Lawn Aerator Made With 130 Bolts
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Edwin Ruff, Moses Lake, Wash., built a lawn aerator by welding 130 1/4 by 3-in. bolts to an old 10-gal. tank that he fills with water. He fitted it with 6-in. wheels and wheelbarrow-type handles. "The machine works really well on my lawn and around my sprinkler system," he says.
An old rope-start 3 hp Briggs and Stratton engine propels the aerator drum forward. "If I let it go, it'll run straight across the ground," he says. "I walk ahead and wait at the end to turn it a different direction."
A lever disengages the drive belt to put it in neutral.
Ruff says the biggest challenge was gearing down the engine to a slow walk. He used two gear reductions to do that.
"To gear it down, I used a chain-driven bicycle wheel as well as a 2-in. pulley and a 12-in. belt-driven pulley."
Because the original tank full of water wasn't heavy enough, he added another 10-gal. water tank on top that adds more weight.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Edwin Ruff, 940 S. Ironwood Dr., Moses Lake, Wash. 98837 (ph 509 765-6722).
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Lawn Aerator Made With 130 Bolts FARM HOME Miscellaneous 30-1-44 Edwin Ruff, Moses Lake, Wash., built a lawn aerator by welding 130 1/4 by 3-in. bolts to an old 10-gal. tank that he fills with water. He fitted it with 6-in. wheels and wheelbarrow-type handles. "The machine works really well on my lawn and around my sprinkler system," he says.
An old rope-start 3 hp Briggs and Stratton engine propels the aerator drum forward. "If I let it go, it'll run straight across the ground," he says. "I walk ahead and wait at the end to turn it a different direction."
A lever disengages the drive belt to put it in neutral.
Ruff says the biggest challenge was gearing down the engine to a slow walk. He used two gear reductions to do that.
"To gear it down, I used a chain-driven bicycle wheel as well as a 2-in. pulley and a 12-in. belt-driven pulley."
Because the original tank full of water wasn't heavy enough, he added another 10-gal. water tank on top that adds more weight.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Edwin Ruff, 940 S. Ironwood Dr., Moses Lake, Wash. 98837 (ph 509 765-6722).
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