Hay chopping. Household straw chopper for a private farmstead. Working principle and standard model

A hay cutter or straw cutter is an indispensable unit in subsidiary plot. With its help, you can quickly and easily chop hay for poultry or young animals, as well as grind straw for insulating beds or winter roads, and making briquettes for heating. Making a hay chopper yourself is not difficult, but practicality and functionality homemade apparatus will not be inferior to store-bought counterparts.

The simplest hay and straw chopper is made from a regular vacuum cleaner. An ordinary plastic or aluminum bucket serves as a working chamber into which raw materials are placed, and then a knife mounted on a rotating shaft is lowered. You can make such a device in a few minutes, but it has one significant drawback: low productivity and impracticality. If the number of poultry or livestock is large, you will need a more reliable hay crusher.

The working unit is the most important part of the straw chopper. It consists of a steel hopper with knives inside. The knives are attached to the engine axis with a special axis. Usually the bunker is made in the shape of a cylinder, and for greater safety the walls are left high. You can do it with short walls, but then equip the device with a lid.

Main components of the straw chopper:

Working chamber with lid,
Support,
Motor,
gain strip,
Knives or cutting disc,
Receiver of raw materials.

Materials

The hay cutting machine is assembled at home with your own hands from materials available to everyone. And its production does not require special technical skills. To make a hay chopper with your own hands, you need to have a mechanic's kit, a welding machine, a drill and a grinding machine. The materials needed are:

Motor (an electric motor from washing machine),
Sheet of metal, with a thickness of about two millimeters,
A sheet of metal, about three millimeters thick,
Steel sheet, ten millimeters thick,
Pipe cut (do not use a diameter larger than 25 mm),
A strip of metal, 3 mm wide, 25 mm long.

Manufacturing

Instead of knives, you can take a disk from circular saw or powerful food processor. A barrel or a piece of pipe with a diameter of at least thirty centimeters is well suited to serve as the body of the device.

Before making a straw chopper with your own hands, it is advisable to find clear and detailed drawings of the device on the Internet. They will help prevent errors in the location of parts and fastening. Manufacturing begins by marking and cutting out a blank from a section of pipe. An additional bottom is attached to the resulting container by welding, and a holder for the motor is already attached to it. Several holes are pre-drilled into the steel sheet to simplify the process of mounting the motor. A do-it-yourself straw cutter made from a pipe will be stronger if metal corner gussets are welded to the sides. A container for the already crushed product is attached to the bottom. Only after this the engine is installed. It is attached to steel sheet, and is placed on the axle and securely fixed cutting knives or disks

Last point: mounted electrical cable and a power switch, as well as a cover and an indicator light. The device is ready for use.

A simpler and less powerful hay chopper can be made with your own hands from a regular washing machine. In addition to the machine, you also need:

Knives or cutting disc,
Electric wire,
Bucket,
Metal corner,
Fasteners,
Locksmith kit.

A little advice: if you plan to chop not only hay and straw, but also tree branches, then it is better to use an additional gasoline engine.

How to assemble the device

A small rectangular cutout measuring approximately 20 by 7 cm is cut out at the bottom of the body. Its perimeter is sheathed with metal plates for greater strength. A stand is made from the corner. The height of the stand depends on what is planned to be used as a receiver of crushed raw materials. For buckets, the stand is made higher than for boxes.

To attach the motor, two small holes are made on the shaft, after which a threaded bushing is installed on it. The engine is mounted on a shaft, and the entire structure is attached to the bottom of the tank with metal pins. After this they put it on the shaft cutting discs or knives. It is very important to choose the size of the disks so that they do not come into contact with the walls of the working chamber.

Before connecting the motor to the cable, you need to decide on the working and starting windings of the electric motor itself. This is easy to do with the help of a special tester: the working winding has less resistance than the starting winding. The engine is connected like this:

One of the ends of the starting winding is connected to the start toggle switch,
The other end is connected to the main wire and the working winding,
The free end of the working winding is connected to the main wire and the wiring from the start toggle switch.
The hay chopper is ready.

It just so happens that the owner of a private farm constantly requires various devices and small-scale mechanization equipment, including a straw cutter. Of course, such units different designs and performance are available for sale, there is plenty to choose from. But it’s much cheaper to make a straw chopper yourself, especially since the unit’s design is primitively simple. In this article you will find tips on how to make it in the easiest way.

Straw chopper design

A homely owner who has land plot, and in addition there are different living creatures, he himself knows perfectly well why such a machine is needed. We will only add one more area of application to the list: you can chop hay and straw to make fuel briquettes at home. If someone is planning such a thing, then you can’t do it without a straw cutter; try cutting or chopping this amount of straw by hand.

Home craftsmen have adapted to making various handicraft straw choppers from old pumps and vacuum cleaners. The principle of their operation is the same as that of knives mounted on a rod rotated by an electric drill. The hopper is an ordinary old bucket, into which grass or straw is placed, after which rotating knives are lowered into it and thus chopping occurs. Descriptions of such devices are easy to find on the Internet.

Only these mechanized cutting tools are too inefficient and impractical, and are only suitable for preparing food for a dozen rabbits. For the production of briquettes or other purposes when you need to process a lot of raw materials, you will need a reliable homemade shredder straw with sufficient power and productivity. This is exactly what we will make.

The heart of any straw cutter is the working unit, which is a metal hopper with sharp knives rotating inside. The latter are rigidly fixed to a steel disk, which is mounted on the axis of the electric motor. The hopper is cylindrical in shape and, for safety reasons, is made high so that you cannot accidentally touch the knives with your hands when loading straw. At the bottom of the bunker there is a pipe for discharging chopped straw; for convenience it is inclined.

Note. Some craftsmen make a bunker of small height, but with a lid where a small hole is made for loading raw materials.

The bunker rests on a tripod of such a height that an electric motor attached to its bottom by means of a plate fits underneath. Detailed drawing straw chopper is shown in the picture:

1 – bunker; 2 – cover; 3 – tripod support; 4 – electric motor; 5 – engine mounting plate; 6 – control panel; 7 – amplification band; 8 – control buttons; 9 – outlet pipe; 10 – engine mounting bracket; 11 – thrust bearing; 12 – scarf; 13 – lamp – indicator; 14 – disk with knives; 15 – faceplate; 16 – rubber gasket; 17 – jumper; 18 – M5 bolt (8 pcs.); 19 – scraper; 21 – hinges for the lid.

Note. A disk with knives is a part that is quite difficult to manufacture. Therefore, the design of the knives can be arbitrary, as long as your product is well balanced and does not cause the entire machine to shake from vibration.

The operation of the device is simple. By turning on the electric motor with the button and opening the lid, straw is loaded into the hopper. The finished chaff flies out of the side pipe; it is worth using some kind of container to catch it. Plastic will do a barrel with a hole cut out on the side, then the straw will not fly away in all directions.

Tools and materials

The tool kit you will need is a regular locksmith kit, which is available to every thrifty owner. In addition, you need a welding machine, angle grinding machine and a drill. As for materials, we will present a list provided for by this design, and you can use the metal available on the farm. So, to make a household shredder, you will need:

single or three-phase electric motor at 1500 rpm;
sheet metal 2 mm thick - for the cover and lintel;
the same, 3 mm thick - for the hopper, pipe, gussets and thrust bearings;
metal 5 mm thick for the bracket;
steel plate 10 mm thick;
pipe Ø25 mm or similar angles - on supports;
metal strip 25 x 3 mm - for reinforcement.

Knives are made from high-quality carbon steel, for example, St45 or cut from an old circular saw, or from hacksaw blades metal-cutting machines. Piece of pipe Ø300 mm or old barrel can save you from unnecessary work on making the machine body. To make connections you need electrodes and bolts with nuts.

Advice. If you have an electric motor on your farm with a speed of over 2000, then it is extremely undesirable to directly install knives on its shaft. It’s better to spend more time, but make a more powerful machine with a belt drive; it will be possible not only to chop straw, but even to crush branches and root crops. The diagram below shows the structure of a straw chopper with a decrease in speed and an increase in power:

The metal must be marked and the blanks cut out in accordance with the drawing. Cut pipes and angles to the required length and clean them. The bottom is welded to the bunker, and to it is a bracket for attaching the electric motor. The steel plate is attached vertically to the bracket; first you need to make holes in it that coincide with the mating part of the engine. To strengthen it, gussets are welded to the side of the slab.

The supports are attached to the body at an angle, and gussets are also welded to them, playing the role of stiffeners. When the straw chopper, made by yourself, is already standing on supports, a chaff ejection pipe is attached to it. Then the electric motor is bolted to the plate, and knives are mounted on its axis and securely fixed. IN last resort the cover is attached and the electrical part is installed.

It is not at all necessary to repeat the design presented in the article. The main thing is to correctly manufacture the working unit with knives, and adapt it to it electric drive you can do anything in a convenient way. Just remember that the speed of the cutting shaft shaft should be within 2000 rpm. And then, if the span of the knives is no larger than those shown in the drawing. Otherwise, the machine will become a source of increased danger.

Conclusion

If you have all the tools and materials, you can make such a useful shredder with your own hands within one day. Especially when you have good plumbing and welding work. But even if the work takes much more time, it will save you money, and this is important.

Small farmers and village residents who own their own farms often have to use everyday life various mechanisms that facilitate this or that work.

Such devices include a hay and straw chopper - a straw cutter.

Such devices can be easily purchased in specialized stores, choosing from a wide range. But it will be much cheaper to make a straw crusher with your own hands, due to its very simple internal device. Before talking about manufacturing, you need to understand what it consists of.

Device

Many craftsmen, creating various kinds homemade mechanisms for cutting straw have adapted to use old pumps or vacuum cleaners.

The way they work looks like this: the knives are attached to a rotating rod, which rotates due to a motor. The bunker into which hay or straw is poured is an ordinary bucket. After entering it, the rotating knives grind all components to the required size.

But this kind of mechanized cutting equipment has a very low level of productivity, which is why it is only suitable for preparing food for one or two dozen rabbits.

When is it necessary to organize a study? large quantity raw materials, a crusher will be required more power and, accordingly, having greater productivity.

The main thing in all such mechanisms that determines productivity is the working unit itself. This is a special metal container containing rotating sharp knives, firmly mounted on a steel disk extending from the axis of the electric motor.

For safety, so that during the processing of raw materials a person does not accidentally touch the moving knives, the hopper is made high and cylindrical in shape. The lower part is inclined and there is a special pipe in it, where the crushed products are released.

Expert advice: you can make a version of the bunker that has a small height, but a lid will be attached to the top, in which a hole will already be made for the safe loading of straw when the device is running.

The tripod must be of such a height that the electric motor, which is attached to the bottom using a plate, can fit under the bunker located on it.

The operation of such a device is quite simple. After turning on the electric motor, straw begins to be poured into the bunker, where it is cut. The finished chaff will come out of the side pipe.

To prevent it from scattering in different directions, it is worth preparing a special container for collection. For this purpose, it is good to use a plastic barrel with a hole cut on the side to receive chopped straw or hay.

Tools and materials

To carry out such work you will need the following tools:

a standard plumbing kit that every good owner has;
good grinder;
drill;
welding machine.

But the materials will be listed as approximate, since in each case different options can be used:

an electric motor with a speed not exceeding 2000 per minute so that the device does not pose a danger to others during operation;
sheet metal with a thickness of 2 to 3 mm, which will be used to create all the main elements of the bunker;
to create a bracket you will need metal 5 mm thick;
pipe with a diameter of 25 mm for support;
to create amplification, a strip measuring 25 by 3 mm is required;
10 mm steel plate.

Stages and nuances of manufacturing

The first thing that needs to be done is the drawings of the future straw crusher, according to which markings will be made, and cut out metal blanks.

The pipes must also be adjusted to the required length.
After this, the bottom needs to be welded to the bunker, and the bracket for the electric motor is mounted to it.
Now we make holes in the steel plate so that they coincide with the corresponding part of the engine, and fasten it vertically to the bracket.
The supports must be secured at an angle to the body, onto which the stiffening ribs are then welded.
After installing the straw cutter on the supports, a pipe for chaff ejection is installed.
When the main structure is ready, the electric motor itself is bolted and the knives are very securely mounted on the axis; the safety of the device will depend on this. A disc with knives is a very complex part. That is why in homemade devices she might be free form, the main thing is that it fulfills its main function, and at the same time it is balanced.

Important point: if there is an imbalance in the blade disk, the entire structure will shake and it will be very difficult to use.

Having everything necessary tools and materials, you can make a high-quality straw chopper with your own hands in just one day.

And if you have plumbing skills and you know how to handle welding machine, all stages of work to create such a mechanism will not be difficult. By creating a straw cutter with your own hands, you will significantly save your money.

Watch the video in which an experienced user shows in detail the structure and operating features of a homemade hay and straw chopper:

A straw cutter often becomes a reliable assistant for the owner of a large farm. Today there is large selection units that differ in size and shape. Below we will look at what parts a hay and straw chopper consists of, and how to make such a unit with your own hands.

Hay chopper - equipment design

All straw crushers have a similar design and consist of the same elements. The difference between them is only in size and shape. Let's look at the device using the KR 02 model as an example. The design of this household unit includes:

The electric motor is the main part that powers the entire structure. The characteristics of the motor directly depend on the purpose of the crusher. For industrial purposes they use large powerful engines, while for domestic purposes a medium-sized and low power. The main thing is that the engine speed does not exceed 2 thousand rpm;
Bunker for supplying hay and straw. The dimensions of the hopper also depend on the applications of the shredder;
Metal plate to accommodate the motor;
The bracket for mounting the motor is a part that holds the motor and absorbs its vibration;
Supports for installing the chopper on workplace– this is a kind of tripod that should hold the structure motionless;
Knives and shaft are parts for directly cutting straw and hay;
Unloading mechanism - this element has the form of a side pipe, which is attached to the structure body for supplying processed raw materials.

Both industrial and household straw roll shredders are equipped with a separate hopper, which contains chaff and other waste.

All hay crushers work on the same principle. To begin, the device is connected to the mains. After this, raw materials are fed into the loading hopper, which, falling on the knives, is crushed, and enters the receiving hopper. All unground hay exits through the side hole into the waste container.

Tools and procedure for assembling a homemade chopper

Before constructing a straw cutter, you must carefully read the design drawings. With the help of a correctly drawn up diagram, you can figure out the dimensions of the parts and the location of their installation.

All metal components of the device must be made of sheet steel with a diameter of no more than 3 mm. To make the bracket, thicker metal should be used. Other parts of straw cutters for private farmsteads should be used:

The electric motor can be taken from any household appliance;
200 liter iron barrel, which will play the role of a loading hopper;
Several metal sheets welded into one area, at least 3 mm thick;
3 metal pipes, with a diameter of 2.5 cm - they will serve as a support for the structure;
Food processor knives that will need sharpening;
Shaft - taken from any unnecessary equipment. The main thing is that it is smooth and properly balanced. Otherwise, the structure will vibrate and shake violently.

Can be used as an unloading device plastic pipe, which will be attached to the side of the barrel for loading. In this case, one hole is made in both the barrel and the pipe. The pipe must be installed so that its hole coincides with the hole in the barrel.

To make a hay grinder into flour, you will need certain tools:

Grinding machine;
Drill;
Welding apparatus;
Standard set for metalwork.

Having prepared everything you need, you can make a straw cutter without any problems. Unlike simple hand-designed, it will require a minimum of effort from you, and will process raw materials much faster and more efficiently.

How to make a straw cutter with your own hands - detailed description

The working unit of the product is a container welded from metal, inside of which a disk with sharp knives is installed. The disk itself must be securely fastened to the shaft of the electric motor. The bottom is welded to the body of the device, which also acts as a loading container, and a bracket is installed below it.

Metal supports are attached to the bracket, which can be equipped with gussets that will give the supports the necessary rigidity. Next, you will need to weld the unloading mechanism to the body.

The electric motor is mounted to a steel plate using self-tapping screws and bolts. This way, your homemade hay chopper will produce minimal vibration. A disk with welded knives must be mounted on the motor axis.

Make life easier for those involved agriculture, is possible using special devices. One of them is a straw chopper, which can be used both to prepare bedding or feed, and to create a fertilizer mixture. You can purchase it at a specialty store or make it yourself.

Hay is universal material for making:

animal bedding;
covering material for different crops;
fertilizers

You can grind it to the smallest pieces either manually or using a special machine. The crusher has a fairly compact size and can be stored even in the smallest outbuilding. If you have minimal repair skills household appliances, then it’s worth making a homemade shredder. It will help you save a lot of money, since prices for agricultural equipment in stores are extremely high. During preparatory work you will need to study diagrams and drawings various models crushers for hay or straw.

Do-it-yourself straw chopper works according to elementary principle: on a rod that rotates due to the operation of a motor, there are knives that crush the plant material into small pieces. Such a mechanism is placed in a large cylindrical tank, bucket or old vacuum cleaners. The larger the capacity, the more knives will be required. Unlike machines made industrially, self-assembled crushers have low productivity. However, for those who keep 10-15 rabbits, this chopper will be enough.

Important! Try to build not only a productive machine, but also a safe one. To do this, cover the working hopper with a lid with a loading hatch.

At the bottom of the body, make an inclined pipe for supply finished products. So that you can place a container under the crushing hopper to receive the finished product, install the device on a tripod. Its height should be such that you have access to the upper part, and from below you can easily place a bucket or basin.

The great advantage of homemade crushers is that you can assemble them according to your own parameters, that is, place the hopper on comfortable height and make it the most suitable volume.

Materials

What do you need to make your own hay and straw chopper?

To begin, try to depict all the parts of the crushing device in the drawing. This will help you visualize where and how the parts of the mechanism will be located. To assemble it you will need to have on hand:

finished electric motor;
container for plant raw materials (can be ready-made or welded to the required dimensions);
a lid that securely covers the working hopper;
a steel plate one centimeter thick, which will serve as a platform for the engine;
sheet metal for the manufacture of supports and other elements, its thickness should be about 3 millimeters;
bracket holding the motor;
shaft and knives of different sizes;
side pipe.

The most important part of the device is the electric motor. It is selected according to parameters based on the volume of the tank for grinding plant materials. The more mass that can be loaded into the device at one time, the more powerful the motor is needed. If the basis for the grinding container will be regular barrel, then an engine with a power of 2.2 to 5.5 kilowatts can grind a batch of hay in it.

Important! Another motor parameter that needs to be taken into account is the speed of rotation. It should be about 1500 rpm, but do not buy motors with speeds above 2000 rpm, as the design of the crusher will be unsafe.

For small crushers experienced craftsmen take the motor from the drill along with the housing. You can also find options with motors from Soviet-made vacuum cleaners, pumps and other devices. The power unit must be connected to the shaft so that it can spin it. This must be done before installing the motor in the work hopper. Use only a balanced shaft to prevent the device from shaking during operation. You will need to secure the knives on it so that the distance between them and the counter blades is minimal.

How to assemble a straw chopper

Assembly of the device is carried out as quickly as possible, since most of the parts are already ready for use:

First, work is carried out on the body of the product. If the container does not have a bottom, then it is welded to it.
Then a bracket is welded to the bottom of the tank to hold the engine. A hole is made in the plate for the electric motor. This steel screen is welded to the bracket.
Build inclined supports above the engine. They should be quite tough. In the place where they adjoin the edge of the bunker, it is necessary to make an unloading device.
Reinstall the engine. Secure it with self-tapping screws.
Move the motor axis so that it is above the inclined supports.
Install the disc with knives on a vertical axis and securely fix them on the shaft.
At the last stage, install a lid on the container, place the hopper on a tripod and coat the device with special paint for metal. This will help prevent rust.

Using straw cutters you can very quickly make chaff for rabbits. The size of the finished product will depend on the distance you place between the knives, as well as on the number of discs with blades.

Important! You need to have minimal skills in operating a welding machine. All work must be carried out in accordance with safety regulations.

The power of this mechanism will be sufficient for grinding not only dried plants, but also for preparing feed from fresh raw materials. Crushed plants in dried or fresh extremely useful for various animals. Even with the purchase of a new engine self-assembly This unit will cost you less than buying the device in a store.