How to make a straw cutter with your own hands? DIY hay and straw crusher

Those who keep pets find it difficult to do without assistive devices that make their work easier.

A straw or hay chopper is one of these devices. Using such a simple device, you can prepare or chop food for pets and poultry, as well as chop straw for insulating beds.

In order to make your work easier, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on purchasing a hay chopper. Making a straw chopper with your own hands is not at all difficult. It is enough to have a few simple parts, the main one of which is an electric motor, and several buckets for receiving hay and for collecting already crushed raw materials. At the same time, a homemade straw chopper will be no worse than expensive analogues purchased in specialized stores.

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.

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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.

Recommendations from experts

A straw cutter from a barrel with your own hands is a simple design that can be made at home. The main thing is to follow the recommendations and assemble the unit in accordance with the drawing. It is recommended to first mark the metal and then carefully cut it according to the diagram. Corners, as well as pipes, must be of a certain length, which is also indicated in the drawing. After cutting them, you must thoroughly clean the cut areas.

A DIY straw cutter has certain features. The bottom must be welded to the bunker, and then the brackets. The electric motor is fixed on them. To begin with, a steel plate with pre-drilled holes is attached vertically to the brackets. Only after this can the electric motor be secured. To strengthen the structure, gussets can be welded to the sides of the slab. That's all. Now you know how to make a straw cutter with your own hands.

Materials used

Even a novice master can make a grass grinder. He will need a simple plumbing kit and materials that will probably be found in the barn. Additionally, you will need a welding machine, a grinding machine, and a drill. From the materials you need to prepare:

Electric motor, for example, the motor from a washing machine.
A small piece of pipe, preferably 25 mm in diameter or less.
Sheets of metal, 2 and 3 mm thick.
Metal sheet, 10 mm thick.
Steel plate, approximate size 25*3 cm.

Beginning craftsmen may have a question about what to make knives for chopping hay from or what to replace them with. You can replace the knives with a circular saw blade or a food processor blade.

Which motor should I get?

It is more convenient to work with old washing machines - Oka and Fairy are ideal. Top-loading barrel-shaped models with a bottom-mounted motor are easy to transport.

Expert opinion

Vladislav Ponomarev

Design engineer, inventor

A suitable motor has the following characteristics - power 180 W, engine speed 1350-1420 rpm.

Fairy models have a centrifuge, so the motor makes more revolutions, up to 2850 per minute, but the power is lower. The body is plastic and fragile. From Fairy models they take only the engine, the tank is made from an empty iron barrel, and knives are purchased additionally.

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The advantages of having a unit are obvious - the ability to process any volume of grass in a short time. A grass cutter is needed not only by gardeners, but also by owners of subsidiary farms - ground green raw materials are added to food for livestock and poultry.

Manufacturing stages

In order to start making a device for chopping straw, you need to make drawings of the future crusher indicating the dimensions. Then the metal blanks are cut to size. The further assembly process is performed in the following order.

The pipes are cut to the required size. They will be used as a support for the chopper.
A ready-made bunker is taken or made from sheet steel. A pre-made bracket is welded to it, onto which the electric motor will be mounted.
Holes are drilled in the steel plate that coincide with the mounting holes on the electric motor itself. The steel plate is attached to the bracket.
Pipe supports are attached to the straw cutter body. For a more durable structure, stiffeners are welded to them.
When the device is already stable, a pipe is attached to it by welding, through which the crushed raw materials will come out.
The straw cutter can be considered completely ready after attaching the engine and knives for chopping straw to it. Since the knives are the most important part, on the correct installation of which both the quality of the chopped grass and the safety of the worker depend, it is important to center them correctly.

With a simple set of tools, you can make a homemade shredder in one day. If you have professional tools, for example, a welding machine, then production will take only a few hours.

How the device works

Essentially, a grass cutter is a large blender equipped with knives. The chopper is constructed from a motor, connecting wiring, a container for grass and collecting raw materials, a shaft, knives and a frame.

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In order not to carry the grass to the machine, but to work “on the spot,” the grass cutter is placed on wheels.

Operating principle: the engine transmits rotation to a shaft with knives that chop the grass. The raw materials are transported to a container for chopped greens, from where the mass is removed into compost pits.