Electric Lawn Mower

Introduction

I have a small lawn in front of my house, which is a rarity in Indian houses. Ranaghat, where I live, is a suburban town in the state of West Bengal in Eastern India. I needed a lawn mower, and found that it would cost me around Rs.5000 (USD 120) to get one from the city. Hence I took recourse of some available machines and material at home and came up with a neat little design of an electric lawn-mower.The cost of the project was slightly less than Rs 1000 (USD 23), much less than what I would have had to spend to buy one.

Step 1: The Blade

The blade is a rectangular piece of iron. I got it cut out of an old hand saw (used by carpenters) that I had, and sharpened the edges at a workshop, and bored a hole in its centre. Through this will pass a bolt.

Comments

[Datawolf]

A friend of mine broke a window while mowing.
Can you imagine how your mower is DANGEROUS ?

[germeten]

You could use a wooden hub in the drill with bits of cable, for a blade, much safer. The front wheel could be on a caster, for better maneuverability. I admire your creative audacity.

[jbaker22]

You will get a lot better reviews if you go to a junk yard or lawn mower repair shop and put it on the body of a broken mower. $10 bucks can save a limb and make you more popular.:)

[robbtoberfest]

I love it. Does it actually cut grass? I would think the RPM and torque wouldn't be high enough.

[susanta]

Well, I really did not get down to mechanical power of the system and specifics such as torque and RPM when designing it. But it works fine for my lawn , yes it does cut grass :-)

[unpro]

I tried this, took an aluminium ruler, drilled hole and sharpen it up. Tried to POC on my el-cheapo drill (rated 3000rpm, but I thin it's a lot slower than that) Vibrates like crazy (maybe hole not centered) Doesn't cut anything. Sharpen aluminium ruler cuts my finger, fruits and what not. I noticed standard comercial grass trimmer do about 5k rpm, how fast does your drill spins?

[simonrafferty]

I think this is brilliant!  No more complicated than it needs to be.
As for adding guards - I'm a believer in 'risk compensation'  If it looks like it will mangle your toes and kill you - you'll be more careful with it than if it looks all cuddly and safe.  As a result, making a dangerous thing look safe may in fact make it more dangerous!
Imagine how carefully you'd drive your car if there was a big spike sticking out of the steering wheel!

[PikminRed]

Especially if there was still an airbag there. Hehe

[kiwiman64]

Oh man that is ghetto! Very cool dude.

[tchang2010]

can it actually cut the grass? i feel like the drill is not fast enough to make the cut.

[Wesley666]

It only cost me 23 dollars US said the man missing a foot.

[rhoula]

That was extremely funny man. I couldn't stop laughing. But over all its a great Instructable.

[Wesley666]

Yay but he should add a step for a blade guard though...

[twhaley]

This instructable has changed my life, thank you.

[octopuscabbage]

Have you actually tried it? im curious on the saftey/effectiveness of it.

[luvit]

i gave you 5 stars because you still have 10 toes. perfectly safe!

[faithblinded]

Get yourself a round steel cakepan and make a guard for that thing!!!or a cast iron pan with the handle cut off!

[kuhldad]

Creative use of available materials, but it looks EXTREMELY dangerous. I agree with previous posters; this needs some safety guards.

[lazzer r1]

lol! This is bloody brilliant! You are a genius! I'm going to make one of these if only for the comedy value.

[shevekm]

Couldn't help but to laugh out loud when I saw the picture. I respect your idea, but c'mon.

[stringstretcher]

Could one replace the metal blade with a short length of fishing line for safety... like the weed trimmers use? This was basically how that device came to be. He used a vacuum cleaner motor and an orange juice can, I believe. Wear glasses.

[nibbler125]

that looks like something bad just waiting to happen without a guard. also couldent you just use a normal lawn mower blade?

[Grey_Wolfe]

I congratulate your cleverness. I think I will fave this, it gives me an idea for making a weed eater, but with the same basic components. I like the homemade wheels too. lol

[Grey_Wolfe]

And, I forgot to mention. . . . . . a lot more safety features.

[John Smith]

thats cool. Now make a wider one, with three drills, and some way to push it. thats cool

[Grey_Wolfe]

I don't think he has that much lawn. lol

[osgeld]

its already been said but ill say it again in your photo you have a exposed high rpm sharpened chunk of metal, right next to your bare feet i dont know how responsive the ems teams are where you live, i wouldnt want to find out the hard, chop up a garbage can or something to put around that thing please

[carpespasm]

That's not a bad idea actually. I bet a garbage can would make a bang-up blade guard as long as you leave it enough clearance to let it bow inward however much it might without striking the blade. The alternative I can think of is to just attach a handle and push it the other way around with the middle wheel in the back so you keep the blade away from you and more guarded by the frame.

[Grey_Wolfe]

Even then there should be a guard all the way around. You still have the threat of high velocity shrapnel should it strike something hard.

[altomic]

I have been thinking of doing a similar machine using a cordless drill. and chain driven for extra blades. and a usb charger. with LEDs and kneckt machine gun on the front and now i'm being silly. cool instructable. at least the neighbours won't shoot you early sunday morning. wait ,you don't live in america.

[Grey_Wolfe]

A USB charger on any reasonably powered cordless drill would take till the end of time to charge. lol I was thinking of using this idea with an aluminum tube and a bit extender. Add a flex bit and set the head at a thirty degree angle. Attach guard to tube, and tah-dah, cordless weed eater. (with cordless drill, of coarse) Was going to make drill easily removable, so as to not have to buy an extra one. Figured could probably keep this under 5 dollars US. Let me know what you think.

[dldeskins]

OK, how long would it take me to cut my 1.2 acres? How long of an extension cord would I need?

[bob.smitty]

Two months, eleven days, four hours and twentyeight minutes. your extension cord should be 208.5 feet long, probably gauge 12. if i were you, i'd not build this toe mangler and spend the bucks on a ride on lawnmower. at the end of the day, the $3000 mower is cheaper than the ambulance ride, the surgery, the rehabilitation therapy, artificial leg, extension cord, drill and angle iron. Guaranteed.

[Grey_Wolfe]

Bob wins for posting creative figures... ...and on my mom's birthday, as well.

[carpespasm]

depends on the shape of your acreage and how thick the grass is I guess.

[plane phanatic]

Great alternative to fossil fuels. It's always great to see people who care about the environment (or want to save money on rising gas prices. ) Great Job! 5/5 stars

[susanta]

Indeed. My country, India, is a big contributor to global warming and hence climate change. We are terribly populated, consume a lot and waste too much, and on top of that, poor. We really need to re-think our way of life.

[Grey_Wolfe]

Sadly, we in America take the cake on pollution production. But then, with 6% of the worlds population, we produce 60% of the waste each day. Yea for idiocy. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of the country I live in. We just have too many people that find waste more profitable. Too few of us see the bigger picture.

[bob.smitty]

i agree, and i'm happy to see you've started to reduce waste by eliminating the need for shoes. Great job!

[Grey_Wolfe]

LOL!