I'm always building something.
The latest -
A light duty flail mower.
....
It is essentially a steel box - with a 6.5 hp single cylinder 4 stroke engine sitting on top - driving a chain through a centrifugal clutch - to a 2.5 foot shaft that is inside the box - horizontal to the ground. This shaft has holes drilled through (1/4 inch) every two inches along the shaft (each perpendicular to the last) with a set screw perpendicular to the the 1/4 inch hole.
In each of these hole is a 14 inch cable - with 1/2 inch steel tubing brazed onto the ends of the cable. This prevents the cable from fraying out.
When the engine is started - the chain drives the shaft. At full throttle with the reduction gearing - the shaft turns at about 1800 rpm. The cable ends are traveling at about 140 mph.
They destroy plant matter. Small trees (3/4 inch and smaller) get turned into confetti.
I did initial testing (mounted on the front of my Honda Fourtrax quad bike) with plastic weed whacker line - and it worked well - but the line life was about 1 hour at best.
I ran the shit out of it today with the steel cable. Protective gear - long sleeves, heavy pants - dust mask - safety glasses and a full face shield and gloves are a must.
Shit flies everywhere.
You can hit a stump (I did, several times) and nothing breaks. It just grinds off chunks.
I cleared about 1/4 mile of the property line.....
....
Much fun.
The latest -
A light duty flail mower.
....
It is essentially a steel box - with a 6.5 hp single cylinder 4 stroke engine sitting on top - driving a chain through a centrifugal clutch - to a 2.5 foot shaft that is inside the box - horizontal to the ground. This shaft has holes drilled through (1/4 inch) every two inches along the shaft (each perpendicular to the last) with a set screw perpendicular to the the 1/4 inch hole.
In each of these hole is a 14 inch cable - with 1/2 inch steel tubing brazed onto the ends of the cable. This prevents the cable from fraying out.
When the engine is started - the chain drives the shaft. At full throttle with the reduction gearing - the shaft turns at about 1800 rpm. The cable ends are traveling at about 140 mph.
They destroy plant matter. Small trees (3/4 inch and smaller) get turned into confetti.
I did initial testing (mounted on the front of my Honda Fourtrax quad bike) with plastic weed whacker line - and it worked well - but the line life was about 1 hour at best.
I ran the shit out of it today with the steel cable. Protective gear - long sleeves, heavy pants - dust mask - safety glasses and a full face shield and gloves are a must.
Shit flies everywhere.
You can hit a stump (I did, several times) and nothing breaks. It just grinds off chunks.
I cleared about 1/4 mile of the property line.....
....
Much fun.
