What You Can Do From A Trimmer
Snowplow. an automated mechanism designed to remove snow in open and inaccessible areas. It is represented by various modifications, differing in power parameters, the amount of energy / fuel consumed, design and others.
Garden trimmer. a gasoline / electric tool designed for mowing grass and small shrubs in the garden. The line of their production is represented by models that imply the use in manual and semi-automatic mode. The design of some devices allows them to be modified in such a way as to operate this tool as a snow removal equipment.
How to make a snow blower from a trimmer. we will tell in this article.
Benefits of a Homemade Snow Blower
The creation of a snow blower from a trimmer may be necessary if the first is available, but the second arose. Modification will allow the use of the same garden tool for various purposes.
The main advantage of a homemade snowplow is its low manufacturing cost. There is no need to purchase a specialized unit. Home-made and / or purchased components are used to reorient the tool. Not every mower is suitable for converting it into a snow blower.
Before starting this process, you should make sure of its feasibility. For this, it is necessary to evaluate the characteristics of the existing automatic braid.
Which trimmer to choose?
To make a snow blower, you need a fairly powerful unit. It can be made from trimmer or lawn mowers. Often, preference is given to the latter.. The reason for this is the technical characteristics of the first. The electric motor of such a device is designed for certain power loads. Inappropriate use can lead to its early failure.
Due to its design, a gasoline engine can operate under a wide range of loads.
An important role is played by the design of the bar, a manual mower, designed to transmit torque. Some of them are curved tubes. In such "Arc" transmission is carried out through a flexible cable. This engineering solution is not suitable for the use of the machine for snow removal.. The cable transmission will not cope with the load, which will increase significantly during the snow removal process.
A suitable trimmer design would be one that provides for direct transmission of torque from the engine to the operating unit.
In such modifications, the driving energy is transmitted through the driveshaft. It is significantly ahead of the cable equivalent in terms of technical indicators.
For making a snow blower wheel mower can be used. A model equipped with two wheels and a rotating working element located in front of it will do. A suitable mower is shown in the photo below.
The four-wheel model is not suitable for conversion into a snowplow.
Tools and materials
The set of tools necessary for making a snow blower may vary depending on the chosen path to achieve the goal. Some home-made modifications involve non-reusable use, while others are designed for continuous use.
Minimum set of tools:
- Angle Grinder;
- drill and drill;
- welding machine;
- hammer, pliers, wrenches and others.
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Angle grinder is necessary for cutting the necessary metal parts and their subsequent processing: grinding, cleaning, sharpening. Drill. for drilling holes for fasteners: bolts, rivets, clamps. An inverter will be needed to weld all structural elements together.
The list of materials:
- sheet metal (thickness varies depending on the chosen design);
- pipe segments: metal, plastic;
- bolts, nuts, washers;
- metal clamps.
From the sheets of metal the drum body, blades and cleaner bucket are formed. The pipe is necessary for the arrangement of directional snow removal. A jet is ejected through it. Fastening threaded components are needed for fastening parts of a collapsible design. Clamps can be used to attach the cleaning nozzle to the trimmer bar.
How to make?
Making a snow blower from a gas trimmer with your own hands does not imply redoing the design of the mower, but comes down only to making the nozzle. Consider an example of the simplest design of this removable element for a gas trimmer.
Before starting the workflow, it is necessary to draw up the appropriate drawings. They must take into account the dimensions of all parts and how to connect them together.
Drum body manufacturing
The drum casing is a metal cylinder whose diameter is greater than the height. The diameter and height of this “Box” determines the amount of snow that will be thrown to the side. Case should not be too big, as this may lead to overloading the trimmer motor.
A drum is made by sawing a circle of the desired diameter from a sheet of metal and welding a side to it. This rim can be made of the same sheet metal by cutting out of it a tape whose length is equal to the circumference of a circle. Welding is carried out in a spot way to avoid deformation of the workpieces due to the high heating temperature. After gripping the parts by welding to one point, the side bends along the edge of the circle, the point fastening is repeated. The result should be a kind of round "Bowl" with a side.
Its optimum diameter is 30 cm, and the side height is from 5 to 8 cm.
A hole is drilled in the center of the “Chalice” bottom, which is intended for fastening the drum to the housing of the gearbox for transmitting rotation to the trimmer shaft. The diameter of the hole is several units larger than the diameter of the shaft. their contact is excluded. The drum is fixed to the gearbox stationary. To do this, elongated nuts are welded to the gear housing or mounting holes are used in the gear housing itself, if any. Holes are drilled in the bottom of the drum, located opposite the equipped fasteners on the gearbox. Aligning the holes with the mounting points on the gearbox, you can screw the drum to the working part of the trimmer.
In order to keep the drum body firmly on the trimmer, an emphasis is welded to the back of the first. This element is a jumper connecting the drum to the tube-body of the cardan braid. The jumper is attached to the tube with a clamp.
Screw making
A disk is cut out of a sheet of metal, the diameter of which is 2 cm less than the diameter of the drum. A hole with a diameter equal to the diameter of the trimmer shaft 0.5 mm is drilled in the center of the disk. 4 blades are welded to the disk edge. Their location is crosswise.
The blades should not touch each other in the center, leaving a hole in the disk free.
Disk with blades. the screw, rotating on the shaft, should not touch the bottom of the drum body. To do this, first screw the nut onto the shaft, then put on the disk, which is fixed with another nut. The height of the first nut should be sufficient so that leaning on it, the screw is not far enough from the bottom of the drum and the caps of the bolts that attach it to the gearbox.
In the upper part of the drum (from the side of the trimmer motor) a hole is cut with a diameter equal to the diameter of the snow removal pipe. This pipe is welded to the edges of the hole, and the weld is thoroughly boiled. The snow blow must be directed away from the implement operator. The optimum angle of inclination of the pipe is selected, depending on the characteristics of the terrain in which snow will be removed. It should be sufficient so that the snow stream reaches the desired length.
Front and Bucket
The front of the drum body is half closed with a metal plate. Its fasteners should provide for the possibility of installation / removal. This is necessary in order to be able to periodically clean the drum from frozen snow and to remove the nozzle from the trimmer. To do this, “ears” with holes are welded to the drum body through which bolts can be attached to the face plate. Holes should also be made in it, located opposite the “ears” of the drum.
The bucket intended for collecting snow masses and feeding them to the screw is made of the same metal as the other parts. It is a scoop plate welded / screwed to the bottom of the snow blower body. Its front edge should be sharpened in a one-way way. This is necessary to improve incidence in frozen snow.