How to turn a chainsaw into a lawnmower

What useful home-made items can be made of a chainsaw?

The chainsaw is very popular among home craftsmen, as it is a universal drive for original homemade designs.

Low weight and solid power combined with compact size allows you to aggregate this “logger’s dream” with an ice pick and bicycle, sawmill and winch.

Interesting homemade chainsaw can be made by anyone who is confident with a welder, angle grinder, and, if necessary, can get up to the lathe.

In this case the knowledge of fundamentals of construction and drawing will be very useful, as the accuracy of all dimensions and quality of assembly are the main conditions of the proper work of the device, powered by a chainsaw.

Without going into technical details, let’s consider variants of the most interesting designs using it.

Device

To make a lawn mower for grass, you will need to have a certain list of parts on hand. The main will be a motor from any device that is not used for some reason. Motors from small devices are unlikely to withstand the serious loads that will inevitably arise when mowing the grass. They overheat too quickly and break. And there is no point in repairing them. They often try to use motors from vacuum cleaners, but they definitely can’t do the job.

It is best to use a motor with a power of 1 kWh or more for a lawnmower.

The next element that will be needed is a knife. It must be made of durable and of maximum thickness steel. There can be several of them. A disc that is sharpened by yourself can also be suitable for this. This is the simplest and most durable option.

If we talk about the handle for the mower, it can be taken from an unnecessary wheelbarrow or an old wheelbarrow. We will also need a metal frame, on which all elements of the device will be attached. It is important that it has no traces of corrosion, and all parts are intact and undamaged.

If we cannot find a suitable frame, we can make it ourselves from metal pipes.

You’ll also need a power cord, preferably a longer one, to make your lawn mower. But this is in the case if we are interested in an electric self-made mower. We need wheels with a small diameter as well. For the unimpeded movement of self-propelled mower on the site will be enough wheels with a radius of not less than 10 centimeters.

You will also need a special protective cover, which is fixed around the cutters. It can be made from metal sheet or pick up a suitable size ready-made solution.

You will also need a protective cover to ensure the safety of the person operating the mower. In addition, it will save the cutters from stones. Depending on the necessary design features, other details can be added to the lawnmower. For example, the grass collector will allow you not to leave grass on the territory, but to collect it in a special container.

• Cloth solutions are very compact and lightweight, but require occasional washing. When the mesh begins to clog the cells, then a kind of air lock is created, which can be the cause of overheating of the motor.
• Combination solutions usually come with expensive lawnmower models, which makes them have the advantages of both categories of tanks.
• The device can also be completed with elements of a gasoline grass trimmer, if we are interested in a gasoline mower or it is made from a grass trimmer.

You have an old Druzhba or Ural chainsaw?

Here’s a clear example of folk ingenuity. Beautiful frame made of angle iron is discarded as scrap metal in the warehouse. Special wheel assemblies with 180 0 rotation on the pivot were found there. Without the frame, the platform could be welded. The outriggered power unit is designed as a belt-driven saw independently of the chainsaw. Torque is transmitted to the discs where the cutting material is 25 cm long iron chains. Lawn mower from a chainsaw with their own hands is perfectly used for a couple of years. An improved version with a rotary cutter and a two-wheeled frame is made. It is more productive, but difficult to produce.

Every craftsman takes pride in his own ingenuity and the tool’s ability to work. But it should be realized that the collective mind of designers, designers creates more versatile, but more non-hazardous tools.

The advantages of homemade tools include:

The grass mowing height is not adjustable, and not always the clearing comes out cut evenly. Lack of grass catcher increases the share of manual labor. Heavy tools with narrow wheels can ruin the appearance of the lawn. that’s an unbiased answer as to why it’s better to use industrial made tools.

General construction principles

At its heart, the lawnmower has an ingenuous device. It consists of a chassis with a handle and a mounted motor with a rotating blade. There are controls on the handle and for safety reasons the blade is covered by a protective shield.

Ready-made chassis is used. from an old baby carriage or a two-wheeled wheelbarrow. The two-wheeled version attracts maneuverability, but it does not provide such an even cut as machines on 3 or 4 wheels.

Readymade components other than the blade can also be found. This part is to be made by yourself, guided by the following description:

• The blade is a propeller with a length of 30-50 cm and a width of 2-5 cm. The metal thickness is 2 mm.
• The opposite edges of each blade are sharpened at an angle of 60 degrees (the sharper edge must be honed frequently).
• The opposite side of each blade is bent, which enables blowing of the mowing shield in order to remove the clinging grass.
• Balance the blade, otherwise runout will damage the shaft and motor.
• In the center is attached a cylinder (a flat tin can will do), which will cover the protruding part of the shaft from the engine and thus will not let the grass get wound up on it.
• Whole. Grinded from a strip of tool steel. To make it fit for machining, the hard steel is tempered by heating with a gas burner and then letting it cool slowly. After sharpening the blade, it is quenched again, and then the edges are ground.
• With removable blades. middle part of the blade is made of cheap construction steel and only the 5 cm long blade ends (this is the working part) are made of tool steel. Parts are bolted together.

Auto crafts

Homemade cars, tractors, all-terrain vehicles and ATVs

Homemade rotary haymower made of Druzhba chainsaw: photo of self-made construction.

People craftsmen have long found a lot of applications for old Soviet-made chainsaws, they are used to make. mopeds, buggies, go-carts, snowmobiles and other homemade things. But one hobbyist went even further and made an original rotary mower out of a chainsaw.

The construction of this home-made mower is quite simple: the frame is welded from a square tube, and the wheels are from a cart. On the frame there is a motor with a gearbox from a chainsaw.

The gearbox shaft has a pulley with two spokes. From the gearbox pulley two wedge-shaped belts run to the pulleys of the mower hubs’ shafts.

And one of the pulleys is placed a little higher in relation to the other.

The cutting of the grass itself is made by rotation of two rotors, each rotor has chains fixed on it, which at high speed cut the grass.

The grass mowing height is adjusted by a lever mechanism that raises part of the frame with the rotors.

This is the original home-made rotary mower made by a craftsman from a chainsaw.

Step by step instructions for assembly

Depending on the starting materials for the electric lawnmower, these steps will differ. One of the most common options is to assemble a mower from an old washing machine. It will be useful to consider the step-by-step instructions on how to build such a machine.

The actions should take place in this sequence:

• Making a frame or spars for the engine of the future structure. It must be made of metal or steel sheet 500 by 500 millimeters.
• In the central part of the sheet should be drilled a hole under the shaft of an electric motor.
• From the bottom of the metal sheet (members) the perimeter corners are welded on. And they can also be bolted down. Then you need to install the wheels. The blades can be made of plywood or wood, or can be lifted from old appliances. They are placed on the shaft (metal axis).
• After that, you need to fix the motor on the platform. To do this, it should either be welded to the pre-mounted metal corners, or drill holes for the existing holes in the motor itself, and then bolt it down.
• Next, you need to install a handle to control the construction.
• Under the platform is mounted a protective cover for the control.
• Metal blade is installed (homemade or pre-made). It is mounted on the motor shaft.
• To protect the motor from the grass it is necessary to install a can on its shaft.

All mechanical parts are assembled. Next, you need to proceed to the electrical circuit design.

The tank for collecting the grass should be installed at the very end. It is made in the form of a box or bag.

Covering the blades with a blade guard is a must, as it will increase safety during work. Such protection should be done for the motor to avoid the entry of debris and its durability, as well as durability.

Garden equipment with their own hands. a lawn mower from a chainsaw with his own hands

Lawn mower is necessary for everyone who wants to give his plot an attractive and well-groomed appearance.

But it is not necessary to spend money to buy the factory apparatus: under this case it is quite possible to adapt a chainsaw, only it will be necessary to make a few additional parts.

How to make a lawn mower from a chainsaw with your own hands. about this

Some craftsmen categorically do not recommend taking the engine from a vacuum cleaner, because it quickly overheats, and in this case advise the engine from a chainsaw or angle grinder. To fight with the overheating of the engine helps to have a proper cover with holes or from a frequent metal mesh. The disadvantage of homemade mowers is the inability to regulate the height of the blade. Although, if desired and skilled, this disadvantage can be coped with.

Use high quality steel to keep the blade happy and to blunt it as seldom as possible. To save the shaft of the engine from damage, the blade should be sharpened unevenly. make it sharp to the edge and not touch it in the place of contact with the shaft, because the grass near the place where the blade and the shaft are attached is still badly cut, and rather gets mashed and twisted on the blade. Would greatly improve the homemade mower additional options. adjustable handle length, safety bumpers that do not allow the blade to contact the ground or a grass catcher for mowed grass.

Safety precautions

A lawn mower is a traumatic device, and a homemade one in particular. For safety reasons, mowing should be carried out in accordance with these rules:

• Closed shoes and long pants.
• Protect your eyes with goggles.
• Children and animals must be kept at a safe distance from the mower. It is 30 m (the knife can throw a stone or branch).
• Work only in plenty of light.
• A powered lawnmower must not be used on a wet lawn.
• Do not walk away from the unit without turning it off.
• Only service, clean and repair with the engine off.
• Do not mow up and down the slope but across the top of the lawn on uneven terrain.