Build a Commonsense Compost Shredder

(Page 2 of 2)

March/April 1984
By the Mother Earth News editors 
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After assembling the chute, bolt it squarely over the deck opening and support it with the two conduit braces (just flatten and bend their ends, and bolt the supports between the back of the hopper and the rear of the mower platform). Next, you can secure the small sprocket in place on the engine's PTO shaft, afterward stringing the chain over both cogged wheels. By pulling the links taut, you can approximate a good location for the feed-paddle shaft, which should sit midway between the front and rear walls of the hopper but high enough to permit the large sprocket complete clearance.

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Once that location is established and marked, bolt the floor flanges in place over the shaft marks and drill 1/2" holes to accept the paddle axle. After fastening the chainwheel to the shaft by welding a collar between the two parts, slip the entire assembly into place and mark it for drilling. Then the appropriately sized heavy-gauge metal plates can be bolted around and through it. (Those feed paddles must be sized to rotate freely within the chute, with about half an inch of clearance all around.)

Once the paddle assembly's installed, you can measure the chain and link it in place, fastening the guard between the deck and the side of the hopper. You might also want to replace the standard mower blade with a "high lift" model . . . which has kicked-up tips that improve the machine's shredding action by keeping the compost material in the path of the choppers for a longer period of time.

With that improvement made, you'll have created an inexpensive but impressive garden helper that's not only mobile (thus allowing you to mix custom compost blends to suit the specific needs of various sites, soils, or plants under cultivation) but suitable, in addition, for pulverizing and refining already-composted material for special applications.

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Comments

  • Rod Bonner 5/18/2009 9:03:03 PM

    A basic diagram in the gallery for this article on how to make the feed paddles in the chute would be helpful. I have no idea how to create a safe yet effective feed system.

  • Jim Lucas 7/2/2008 1:58:53 PM

    On the "Build a Commonsense Compost Shredder" printable exploded drawings or pictures would help many of us more challenged people.

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