✅ DIY hay cutting drawings video

Why is a shredder needed?

Hay becomes the main feed for livestock during the winter months. It is also used for flooring in barns, mulching the soil, making fuel briquettes, and so on. Therefore, hay has to be harvested in large quantities. For ease of use and storage, it is processed. The easiest way to do this is with a hay and straw chopper for private farmsteads.

These crushers are manufactured in various capacities and sizes. The operating principle of the device is based on the operation of rotating knives. The hay is fed into a special bunker. Passing through a drum with knives, it is ground and enters the recoil hopper.

How to make a straw chopper

It just so happens that the owner of a private farm constantly requires various devices and means of small-scale mechanization, including a straw cutter. Of course, similar units of different designs and performance are available for sale, there is plenty to choose from. But it’s much cheaper to make a straw chopper yourself, especially since the unit’s design is primitively simple. In this article you will find tips on how to make it in the easiest way.

Straw chopper design

A homely owner who has a plot of land and, in addition, has various living creatures, knows perfectly well why such a machine is needed. We will only add one more area of application to the list: you can chop hay and straw to make fuel briquettes at home. If someone is planning such a thing, then you can’t do it without a straw cutter; try cutting or chopping this amount of straw by hand.

Home craftsmen have adapted to making various handicraft straw choppers from old pumps and vacuum cleaners. The principle of their operation is the same as that of knives mounted on a rod rotated by an electric drill. The hopper is an ordinary old bucket, into which grass or straw is placed, after which rotating knives are lowered into it and thus chopping occurs. Descriptions of such devices are easy to find on the Internet.

Design features

The design of the straw and hay chopper includes the following main elements:

Electric motor. The processing speed will depend on its power.
A container into which unprocessed hay or straw is fed. It can have different dimensions, depending on the amount of raw materials that you plan to grind.
The shaft on which the knives and counterknives are mounted. They must be made of durable steel and well sharpened.
Bunker for waste materials. For convenience, it is mounted on a tilted floor.
Supports. Most often they are made from pipes with a diameter of at least 25 mm. Their height is selected based on the dimensions of the electric motor.

Popular factory-made models

For those who do not want to spend time and effort making such a device, it is better to purchase a ready-made model in a store. Among the most popular hay and straw choppers for private farmsteads are:

M15. Has a convenient bunker for supplying raw materials. Equipped with sharp blades made of high-strength steel and a 3 kW motor. Thanks to this, such a unit can process not only hay and straw, but also thin branches. The drum rotates at a frequency of 1500 rpm. The weight of the entire structure is 130 kg.
KR02. This model is compact and yet has excellent performance. The engine power of 1.54 kW is enough to process up to 25 kg of raw materials per hour. Operates from a standard 220 V network. With low energy consumption, it copes with its functions perfectly.
K-500. Capable of processing up to 300 kg of raw materials per hour. Engine power 2 kW. This model is suitable for large farms with a large number of livestock. The design of the bunker allows you to lay the canopy using forks, which makes work easier and faster.

You need to choose a specific model based on the amount of raw materials that will have to be processed. If your livestock is small, there is no point in overpaying for powerful units. It is better to save money and buy a small-capacity shredder.

Choose products only from trusted manufacturers. A low-quality shredder with an underpowered motor will perform its functions poorly and will quickly break down.

The absence of complex parts and devices in the design allows an experienced craftsman to make a grass and hay chopper himself. It is enough to purchase an engine of sufficient power; all other elements can be found in every household. Before making a chopper, study its drawing

Universal grass cutter and corn sheller

Alex NkFORUMHOUSE user

I also made a grass cutter. I mainly use it to chop grass for poultry. The basis of the homemade product is a kilowatt motor made in the USSR. I bought it for 1400 rubles. Works great. The engine is three-phase, but converted to operate from a 220 Volt network.

Making a homemade grass cutter step by step:

The turner turned out the flange.

Holes were drilled and threaded in the flange.

The knives were made from a piece of an old rusty two-handed saw.

The knives were screwed to the flange.

The grass cutter frame was made from a sheet of metal 4 mm thick. A strip of metal with a cross-section of 4x40 mm was welded to the square, which was bent in a circle. A hole was drilled in the center of the frame.

Alex Nk

I bent the strip with a hammer, striking the metal on the jaws of a vice. The radius was controlled in a circle by drawing it on the bed.

At the finish, the user welded the legs to the base. Fixed the electric motor. I made a large tank with a lid so that debris would not fly out of the grass cutter while the engine was running.

Homemade mobile grass cutter on wheels.

The tank is removable for ease of use of the grass chopper.

The engine produces 1500 rpm. The grass cutter operates almost silently.

Finished products.

How to make a shredder yourself?

If you do not want to spend a lot of money on purchasing equipment, then you can make a hay and straw chopper with your own hands. To do this, follow a few recommendations:

Select a suitable electric motor. If you plan to process up to 200 liters of raw materials, then give preference to models with a power of 2 to 5 kW. For small amounts of hay, use a smaller unit.
The device is assembled in accordance with the drawing. Today you can find a lot of options on the Internet. All you have to do is choose the right one.
To make metal parts of the structure, use metal with a thickness of at least 3 mm. For engine support, choose a thicker material.
The working part of the unit is a metal cylinder, inside of which a disk with sharp knives is mounted. The axle must be securely fastened to the engine.
You can use an old metal barrel as a container for loading hay.
A support for the engine is welded to the working part. For reliability, they are equipped with scarves.
The engine is secured to the support using bolts and self-tapping screws.
Electrical installation can be done only after all parts of the structure have been assembled and securely fixed.

If you have skills in handling a welding machine and understand the operation of an electric motor, such a unit can be manufactured in one day. If some subtleties remain unclear to you, watch the video on how to make a hay chopper:

In this article we will look at how to make a chopper for straw, hay and grass with your own hands, the so-called straw cutter. Consumables, spare parts, belts, waste knives, they can be found in any garage. By making this device yourself, you will save money and be assured that you have a reliable device that will always get the job done.

It is difficult for a summer resident to do without such a chopper. In a simple way, he will chop up grass, tops, straw, hay, which can be collected on the site, and then put it in a compost pit. Thus, the compost quickly rots and turns into fertilizers that will be useful for the beds. It will grow a good harvest of vegetables and will please the gardener.

It will be necessary to prepare a plastic barrel in which the chopped straw or grass will be collected.

Making a chopper

Start manufacturing by selecting the engine, because the parameters of the remaining parts are tied to its shape and characteristics. You can even use a motor from a washing machine , but the productivity of such a straw cutter will be very low due to the low power of the unit.

An electric motor from a circular saw or some kind of woodworking machine would be better suited.

The optimal power for a home appliance is 3–10 kW if the house is connected to a 380 V network or 1–3 kW if there is only 220 V.

Gasoline engines do not have these limitations, but most have a horizontal shaft, which only works well for drum cutters.

Then follow the following procedure:

knife making;
making a “snail”;
making the base;
mesh production;
installation of legs;
installation of the engine and knife;
installation of the cover and supply pipe (socket);
engine connection and test run.

Knife

Since knives can be of very different shapes, the methods for making them are also very different , so we will only talk about the general principles of their manufacture and balancing.

First of all, decide on the type and configuration of the knife, because if the device will be used only for not too fine chopping of straw, then the simplest two-bladed knife will do.

If you plan to process other materials, it is better to make a serrated knife with fan blades . Since the last option is the most universal, we will talk about it, however, most of the techniques are applicable to other types of cutting tools.

Materials

To make it you will need:

a piece of sheet steel 3–5 mm thick of sufficient size;
scraps of sheet steel of the same thickness;
a piece of pipe whose internal diameter is equal to or a fraction of a mm greater than the outer diameter of the motor shaft;
bolts with a diameter of 6 mm, as well as corresponding nuts.

Procedure

First, determine the number of cutting elements and the method of fastening them, that is, welding or screwing.
The more cutting elements, the stronger the grinding , but the more difficult it is to balance the knife, so 2–4 cutting elements and 2–4 blades are optimal.

First, you can make a knife with a minimum number of parts to fill your hand, and then make a more complex and effective tool. If the cutting elements are bolted, they can be replaced with parts of a different shape to make them more suitable for a particular material, but such a tool is much more difficult to manufacture.

Since we will talk about fastening parts using bolts below, here we will talk about connecting the cutting elements and the disk using welding.

First, make a drawing on a scale of 1:1, on which mark :

pipe installation location (strictly in the center);
installation location, as well as the direction of each element, including the blades.

Then, in any convenient way, transfer the drawing to the cut-out disk and weld all the parts to within a fraction of a millimeter. Before welding, bring the cutting elements to a uniform size and shape, sharpen them, and then weigh them.

The permissible difference is 0.1 g; if it is exceeded, the straw cutter will start to hit hard, which will shorten the service life of the motor bearings, and if there is a strong imbalance, it can overturn the device.

Carefully weld each part on both sides , do not burn the metal. If you don't know how to weld like this, ask a good welder to do the job.

Cut a piece of pipe to a length of 5 cm, and the ends should be at an angle of strictly 90 degrees, then drill a through hole in the middle and cut a thread in it for a bolt, then weld it to the back side of the disk exactly in the center.

If you plan to use a knife together with a net, then it makes sense to weld a pair of re-chopping blades on the bottom , because part of the straw will be below the disk level, which means the knives located on top will not be able to cut it. In this case, the places for the blades must be chosen so that they do not interfere with unscrewing the bolts securing the knife to the electric motor shaft through the blow hole when servicing the straw cutter.

Balancing

To check the balancing, place the knife on the motor shaft and secure it, then securely fix the motor and turn it on for a second .
If there is no beating, then the knife is made correctly and can be placed in the straw cutter. If there is beating, insert a steel rod of suitable diameter instead of the motor shaft, then fix it in a vice using two bearings and balance.

To do this, carefully but firmly twist the knife with your hand and, after stopping, mark the area directed strictly downward, then twist it again and again mark the area directed downward. If the marks are in the same place or nearby, then drill a hole a couple of mm in diameter directly along the mark.

If the marks are always in different places, then there is one of the following problems::

a piece of pipe is welded crookedly or off-center;
The motor shaft is bent.

To determine the cause, you will need a ruler and some kind of support. To check whether the pipe is welded correctly, do the following :

place the ruler perpendicular to the knife on the reverse side at a distance of 5 mm;
twist the knife strongly;
look at the distance between the ruler and the knife - if it changes, the pipe is welded crooked.

If this check does not show anything, then fix the ruler above the knife at a distance of 5 mm and twist the knife strongly - a changing distance indicates that the pipe is not welded in the center. If both checks do not reveal any defects, then the problem is in the engine and it needs to be replaced.

Snail

The body of the grinding mechanism received this name for its external resemblance to a snail, but in essence the body and knives form a centrifugal fan.
It can be made from various materials, including an ordinary steel barrel of paint or other liquid, because a snail is a cylinder with a very small height and a specially shaped hole for the air flow to escape.

However, the thin metal from which the barrel is made does not have sufficient rigidity to effectively hold the engine while crushing any materials, therefore, in addition to cutting the barrel, you will need a base - a steel round plate 3-5 mm thick and with a diameter 5-10 cm less than the diameter bottom of the barrel.

If there is no barrel, the material for the snail can be a steel pipe with a diameter of 40–60 cm and sheet steel 3–5 mm thick; in this case, a base is not required , because the bottom of the snail will perform its function. To properly make a fan housing, determine the direction of rotation of the motor shaft, because it will accelerate the air, causing it to fly out at great speed.

Having determined the direction of rotation of the shaft, mark a hole on the bottom and fan housing for air outlet, the length of this hole being approximately 10–20% of the circumference of the housing (the larger the better).

The height of the body (sidewall) must exceed the distance from the engine to the top of the knife by at least 2 cm.

Then make an outlet pipe. Its cross section depends on how far the crushed material needs to be thrown, as well as on the fraction of the crushed particles. The larger the fraction, the larger the cross-section should be , but the shorter the distance over which the air flow will transfer the finished product.

In addition, a lot depends on the height of the knife - the higher it is, the lower the ratio of the length and height of the pipe, because it is necessary to maintain the optimal cross-section.

The normal length to height ratio is 1:1 to 1:2. The length of the pipe is determined by its height, increasing the parameter by 1.5–2 times.

A prerequisite is the absence of corners on the near edge of the pipe and the absence of sharp corners on the far edge.

In addition, make a hole exactly in the center of the bottom for the motor shaft and holes for mounting the motor. We will talk about this in more detail in the next section. The finished bottom and sidewall are connected to each other, and it is advisable to cook the sidewall from the barrel using a semi-automatic device, and the pipe and thick bottom are connected using an inverter.

Make the lid the same shape as the bottom, then cut a supply hole in it (its location can be any), the cross-section of which is 2-3 times larger than the cross-section of the outlet pipe.

If you make the cross section even larger, then the speed of movement of the sucked air will be insufficient and part of the chopped straw will fly out through the top.

The lid can be attached in any convenient way that ensures reliable fixation and quick removal, and the diameter and shape of the supply pipe do not matter , the main thing is that it is larger than the hole in the lid.

Base

The diameter of a 200 liter barrel is 55 cm, so the diameter of the base circle should be in the range of 45–50 cm, and the production of the snail must begin from the base. To make it, select a smooth and suitable piece of sheet steel, then mark it.

Carry out the markings with a compass and tape measure from the center in several stages:

draw a hole for the motor shaft, with a diameter 3–5 mm larger than the diameter of the motor shaft;
mark the holes for mounting the engine;
Mark the holes for attaching the barrel trim.

Measure the diameter of the shaft with a caliper. To accurately mark the location of the engine mounting holes on the metal, make a paper model.

For this:

in a suitable size piece of paper, cut a hole for the shaft;
Place this paper on the engine and press firmly;
Use a pen or pencil to pierce the paper in the area of the mounting holes.

Place the finished model on the metal and mark the drilling locations on it. The diameter of the mounting holes must exceed the diameter of the bolts by 1 mm. Place the holes for attaching the barrel trim at a distance of 2–5 cm from the edge of the base, the diameter of the holes is 7 mm (for a bolt with a diameter of 6 mm), the distance between the holes is 5–15 cm.

Net

The purpose of the mesh is to filter crushed fragments and let through those straws that are smaller than the holes in the mesh, therefore, by installing meshes with different cell sizes, you can adjust the fraction of the finished product. The mesh can be made from sheet steel 0.5–2 mm thick , and too much thickness will not give it any advantage. Metal from a two-hundred-liter barrel will work well.

Holes can be punched using a press with a matrix and a punch or manually with various punches; you can also use a drill with drills of a suitable size or take a ready-made mesh of metal of the required thickness.

Good results are obtained by a fence mesh made of thick wire connected by spot welding; its disadvantage is the large size of the cells (≥2 cm). Attach the mesh to the blow hole of the snail with four bolts in the corners.

If you plan to chop only straw or hay, then you can make a mesh even from a large tin can , but if you plan to process other products, it is better to use thicker material. You can also take a ready-made mesh from various mechanisms, as long as it matches the thickness and size of the holes.

Attaching the legs

Legs, a frame or some other device raises the straw cutter off the ground to ensure comfortable operation of the engine.
There are many options for such devices , from a primitive tripod without any adjustments to a frame with lowering wheels or small legs that can be adjusted in height.

The main thing is that the legs or frame do not interfere with servicing the engine, do not impair its ventilation and are securely attached to the base. They can be secured either with bolts and nuts or by welding.

Bolted fastening allows you to quickly change the legs or frame to some other device, and welding is faster and easier.

Installing the motor and blade

In the straw cutter that we are talking about in this article, the motor is installed only from the bottom, so that the electric motor shaft is also the knife shaft. If the base is made correctly, then it is enough to place the engine on the ground with the shaft up , then put the volute on it and screw it with bolts, for which there are standard holes on the electric motor.

If you plan to install the engine separately, you will have to attach a support with bearings to the base that will hold the knife shaft. In addition, it will be necessary to design some kind of transmission mechanism connecting the motor shaft and the knife shaft.

The simplest is a belt drive, but it requires a mechanism for changing the belt tension, which will greatly complicate the design. You can use gearboxes with different shaft positions relative to each other and different transmission ratios.

It is possible to come up with some other exotic way of transmitting torque, but remember the main rule - the simpler, the more reliable.

Having secured the engine, place a manufactured and balanced blade with already installed fixing bolts onto its shaft, then tighten these bolts through the blow hole using a suitable socket and a sufficient length of extension.

Typically, a tightening torque of 4–6 kg is sufficient for such bolts, but if you plan to chop harder and more durable materials in addition to hay or straw, then the fixation of the knife on the shaft must be strengthened.

There are two ways to do this:

Drill holes 1–2 mm deep in the shaft, corresponding in location to the holes in the pipe and matching the diameter of the bolts.
Cut grooves in the pipe and shaft to install the key and cut out the corresponding key.

The first method is much simpler to manufacture, but it greatly complicates the installation of the knife on the shaft, because you will have to do the work in cramped spaces and without a good view.

The second method is much easier to install, but in order to properly prepare all the parts, you will need very delicate work and special equipment that is unlikely to be found in a regular garage. Most likely, for this you will have to contact an experienced milling machine, which means payment, and therefore an increase in the cost of the entire structure.

To check the reliability of the knife fastening, it is necessary:

place the straw cutter on the ground;
grab the knife by the blades or any other convenient place (if your fingers are not thin and strong enough, you can use small clamps or pre-provide holes in the cutting parts for such a check);
lift the structure off the ground and shake it up and down and in different directions.

If after a minute the distance from the knife to the engine has not changed, then it is secured normally, but if it has changed, it needs to be strengthened.

Installation of the cover and supply pipe or socket

If the body and cover of the snail are made correctly, then installing the cover and fixing it will not cause difficulties , but if mistakes are made, then you will not be able to put the cover in place properly.

After all, it should fit tightly to the body of the snail, and even a small gap will reduce the efficiency of the straw cutter.

The height and shape of the supply pipe or socket should provide maximum convenience when loading processed material, so it makes sense to make several sockets of different shapes for different materials and attach them to the lid with bolts.

Connecting the engine and first start

Depending on the type and configuration of the motor, connect it through an appropriate capacitor or starting relay, and also install a circuit breaker and an emergency shutdown button.

If you are not sure that you can do everything, have a qualified electrician carry out all the work, including a post-start inspection. Then securely close all parts of the starting system so that they are not accessible and completely assemble the device.

When the straw cutter is fully assembled and installed in place, carry out the first start-up, during which:

determine the strength of the vibrations (a barely noticeable vibration, similar to a buzz, is acceptable);
measure starting and idle speed using current clamps;
measure the voltage on the case;
Check to see if straw is flying out of the top.

If all checks have shown that the device is fully operational, then carry out the first chopping, first throwing in the vegetation slowly, and then proceeding to loading in normal mode.

However, do not remove the current clamp to ensure that the current consumption does not exceed the permissible current for this type of motor. Once you're sure everything is in order, turn off the hay cutter and unplug it to avoid accidental starting, then paint the frame to protect it from rust.

Step-by-step production of a straw chopper with your own hands

The chopper is manufactured using the following materials:

• electric motor; • circular saw blade; • metal sheet 2–3 mm thick; • corner; • bolts, nuts, washers.

List of required tools:

• welding inverter; • Bulgarian; • drill; • set of wrenches.

As a result, we have such a practical straw cutter that will help you chop straw, grass for a compost pit, and perform the work necessary on the site.

How a straw and hay chopper works is shown in the video:

A hay cutter or straw cutter is an indispensable unit in a subsidiary farm. With its help, you can quickly and easily chop hay for poultry or young animals, as well as grind straw for insulating beds or winter roads, and making briquettes for heating. Making a hay chopper yourself is not difficult, and the practicality and functionality of a homemade device will not be inferior to store-bought counterparts.

Design Features

A grass cutter is a special device for chopping grass, which is indispensable in a farmstead.

Once grass clippings are processed, they can be used as soil fertilizer, insulation material in winter, or pet food.

This tool can finely chop a large volume of weeds or grass clippings in just a few seconds. This is a significant saving of time and effort for the owner of a personal plot.

The design of a standard manual grass cutter includes the following parts:

steel frame;
electric motor;
cutting knives;
working shaft;
pulley;
belt;
container for receiving grass;
protective casing;
cable.

Homemade garden grass cutters are compact in size and light in weight, which makes them much easier to use.

At the same time, they have good performance. The unit can be equipped with both a gasoline and an electric motor:

A gasoline engine is a more powerful device that allows you to chop branches of bushes. Its main advantage is the ability to operate even in areas where there is no electricity. Disadvantages: heavy weight, noisy operation.
The electric motor is not as powerful as a gasoline engine, but is lighter and more convenient to use. This device is started with one turn of the toggle switch. Its main disadvantages are its dependence on the power grid and the limitation on the thickness of the stems of the processed vegetation.

Grass cutter with electric motor

A DIY electric grass cutter is a useful tool for your own garden plot.
With its help, it is convenient to prepare animal feed from grass and small twigs, especially from nettle, which is considered very useful for livestock.

Hay chopper device

The simplest hay and straw chopper is made from a regular vacuum cleaner. An ordinary plastic or aluminum bucket serves as a working chamber into which raw materials are placed, and then a knife mounted on a rotating shaft is lowered. You can make such a device in a few minutes, but it has one significant drawback: low productivity and impracticality. If the number of poultry or livestock is large, you will need a more reliable hay crusher.

The working unit is the most important part of the straw chopper. It consists of a steel hopper with knives inside. The knives are attached to the engine axis with a special axis. Usually the bunker is made in the shape of a cylinder, and for greater safety the walls are left high. You can do it with short walls, but then equip the device with a lid.

Main components of the straw chopper:

Working chamber with lid,
Support,
Motor,
gain strip,
Knives or cutting disc,
Receiver of raw materials.

Materials

The hay cutting machine is assembled at home with your own hands from materials available to everyone. And its production does not require special technical skills. To make a hay chopper with your own hands, you need to have a mechanic's kit, a welding machine, a drill and a grinding machine. The materials needed are:

Motor (an electric motor from a washing machine is suitable),
Sheet of metal, with a thickness of about two millimeters,
A sheet of metal, about three millimeters thick,
Steel sheet, ten millimeters thick,
Pipe cut (do not use a diameter larger than 25 mm),
A strip of metal, 3 mm wide, 25 mm long.

Manufacturing

Instead of knives, you can take a disk from a circular saw or a powerful food processor. A barrel or a piece of pipe with a diameter of at least thirty centimeters is well suited for the role of the device’s body.

Before making a straw chopper with your own hands, it is advisable to find clear and detailed drawings of the device on the Internet. They will help prevent errors in the location of parts and fastening. Manufacturing begins by marking and cutting out a blank from a section of pipe. An additional bottom is attached to the resulting container by welding, and a holder for the motor is already attached to it. Several holes are pre-drilled into the steel sheet to simplify the process of attaching the motor. A do-it-yourself straw cutter made from a pipe will be stronger if metal corner gussets are welded to the sides. A container for the already crushed product is attached to the bottom. Only after this the engine is installed. It is attached to a steel sheet, and cutting knives or discs are mounted on the axis and securely fixed

The last point: an electrical cable and a power switch are installed, as well as a cover and an indicator light. The device is ready for use.

DIY grass cutter

From a gas cylinder

Instructions:

From a gas cylinder we cut out ring 1 of the required size, and from a steel sheet 3 mm thick - a cover 2 of slightly larger diameter (Fig. 1)
. We press them together with clamps and weld them from the inside. We clean the outer protrusions of the resulting casing with emery.
On a lathe we make a hole 4 in the cover for the knife shaft 6 and make markings for the clamp 3.
We cut out a ring for the clamp from the pipe, weld the jaws to it, drill a through hole d 7 mm in them for bolt 7. Then we cut the ring between the jaws and, installing the clamp on the grinder, insert a metal spacer between them. We clamp the bolt, allowing the clamp to move freely along the angle grinder. Then we weld the clamp to the circle (according to the markings), leaving 1/3 of the circle free near the jaws.
pipe 5
onto the casing of the grass cutter , cut out a hole inside using electric welding, and clean the edges with a grinder.
We make the knife from a saw blade, sharpen it, burn a hole by welding (we don’t recommend drilling, it will ruin a lot of drills) and expand it with emery attachments (Fig. 2)
. We install it with the cutting edges up.
We put the finished casing with a knife on the electric motor shaft.

Blueprints:

From the Bulgarian

Today, almost everyone on the farm has a power tool like a grinder. This is an ideal option for making a manual herb grinder.

In addition to the grinder, you will need the following tools and parts:

hammer;
screwdriver;
engine;
steel brackets, bolts and nuts;
shaft;
frame;
cutting discs or blades;
pulleys;
net;
container for chopped grass.

First of all, you need to securely fasten the engine; for this we take metal corners and make a frame from them. Next, you should attach the grinder to this frame as firmly as possible, since it operates at very high speeds and if it comes off, it can cause trouble.

Then a metal container is installed on top of the grinder shaft (it is located upwards), grass will be loaded into it and, in fact, the cutting process will take place in it.

It is best that the steel of the container be as thick as possible, otherwise, if the knife suddenly unscrews while the grass cutter is working, it may pierce the steel and fly out.

A steel corner is attached to the bottom of the container; it is needed to keep the entire herbal mass from scrolling inside the container. The corner is secured with bolts and nuts.

Now you just need to install the lawn mower blade on the grinder shaft.

For convenient collection of chopped grass, a special sleeve was made from thin metal; it can be directed into a special box for collecting grass flour or simply placed in a bucket. At this point, the assembly of the grass cutter can be considered complete.

From the washing machine

Let's look at another way to create a grass cutter from scrap materials.

From the materials we will need:

electric motor from a washing machine;
housing from the Uralets vacuum cleaner;
durable sheet metal for creating a knife;
plastic bucket or other container to create a bunker;
plastic bucket to create a grass catcher;
steel corners;
electric welding;
Bulgarian;
drill;
screws with nuts and more.

Step-by-step instructions for making the tool:

Preparing the body. According to the diagram, the body is taken from a vacuum cleaner, at the bottom of which a 70x70 cm hole is made to dump crushed raw materials.
Electric motor installation. The unit is installed on the bottom of the product body with the shaft up. The motor itself is taken from a washing machine. The knife is cut from sheet iron using a grinder. Its edges are raised slightly upward.
Bunker and grass catcher. These two containers are made from plastic buckets. They are lightweight and the material does not rust, which is very important in this case. A bag is placed on top of the catcher for the finished chopped greens so that they do not fly away in different directions during the cutting process.
Tool frame. This is an important structural element on which all other parts are fixed. For its manufacture, strong metal corners are used, which are connected to each other using a welding machine.

At this point, the assembly of the tool can be considered complete. With its help, cutting food from weeds, grass and small branches for animals will be done quite quickly.

From a drill

An excellent grass cutter can be very easily built from a regular drill. Exactly how this simple device works can be seen in the video below:

So, the grinding process resembles the work of a food processor: in a cylindrical body, the role of which is played by a simple bucket, there is a sharply sharpened knife.

When it rotates in a circle at high speed, the grass is cut. To make this grass cutter, a two-mode Temp drill with a power of 850 watts is used. The knife is made of hacksaw blade. The whole secret is hidden in sharpening the knife.

If done correctly, the grass will not wrap around the blade. The knife should remain clean and free of greens. Sharpen the knife with a one-sided sharpening.

It should be oriented with the sharpened plane facing down. If you have to chop fresh grass, the best shape of the knife would be a narrow diamond so that the cutting edge disappears at an angle to the edges.

As a last resort, you can round the blade towards the tip.

Then the grass, which is affected by centrifugal force, slides along the cutting edge of the knife straight to the edges. It cuts easily and never wraps around the knife.

Homemade straw cutter

Three previous units successfully turned grass into silage. But if we need a chopper not only for grass, but also for hay, it’s worth taking a closer look at another invention, which is presented in great detail in the video below.

Manual chopping

A small volume of raw materials can be crushed using a manual metal chop, placed on a long handle.

The cut is a sharply sharpened triangular plate, the longest side of which is directed downwards.

Freshly cut grass, weeds, leaves, tops are laid out on the ground in a layer of 10-15 cm and chopped into pieces. The tool must be lowered sharply. After each blow, the plant mass is divided into smaller and smaller parts.

Hay cutter from a washing machine

A simpler and less powerful hay chopper can be made with your own hands from a regular washing machine. In addition to the machine, you also need:

Knives or cutting disc,
Electric wire,
Bucket,
Metal corner,
Fasteners,
Locksmith kit.

A little advice: if you plan to chop not only hay and straw, but also tree branches, then it is better to use an additional gasoline engine.

How to assemble the device

A small rectangular cutout measuring approximately 20 by 7 cm is cut out at the bottom of the body. Its perimeter is sheathed with metal plates for greater strength. A stand is made from the corner. The height of the stand depends on what is planned to be used as a receiver of crushed raw materials. For buckets, the stand is made higher than for boxes.

To attach the motor, two small holes are made on the shaft, after which a threaded bushing is installed on it. The engine is mounted on a shaft, and the entire structure is attached to the bottom of the tank with metal pins. After this, cutting discs or knives are put on the shaft. It is very important to choose the size of the disks so that they do not come into contact with the walls of the working chamber.

Before connecting the motor to the cable, you need to decide on the working and starting windings of the electric motor itself. This is easy to do with the help of a special tester: the working winding has less resistance than the starting winding. The engine is connected like this:

One of the ends of the starting winding is connected to the start toggle switch,
The other end is connected to the main wire and the working winding,
The free end of the working winding is connected to the main wire and the wiring from the start toggle switch.
The hay chopper is ready.

How to make a grass cutter with your own hands from a washing machine

Real gardeners and gardeners know a lot about such devices as a grass cutter and a branch chopper. This is not the only device that such people have in their household.

It is not always possible to buy all the useful devices, which is why people come up with all sorts of ways to make them with their own hands. And today we will describe how to make a grass cutter from an old washing machine.

Do-it-yourself straw, hay, grass chopper

It will be necessary to prepare a plastic barrel in which the chopped straw or grass will be collected.

Do-it-yourself grass cutter driven by an angle grinder

Tok2ZFORUMHOUSE user

I have birch trees growing in my dacha. Leaves are falling from the trees. We have to clean it up, burn it, and fill up the compost pit. The foliage takes a long time to rot. I decided to chop it up. For this you need a grass cutter. I looked at what they were making on the Internet. I turned on my brain and this is what I came up with.

Do you like an inexpensive option for a garden shredder? Read the article further and find out how to make a homemade product from an angle grinder and a metal tank. Tok2Z acted like this:

He thought about how to twist the chopper blades. The choice is small - install a motor from a washing machine, or buy an electric motor. According to the user, the motor from the washing machine is weak, and I didn’t want to purchase a three-phase unit and convert it to one phase.
Tok2Z bought on the market, for 2 thousand rubles, an old grinder with a power of 2 kW and blades from a lawn mower for 700 rubles. I ordered an adapter sleeve from a turner, spending another 500 rubles.
I welded the frame and placed a galvanized water tank on it. I assembled the structure and turned on the grass cutter.

Tok2Z

The turnover is crazy. I threw a shovelful of leaves into the tank, and they blew away! I checked where the flow was going. Air goes up from the edge of the tank and is sucked in in the middle. I cut out a galvanized ring and installed it in the center of the tank. Threw the leaves. The knives crushed it just right, and it flew into the lower pipe.

To grind the grass into a very fine fraction, the user installed a corner in front of the “exhaust” pipe.

Pipe diameter 10 cm.

The grass cutter shreds the leaves directly into the compost bin.

Compare: a pile of leaves.

Shredded leaves.

Tok2Z

The grass cutter threshes everything - grass, leaves. Sometimes, along with the foliage, a wire comes across. Pebbles. Pieces of metal. The crusher crushes the stones. No iron. You have to turn it off, look for trash and throw it away. The noise is terrible. One of the disadvantages is the thin walls of the tank. It breaks through. I will redo it. I will make a tank from a sheet of iron 1-2 mm thick.

Step-by-step production of a straw chopper with your own hands

The chopper is manufactured using the following materials:

• electric motor; • circular saw blade; • metal sheet 2–3 mm thick; • corner; • bolts, nuts, washers.

List of required tools:

• welding inverter; • Bulgarian; • drill; • set of wrenches.

As a result, we have such a practical straw cutter that will help you chop straw, grass for a compost pit, and perform the work necessary on the site.

How a straw and hay chopper works is shown in the video:

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Good afternoon, I’m also puzzled whether to buy a grass shredder for private household plots inexpensively or make it effectively. Here's one that's inexpensive to buy, and I liked this one. It’s convenient to load, well, 12000 rpm should turn everything into dust. Who can comment on this product? Thanks to all!

Tolya, are you planning on chopping grass or hay? If it’s grass, then I can take a photo of my grass cutter, it looks like it’s a factory one, I bought it at the market. It’s perfect for green grass, alfalfa, and corn stalks. Dry hay breaks down rather poorly. I have already figured out how to make a hay chopper, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. If you have anything, write me a personal message.

Ilyich crusher diagram in the studio

Tolya, are you planning on chopping grass or hay?

I wanted everything to beat, but that doesn’t happen! You need to beat dry alfalfa, and preferably smaller ones. Yes, even 220 watts. I have ideas, but I don’t want to get into trouble. You can kill a large fraction with anything, but you need a state, if not flour, then as close as possible.

The years take their toll, the bastards take what belongs to others!

I'll post a picture of the grass cutter. Works great for grass. I haven’t made any drawings for the dry hay chopper yet, but a plan has matured in my head. In my case, I want to minimize turning work, because a turner charges 100 UAH/hour and works in no particular hurry. There is practically no alternative. So, I want to do it according to the IS-500 principle, i.e. a hopper, a disk with knives, a calibration grid in a circle to regulate the fraction, a drive from below. The main problem for me was the disk on which the knives are attached. The idea came to use a disk with a BDT or something similar. There, both the thickness of the metal and the grade of steel are quite decent. I haven't decided on the drive yet. Either from the PTO of the T-25 tractor, or a 220W/3kW electric motor. If there is an electric motor, then you need to find a smaller disk, because you can’t turn much at 3 kW, and there are no motors for sale larger than 3 kilowatts from 220 W. The factory IS-500, produced in Kharkov, is driven by a nine-kilowatt 380W motor. If I do it from the PTO, then the disk can be used to the maximum. The T-25 has 18 kW of power, I think it’s enough, but to increase the speed, use a used one. road bridge. The T-25 has a PTO speed of 540 rpm. The gear ratio of the VAZ, Moskvich gearbox is approximately 1*4. That is, on the working disk we have a little more than 2000 revolutions. On factory shredders the speed is 1800-2000. If you use an electric motor with the required speed, you can connect the working disk directly to the motor shaft. By the way, this is exactly how it was done at the factory. Well, if the engine speed is higher or lower, then through the pulleys. It would also be good to balance the disc with the blades, but you can try to do this at a tire shop. Here are my thoughts on the chopper.

Do your job in such a way that you don’t have to do it again. Vladimir Monomakh.

Good day everyone, my structure passed the tests and the result exceeded all expectations. However, it was made for rectangular bales. It doesn’t chop loose hay very well.

As I understand it, the fraction is not regulated on your machine, that is, the output is simply a cut. This option is quite suitable for cattle, but for me the finer the better, right down to grass meal. Now I’ve just got some free time and will get to work on my unit.

Do your job in such a way that you don’t have to do it again. Vladimir Monomakh.

Corn husker from grass cutter

Alex Nk decided, based on a grass cutter, to make a mechanism for shelling corn. The result is a two-in-one unit. To make a homemade product you need:

Cut a disk out of metal.

Drill holes in it for M6 bolts.

Tests have shown that the height of the hex head of conventional bolts is sufficient for shelling corn. The disc was raised from the base by 4 cm.

Rework the base so that the outlet is at the bottom. This is how the grass is chopped finer, and the corn is not chopped.

The slope of the output tray has become steeper, almost vertical. This way the grass mass did not clog the hole.

The disk was screwed to the flange.

Side view.

The tank has been redone. A “reflector” was attached to it to throw the corn “cobs” into the bucket.

Inside view.

Grass cutter-corn sheller assembled.

Finished products.

Places for storing fasteners.

To prevent the grass from wrapping around the motor shaft, the user installed a protection ring.

Disassembled grass cutter-corn sheller.

Alex Nk

I found experimentally that the optimal option for chopping grass is two knives. Four knives turn the grass into mush. I also threshed apples for the poultry. One bucket of apples is crushed in 4-5 minutes. The result is a grass cutter-vegetable cutter-fruit cutter.

Working principle and standard model

Explanations about the purpose of the chopper are unnecessary for those farmers who keep livestock.
In addition, the device can be used to produce fuel briquettes from hay or straw at home. Manually chopping the required amount of material for livestock feed is an extremely labor-intensive activity in terms of time and effort. And you shouldn’t even think about producing fuel briquettes in this way.

Some craftsmen make homemade shredders from a minimal set of scrap materials. Usually, old vacuum cleaners or pumps with a working electric motor are used.

Products of this type are easy to manufacture, but their productivity is extremely low . It’s only enough to feed ten rabbits. A large farm requires more raw materials.

As a result, you need a reliable straw chopper for private farmsteads, which you can do yourself. The power should also be at a level that will allow the device to operate for up to several hours without stopping.

Description of typical design

A typical design involves the elements from which the device is made. Their minimum set can be supplemented with auxiliary ones. The goal is to improve the comfort of working with the device.

Standard chopper set:

The bunker is a container of sufficient volume. Usually they take an old barrel or a large can into which the processed vegetation is placed.
The electric motor is installed at the bottom of the bunker. The main thing is that its power is sufficient to work non-stop and for heavy loads.
An axis on which 3 to 6 knives are attached. It is attached directly to the axis of the electric motor.

The basis of the apparatus is a hopper with sharp knives, which are rigidly fixed to a steel disk. The disk is mounted on an axis, which is the shaft of the electric motor or is connected to it through a gearbox.

A bunker is a container for storing material - hay or straw, which requires chopping. The cutting process takes place in it. For safety reasons, the bunker is made as high as possible so that when loading raw materials your hands do not touch the knives. The shape of the container is usually cylindrical, but you can find the shape of an inverted cone. Place the container on a stand, usually in the form of a tripod. The height of the stand is such that an electric motor can be installed below. The latter is fixed to the bottom.

Sometimes the bunker is made small in height, but with a lid for safety reasons. The lid must have a hole for loading raw materials.

Production on a flow principle is created by installing a waste dump . Through the device, the crushed material is thrown out of the hopper. This allows raw materials to be added continuously. That is, there is no need to stop the engine to remove the chaff and add raw materials. This results in significant time savings. It will be made from the bottom of the bunker. The shape is not important, the main thing is that there is a slope for dumping the material.

A disk with knives placed on it is an extremely difficult part to manufacture. The design can be arbitrary. The goal during assembly is to achieve maximum balance so that the device does not shake from vibrations during operation.

Scheme of work

The electric motor is turned on.
Load material into the hopper.
The processed material flies out of the nozzle and falls into a pre-prepared container.

The container is usually a plastic barrel. It is advisable to cover it with a lid and make a hole on the side so that the chaff does not fly away in all directions. The operator just has to supply the raw material and empty the container with the chaff in time. Ideally, several of them are used, changing as they are filled.

Materials and manufacturing process

The manufacture of a house shredder begins with a drawing on paper. This allows you to have a visual representation of the design and identify shortcomings or refine important nuances at the design stage. Remaking the finished product will be more expensive, and unnecessary time will be spent.

Assembly materials:

Electric motor.
The container for the bunker is ready-made from some device or welded to specified dimensions from steel sheets.
A lid for the hopper that will be securely installed on it.
A steel plate at least a centimeter thick for a platform for an electric motor.
Sheets of metal for the manufacture of supports and other elements with a thickness of at least 3 mm.
Drive shaft.
Side pipe as a dump.

The electric motor is the main part of the device , which determines its characteristics. The motor is selected depending on the volume of the straw chopper hopper. The greater the mass of raw materials per load, the more powerful the engine required. Typically, an electric motor with a power of 2.2 to 6 kW is installed on a hay and straw chopper for private farmsteads. The speed of rotation should not exceed 2 thousand/min for safety reasons. Optimal - 1.5 thousand/min.

An electric motor with a rotation speed higher than optimal can also be adapted for installation in a structure, but it is not directly connected to the shaft. To do this, use a reduction gear , often a belt drive. You can use a gear drive. The reduction gear allows you to increase the output of the motor and chop root crops and even small branches.

The motor is connected to a shaft on which a disk with knives will be installed. A tube can act as a shaft, but only straight, without distortions. This is necessary for proper balance, otherwise vibration will occur, which is unacceptable.

The knives are installed on the shaft so that there is a minimum distance between them and the counter blades. This will ensure high-quality grinding of raw materials.