equipped with a 6 kW engine will be able to cope with large wood 100-150 mm in diameter.
The shredder with high productivity is capable of grinding branches up to 100 mm in diameter
The next feature of the shredder design is the type of drive. This function can be performed by a chain, a belt or the motor shaft itself, on which the knife mechanism is fixed.
Stages of creating a garden chopper of branches with your own hands
Creating a shredder with your own hands is a very time-consuming process that requires technical knowledge and a high level of practical skills from the master. The whole work consists of two stages. The first, preparatory, is to create a drawing of a garden chopper with your own hands and purchase the necessary materials. The second stage is the assembly of the shredder itself.
Creating a chopper drawing
The drawing can be done by hand or use a special design program on the computer. The main structure of the shredder consists of a hopper, a frame, an engine, a shaft with a knife mechanism and a protective casing.
Drawing of a garden shredder for grass and branches
Examples of drawings of branch shredders with their own hands clearly show that various crushing mechanisms can be used for the cutting system.
In the case of using a set package of circular saws, the drawing of the shredder will be quite simple. A shaft with fixed circular saws in the amount of 15-30 pieces is mounted on a metal frame, which is driven by an engine using a belt drive. To do this, pulleys are located at the ends of the shaft and the engine. As the drawings of the shredder show with their own hands, the branches for heating the house are crushed precisely thanks to such a cutting system.
Useful advice! For more efficient operation of the shredder, thin plastic or metal dividers should be installed between the circular saws.
Drawing of the working shaft of the shredder
To create a shredder with a knife disc shredding system, the drawing indicates the diameter of the cutting disc, the number of knives and their location. The disk itself can be placed vertically or at some angle. The number of knives affects the degree of grinding. They can be from 1 to 3 pieces.
There is an option to create a chipper with two shafts. You can get acquainted with such a grinding system on the video. Drawings of a branch shredder with their own hands with a two-roll cutting system are distinguished by the presence of two shafts with knives at once, which are located between metal plates. Each shaft is equipped with 3-4 knives. The knives themselves are secured with bolts and shifted to the side relative to the center of the shaft.
Four bearings are fixed in the holes of the metal plates, which are responsible for the free rotation of the shafts. And two gears driven by the engine ensure their synchronous rotation. The torque from the motor to the drive is transmitted by means of a chain or belt drive. The distance between the shafts is selected based on the width of the knives and the thickness of the branches.
Shredder device: 1 — frame skin, 2 — frame, 3 — gearbox housing, 4 — working shaft, 5 — drive shaft, 6 — V—belt, 7 — electric motor, 8 – turntable
Useful advice! To grind small branches and grass, electric motors with a large number of revolutions are required. And for crushing larger branches, strength is important. Here it is necessary to reduce the number of revolutions for powerful engines.
Necessary materials for the manufacture of a shredder
To make a garden chipper, where a set of circular saws acts as a grinding system, it is necessary to purchase such components:
- circular saws in the amount of 15-20 pcs. with a diameter of 18 cm;
- engine;
- 2 pulleys;
- 2 bearings with mounting;
- metal washers in the amount of 17-22 pieces up to 5 mm thick for separating circular saws;
The device of the working (driven) shaft: 1 — bushing, 2 — shaft, 3 — cutting element, 4 — screw M12 x 35 mm with an internal hexagon, 5 — spring washer A12, 6 — locking ring 40 x 2.5 mm, 7 — gear MSGA4-50, 8 — bearing No. 6210
- profile pipes for creating a frame;
- sheet metal with a thickness of about 2 mm for the hopper and casing.
For a shredder with a knife disc, you will need:
- engine;
- sheet metal 2 mm thick;
- metal sheet and disc knives.
To create a shredder with two shafts, you need to purchase the following materials:
- petrol or electric motor;
- two 10 mm thick metal plates:
- a pair of gears to ensure synchronous shaft movement;
- a gear or pulley for transmitting torque from the engine to the shafts;
- pulley for motor shaft;
Drive shaft device: 1 — locking ring 30 x 2 mm, 2 — gear MSGV4-15, 3 — bushing, 4 — shaft, 5 — bearing No. 6207, 6 — driven pulley
- 5 bearings with fasteners;
- chopping knives;
- profile pipes for creating a frame;
- sheet metal with a thickness of at least 2 mm to create a receiving hopper and a protective casing.
Related article:
Electric garden shredder of branches and grass: an overview of popular models
The choice of the device according to technical indicators. How to make a shredder from scrap materials yourself.
As can be seen from the presented list, the design of the shredder with a disk mechanism is the simplest and most affordable. However, such a shredder can chop branches with a diameter of only up to 20 mm. But a chipper with two shafts can easily cope with large wood with a diameter of up to 80 mm.
Frame and components of the shredder structure
Assembling the shredder
Having all the necessary elements, you can safely start creating the design of a garden chopper of branches with your own hands on the basis of the completed drawing. The assembly of a garden shredder, regardless of the type of mechanism design, consists of several successive stages:
Creating a shredder with a set package of circular saws
The shredding mechanism of such shredders consists of circular saws, which are alternately mounted on the shaft with separating washers. On each disc there are many teeth that can cope even with solid wood. Therefore, he will process soft grass, tops and leaves in a matter of minutes. When the saw teeth become blunt, they can be easily replaced with new ones.
Drawing of a shredder with a set package of circular saws
The shaft for the chopper can be turned on a lathe or used ready-made from the gearbox of an old car. The distance between adjacent saws should be about 10 mm. If the gap is smaller, it will reduce the working area of the shredder. If you make a larger gap, it will contribute to the jamming of small branches.
Useful advice! Do not place the saw teeth on the same line, fixing them on the shaft. It is better to install them randomly. This reduces the load on the shaft and the electric motor of the shredder.
It is better to use an electric motor, which is practically silent during operation and does not emit harmful substances into the atmosphere. For crushing coarse material, you can use a tillerblock, which has a lot of power. The motor should be placed on a movable support so that it is possible to adjust the tension of the drive.
The frame for the shredder can be welded using channels, corners or profiled metal pipes. A thrust bar made of metal profile can be welded to the base of the structure, which will become a support for stems and branches during crushing. When creating pedestals for bearings, it is important not to make a skew. The axes of the motor and shaft must be in parallel planes.
A package of 15 set saws on the M20 stud
Special attention should be paid to the design of the bunker. It can be made of sheet metal. The container should be strong enough to withstand the impact of flying splinters from branches. With the help of a movable support plate in the body of the hopper, it is possible to adjust the size of the chips. So, smaller fragments are suitable for fertilizer, and larger chips are suitable for kindling.
The size of the receiving socket should be larger than the length of the arms to protect them from damage. This also contributes to the ability to direct branches into the shredder at a convenient angle.
Such a garden shredder of branches and grass with its own hands is able to cope with both soft waste and hard thick wood. However, its main problem is the clogging of the space between the saws, which needs regular cleaning.
Creating a shredder with a knife disc
You can create such a grass chopper with your own hands from improvised materials. Since it is designed for crushing soft debris, its design will be very simple, however, it will not have a high strength index. You can weld a sheet metal hopper, or you can take an ordinary metal bucket. The housing from the old fan is also suitable.
Assembly drawing of the shredder with a knife disc: 1 — knives 4 pcs, 2 — disc cutter, 3 — bearings No. 307
To create a cutting system on a metal disk, knives are inserted into special slots, which can be pre-made from a leaf spring from a car. The disc is mounted on the shaft. Then the receiving box is placed. A low-power 1 kW engine is suitable for such a shredder. All the details of creating a garden electric grass chopper with your own hands can be viewed in the videos offered on the Internet.
Instructions for assembling a two-roll shredder
The work begins with the creation of a frame. To do this, using an angle grinder, two 80 cm long blanks and four 40 cm long parts are cut from a profile pipe. Further, short segments are welded between two long blanks at right angles. The two internal parts must be placed at such a distance relative to each other to ensure a reliable installation of the grinding drum.
Useful advice! In order for the device to be mobile, the design must have wheels for movement. To do this, two racks are welded to the frame, on which an axle with wheels is attached.
Drawing for assembly of shafts of a two-roll shredder
The next step is to create shafts for the grinding drum. If it is planned to install four knives on one shaft, then we use a square metal blank. We make both ends of it round so that they can enter the bearings. For three knives, you will need a round blank in which the central part is honed. It makes three flat slices for the subsequent installation of knives.
To create knives, you can take a small piece of the leaf of the Kamaz spring. Bolt holes are made in the knives. Then you should sharpen the knives on a grinding machine, where the angle of the cutting edge is selected with a value of 35-45 degrees. Then the sharpened knives are applied to the shaft and the places of their attachment are marked, in which holes are created, and the thread is cut.
Next, we proceed to the creation of a grinding mechanism. Round holes are made in two metal walls with the help of a welding machine to install bearings. With the help of special pads and bolts, we install bearings inside the metal walls. We insert the shafts into the bearings, securing them securely. They should be located at a sufficient distance to exclude the possibility of their contact. Next, the walls of the drum are connected using threaded metal studs and nuts.
Drawing of the location of the shafts on the frame of a two-roll shredder
Now we are starting to create a receiving bunker. To do this, four parallelepipeds are cut out of thin sheet metal. Then each edge is bent by 4 cm. A short section in one direction, a long one in the opposite direction. With the help of self-tightening rivets or welding, we connect all the parts. Holes for fasteners are made on the bent edges at the base of the box.
Now gears are put on the shafts to synchronize the movement, and the whole structure is mounted on the frame and secured with bolts. Then the motor is installed, which is connected to the shaft by a belt drive or chain. It is better to take a high-power engine, but with a low number of revolutions. At the end, a receiving hopper is installed and secured. Then a protective cover is put on all rotating parts of the shredder to avoid foreign objects entering the shredder.
The main advantages of such a unit are high power and technical ability to grind thick branches in diameter from 20 to 80 mm. It will depend on the number of knives and the number of revolutions. Numerous websites on the Internet provide detailed recommendations on how to make a branch chopper with your own hands. Video examples more clearly show the whole process of assembling and installing a homemade device.
Two-roll chopper, made with your own hands
How to make a shredder from scrap materials
Many thrifty and thrifty owners are in no hurry to throw away old tools and household appliances. They find new uses for them. It is worth showing a little imagination, including logic and ingenuity, and from improvised tools and old parts you can create a real assistant in the household. Let’s consider some simple options for making a homemade shredder of branches and grass from simple and affordable materials.
Shredder from a grinder and a vacuum cleaner
One of these homemade structures is a self-made garden chopper made of a grinder, an old vacuum cleaner and knives from a lawn mower. One famous inventor Vladimir Belyaev offered his own chopper of branches with his own hands, the video of the creation of which inspired many to modernize this idea and offer their vision when creating a dacha assistant. Next, let’s look at one of the interesting and popular options.
To create a simple but productive design, you will need an old working vacuum cleaner, a 3.2 kW Makita grinder, lawn mower knives, a stable wooden base, a receiving funnel and a metal table with a vertically welded sheet of metal.
A drawing of a shredder for making with your own hands: 1 — racks, 2 — base, 3 — rolling supports, 4 — disc milling cutter, 5 — fan blades, 6 — hammer crusher bits, 7 — calibration grid, 8 — drive electric motor, 9 — feeding hopper, 10 — pre—presser, 11 – folding shredder casing, 12 — stationary shredder casing, 13 — belt drive, 14 — pulley, 15 — belt tensioning mechanism
The receiving funnel is horizontally mounted on a vertical metal sheet welded to the table. This sheet should be thick to hold the bolted grinder and the knives mounted on it. If the seat of the three-petal knives from the lawn mower is not compatible with the angle grinder, then it is necessary to sharpen them so that the knives sit securely. In order for the crushed mass not to get stuck between the knives, a pipe from an old vacuum cleaner is attached to the metal sheet, which supplies air. It is desirable that the grinder and the vacuum cleaner are turned on at the same time.
The metal table is located on a wooden stationary base. A protective casing should also be installed, which will prevent the reverse movement of crushed branches.
Such a simple version of a garden chopper with your own hands, the video is a clear confirmation of this, you can easily create at your dacha, without complex stages of work and the purchase of additional materials.
For the manufacture of the shredder, you can use parts from old electrical tools and household appliances
Shredder from the washing machine
A garden shredder can be created from an old washing machine. To do this, you will need a housing and an engine from the equipment, an old saw, a bucket and other parts, and tools for fixing the structure.
In the case of an old washing machine, a side hole is made for the exit of recycled raw materials. Knives are attached to the bottom of the container using a special sleeve, which can be made from pieces of an old saw. As an engine, an existing one is used, built into an old washing machine. The receiving container for crushed garbage is installed near the side opening.
Drill Shredder
Another elementary invention is a homemade shredder using an electric drill. The principle of operation of such a mechanism resembles a vegetable cutter.
Drawing of a hammer shredder: 1 — loading hopper (metal 1 mm), 2 — edging of the neck of the loading hopper (corner 25×25 mm), 3 — flap /gate valve (metal 1 mm), 4 – M6 bolts for screed (8 pcs), 5 — framing of the loading hole in the housing (equal angle 25 mm), 6 — M8 studs (8 pcs), 7 — outer drum of the housing (270×6 mm pipe), 8 — grooved stator (258×6 mm pipe), 9 — hammers (3 mm metal, hardened to hardness HRC 45-47, 72 pcs), 10 — a 3 mm diameter latch (4 pcs), 11 — nut M20 with spring washer, 12 — axis of hammers (circle with a diameter of 22 mm, 4 pcs), 13 and 14 — strapping of branch pipes (equal angle of 25 mm), 15 and 19 — rubber gaskets 3 mm thick, 16 — nuts M8 mounting flange (8 pcs), 17 — hammer rotor, 18 — flange (metal 5 mm, 2 pcs.), 20 — spacer washers (metal 3 mm, hardened to hardness HRC 45-47, 70 pcs.), 21 — retainer, 22 — drive shaft
To create a design, you need to take an old stool. Drill a hole in it with a diameter of 12 mm. A housing with a bearing is attached to the back of the stool. A bucket with a hole of the same diameter is installed on the stool and fixed with screws. A bearing is inserted into the hole, on which a shaft is mounted with high-speed steel knives fixed on it. A dual-mode drill is attached to the end of the shaft from the bottom of the stool through a quick-release chuck.
Soft raw materials are thrown into the bucket and an electric drill is started. After careful grinding to the desired state, the mulch is extracted. This design is designed for a small amount of recyclable waste.
The process of making and sharpening a knife deserves special attention. One-sided sharpening should be performed. The sharpened plane is located at the bottom. For chopping freshly cut grass, a diamond-shaped knife is ideal, in which you can round the blades. This allows the grass to slide freely along the cutting edge of the chopping knife without winding on it.
A drawing of a manual chopper for which an electric drill drive can be used: 1 — shell, 2 — bearing, 3 — drum, 4 — crosspiece, 5 — handle for rotation, 6 — end wall of the housing, 7 — shield, 8 — pitched tray board, 9 — stand, 10 — side wall of the housing
From the proposed options, we can conclude that you can create a garden chopper with your own hands from any improvised material. It is enough to have an electric motor adapted to the 220V network, any round container of sufficient size, a steel sheet, a hacksaw or saws from an old lawn mower to create a cutting mechanism.
Subtleties when choosing an engine for a shredder
A certain engine power provides the necessary performance of the shredder. When choosing an engine, you should follow some important rules:
When working with the shredder, it is necessary to wear personal protective equipment — glasses and gloves
Useful advice! It is better to make pulleys for belt transmission for 3-4 streams. This will allow you to change the speed on the shaft by rearranging the belt, which is necessary for various operating conditions of the shredder.
The main advantages of homemade garden shredders
A homemade shredder does not require too careful treatment. It can be used not only for chopping grass, leaves and branches. It will perfectly recycle any household garbage. It can be used to grind the fruits of fruit trees for the subsequent preparation of mashed potatoes, jam or homemade wine.
Homemade shredders will cope with branches up to 100 mm in diameter, while factory units simply will not miss such dimensional plants. Also, there is no need to monitor the humidity of raw materials for processing. And for factory shredders, such negligence is unacceptable. Since most models have the engine located at the bottom of the structure, the possibility of moisture getting on it should be excluded, which will inevitably lead to breakage.
An ordinary bucket can be used as a container for collecting wood chips
An important argument in favor of a homemade device is the cost of the entire structure, which will be much lower than the price of the finished shredder. This also applies to the replacement of a failed part, which will not be expensive.
In addition, the homemade garden chipper differs in the degree of performance. All garden waste that falls on the shredding mechanism is instantly processed into small chips.
As can be seen from all of the above, a reliable and faithful assistant for shredding garden garbage can be created with your own hands from improvised materials. It is enough to have some skills and skills of locksmithing, to have in your garage parts of old equipment, the necessary tools and materials. Next, choosing the most acceptable way for yourself, sketch a drawing of a branch shredder with your own hands. Videos of various versions of the homemade shredder can be viewed on the Internet. On the basis of the drawing, prepare all the necessary elements and start collecting the shredder.
For easy movement, the shredders can be equipped with wheels
If you are not confident in your own abilities, you can currently buy a homemade shredder of branches from the proposed options, which will meet all the requirements and satisfy your wishes for an affordable price.
