Introduction: How to Make a "MAD MANTIS" Weedeater Cultivator

By www.redneckgadgets.weebly.com
About: Just a normal guy trying to make it in life .Good paying job but mindless sometimes .I enjoy making things in my garage to keep my mind going .. Its fun making something new but its more fun taking something…
Well i had bought a troy bilt 4 stroke weed eater from lowes and i also bought the tiller attachment with it .Well trouble  was to use it you have to bend over to about 2 feet off the ground for it to do cultivate anything .Ouch back breaker ill tell you !! So naturally the 70 dollar attachment stayed in the shed unused until i came  up with this fairly simple idea.

Step 1: Used Weedeater

I have had this weed eater for several years now .Been very reliable and is expensive one at that too. Its a stihl  26 cc straight shaft  for bush whackin attachments .

Step 2: Tiller Attachment

This is the tiller attachment  for my  4 stroke  troybilt  weed eater that didnt get used because of bending over so far to get it to work properly.

Step 3: Disassembling

I unscrewed the motor  and the handle bars from the straight shaft weed eater

Step 4: Putting Things Together

I simply put the weedeater motor on the  tiller attachment until it bottomed out on the shaft. Then tightened up the screw.

Step 5: Making the Frame

I cut 2 pieces of 5/8 black iron pipe 4 feet long

Step 6: Drilling

I measured 4  holes to match the bolt holes on top of the tiller attachment . Drilled  4   1/4 inch holes.

Step 7: Frame Assembly

I bolted the bars on the top of the tiller attachment.

Step 8: Bending the Frame

I measured 6 inches back from the end of the pipe and made a cut on each bar so i could bend the pipe until it came up against  the back of the motor, and then welded the cuts back together.

Step 9: Frame Brace

I drilled 2 1/4 inch holes   through the pipe and into the back of the motor frame .Careful not to drill through the  fuel tank. and bolted it together for stability.

Step 10: Handle Bar Bracket

I welded a piece of inch and a half square  tubing on top of the two ends of tubing.Then welded a 1 inch nipple on top.

Step 11: Adjusting the Handle Bars.

I fitted the handle bars for comfort and there ya go . A mantis is about 3 to 4 hundred dollars . I built this for under 25 dollars. And the best part is ,when i m done with it and i want to switch it back to the expensive weedeater i can with no problems.


  Here is a link on youtube to watch it in action..      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPnwbMImxKU