Topic: my D.I.Y petrol shredder

[nilly71]

I decided to build a petrol shredder for the allotment  ;D Its not completly finnished but i run out of time Sunday.

I bought a second hand petrol lawnmower of ebay and used the tumble dryer drum i had over there (As it's getting warmer now i don't need it for a firepit anymore).

First i took the lawnmower engine of its base.


Then i started making a hole in the base of the tumble dryer drum.(a club hammer and scaffold pole offcut done the job)


Next i mounted the engine and bolted it in place and put the blade back on.


A hammer and nail was used to make the hole for the input chute.


The nearly finnished shredder.


This is a half bucket of semi-shredded leaves after the first attempt that was original full. You can see the shredded leaves on the blue plastic.
.

I found that some whole leaves made it past the blades, so i mounted some mesh with 10-12mm holes about 2" below the blades.
Now all the leaves get shredded into tiny peices.

I just need to makes an encloser to raise it off the ground and hide the engine and a tee shape pusher to get the leaves down the chute.

It cost a total of £38 to make. ;D

Neil

[simmo116]

can you come and make me one?....lol

[SPUDLY]

Excellent stuff! very ingenious 8)

[tonybloke]

who's been watching utube?  ;)

[lewic]

Ooh a man after my own heart!  :-* Looks like a giant one of these

[lushy86]

Wow, impressive stuff - v scrapheap challenge  ;D ;D

Lushy x

[nilly71]

Thanks for all the replies :)

who's been watching utube?  ;)

I've not seen a lawnmower one, only a strimmer conversion. I bought a petrol strimmer to make one but thought a lawnmower would be easier and shred more than a strimmer.

Neil

[Mr Smith]

Nilly,
         British ingenuity at its best well done, now thats my next project, :)

       Just had a look on 'You Tube' and I think I will go for the hole in the mower option,

[Old bird]

Being female - and fifty! 

Gosh that looks great but also very dangerous!

Please take care - we don't want to see the news and see "allotment holder shreds himself!"

Cautious Old Bird!!

 :o :o :o

[misfit]

nice job  8)

must write in to top gear and see if they can make one out of there v8 engine, that would be able to shred tree trunks  ;D ;D

[chriscross1966]

Does anyone have the link for the strimmer conversion shredder?..... if not I might have to design one....

[Baccy Man]

Along similar lines.

http://www.aaroncake.net/projects/mulcher.htm

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1984-03-01/Build-a-Commonsense-Compost-Shredder.aspx

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wildflower-Seed-Processor--Leaf-Shredder/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Gas-Powered-Shredder/

[nilly71]

Being female - and fifty! 

Gosh that looks great but also very dangerous!

Please take care - we don't want to see the news and see "allotment holder shreds himself!"

Cautious Old Bird!

 :o :o :o

The chute is long enough that the kids can't get their hands deep enough(just incase :-\ they try) and as i have said earlier, i'm going to make a push stick in the shape of a T so i won't go to deep. If it was to fall over, then it's all enclosed.
But i will be modifying it at some point so that it would be easier to clean.

The instructables link is the one i had seen origanaly for a strimmer conversion, but looked like to much hard work with no/very little tools at the plot.

The other way i was thinking of making it was to leave the mower as it was, just taking the wheels off and mount it onto a slanted platform with one end raised about 2" inches. The leaves and stuff could be fed into the 2" gap and would come out at the other end. I decided not to do it this way as it would take up to much room and if the local yobs got over the plot, it would be to tempting for them to mess about with.

Mine will be enclosed, so it will look like a wooden box or if i'm feeling adventures it could look like a beehive :)

Neil

[Mr Smith]

Just picked up a rotary petrol mower off e-bay for a tenner, just right for mi shredder after I have chopped it about, :)

[nilly71]

Great, make sure you keep us updated ;D

I have changed the design of mine because i could not clean it after putting through the cabbage leaves and a couple of days later it stunk. :-X

The new design is made of wood and has the top (with the blade) hinged for easy cleaning and removal of blade. A door at the front big enough for a waste bin to fit.

I have only done the top so far, wood is so much harder to work with when i my drill died, at least with metal i could use hamer and nails.

Neil

[Mr Smith]

I also intend to build mine out of timber, I have a couple of designs one will incorporate my wheel barrow which I could place below the blades and shred directly into it, the other could be a large plastic box on runners beneath the blades which again I will shred into it and just pull out and tip the waste into my compo bins, :)

[Mr Smith]

When I did the jobs to the rotary mower to get it going, repaired the throttle handle replaced the pull cord cleaned the air filter replaced the spark plug changed the oil, still dead, I then removed the top cover and cleaned the points and armature which had rust everywhere because the bloody thing had been left outside all winter, gave them a clean  and YIPPEEEE it fired first time, its just a shame to cut it up for a shredder, ;D :) 

[siandc]

When I did the jobs to the rotary mower to get it going, repaired the throttle handle replaced the pull cord cleaned the air filter replaced the spark plug changed the oil, still dead, I then removed the top cover and cleaned the points and armature which had rust everywhere because the bloody thing had been left outside all winter, gave them a clean  and YIPPEEEE it fired first time, its just a shame to cut it up for a shredder, ;D :) 

Sell the shredder for £20 and buy 2 mowers!  ;)

[northener]

As my mother used to say "for gods sake Neil be careful" Northener(Neil)

[nilly71]

I built a potting bench yesterday and will be building the shredder into it at some point, so it will be even safer ;)

Neil