Make a mulcher from old lawn mower

Mulch leaves, plant stalks and shrubs with inexpensive homemade mulcher

[@duncanjunctionsthemadman7418]

Love the idea and amazing results. thank you for sharing.

[@KennySilvaMedia]

The best solution found yet! Congrats. A great idea. Will try it asap.

[@alan4sure]

You're welcome---it works well and not too involved to build it either. That counts for a lot in my books.

[@Alex-wd2xl]

Great way to save $800. it's on my to do list. Thanks for idea.

[@markv9890]

Great idea. It's amazing how much bio material gets burned instead of made into mulch. Thanks for posting, God Bless...

[@gregburke0073]

if you put some kind of "cross bar" or "T-bar" on your push stick, it could stop just before touching the blade...

[@alan4sure]

Yeah, a simple thing like that would prevent it. Thanks.

[@earlbigod]

My mower deck is past repair. My mower engine is going to find a new home in one of these. Thank you for the idea.

[@alan4sure]

You're welcome!

[@petefrise6654]

Cool idea, thank you for chairing

[@zeroryoko999]

It makes a fine mulch I see... perhaps I can use this to try making my experimental prestologs with the mulch.

[@dfarns123]

How well does this work with leaves? Do they also get well cut up or do many drop through the blade(s) without being mulched. I wonder if putting a screen (with 1/2"-1" openings) just under the blades would hold leaves enough so that they would be cut/mulched until they dropped through the openings. Also, what are the limits for twigs...have you mulched small branches with 1/4"-1/2" stems/twigs?

[@alan4sure]

I tried it yesterday and most leaves fall through without much cutting occuring. Plant stalks and small branches are better.

[@dfarns123]

Thanks for letting me know.

[@MrCougar214]

For mulching leaves you could put a board, the same diameter of the barrel, a few inches below the blades. cut a hole in one side of the wood so the mulch can drop down into the barrel. Basically, you want to simulate the ground being under the cutting deck. This is how a mower mulches, it circulates the leaves between the mower and ground to chop up the leaves into tiny little bits. Make the board removable so when you are cutting up stalks and such you can just remove it.

[@bobbg9041]

Put 2 blades on it at 90 dgr from each other so it has twice the cutting ability. They will both need to be in balance. Works better then my 6.5 HP ___________ Machine that loves to spit stuff back at you when you use it. it should chop up branches but it won't do it. if its dry wood forget it.

[@jasonthurston799]

I just mow over the pile of leaves and twigs with my lawnmower...multiple times.

[@bracketracer2000]

you sir are a genius

[@jdfixit1]

I only have metal drums how deep is the drum ?

[@alan4sure]

It was typical 45 gallon drum.

[@jdfixit1]

WHAT IS THE measurement from the ground to the under side of the engine?

[@alan4sure]

@@jdfixit1 13 inches. It's not that critical though.

[@jdfixit1]

thank you sir

[@preciousplasticph]

Does it shred plastic?

[@alan4sure]

It would chop it into pieces if not too thick.

[@DukeLaCrosse20]

Seems like a good variation on this would be to use something like a 55 gallon steel drum and build a mount which allows you to attach the lawnmower deck to the barrel. That way, you an still use your lawnmower as a lawn mower, especially if you had some sort of sturdy locking latch for easy attach/remove.

[@alan4sure]

Just buying a used mower for $25 and doing it this way was simplest. With a steel drum you need a cutting torch, with plastic one I just used a sabre saw to cut the holes in it.

[@davidcrokettt6089]

Have your tried feeding in cardboard and if so how did it turn out?

[@alan4sure]

No never tried cardboard. Have no reason to try it.

[@davidcrokettt6089]

@@alan4sure sure you do

[@robinmelnyk213]

Why not just run over the pile of brush with the old lawnmower? Just cover the discharge with sheet metal and your good to go. I do it that way.Using a chipper or shreader takes twice as long.

[@alan4sure]

Try it. You'll see how ineffective it is.

[@sweetvuvuzela4634]

It does not work try it

[@bhatkat]

I have tried it, works like a charm, just be careful to wear high boots, heavy jeans and good eye protection. Very good at chewing up grape vines, makes good mulch out of all sorts of garden waste. Biggest downside was cleaning up the mess behind the garage.

[@advantager355]

Can't you just put a hole in the top of the lawn mower?

[@alan4sure]

There isn't enough room to put a decent sized hole. It needs to be about 4" or more diameter. And you need enough room underneath where all the mulch ends up.

[@johnrupert9988]

so... how many people using this are still alive?

[@alan4sure]

All of them. A lot of dead plants though.

[@SnyderTools]

That's a terrible idea!

[@alan4sure]

+Matt Lytle Not an idea, it's a reality. Sure saved me a lot of work chopping dead flower stalks.

[@keshlalish5586]

as a safety feature i would build a bigger cone. like most branch shreder