DEVELOPMENT OF A MANUALLY OPERATED LOW COST REEL LAWN MOWER
Authors: *Ogbeide O.O, Omatsola O.S
DOI Info: N/A
ABSTRACT
A manually operated lawn mower was designed and fabricated to help in the development and maintenance of institution, community and the society in the area of grass cutting. During the design and construction of this machine, factors that were considered included environmental conditions, effectiveness of the machine and maintenance. The mower was designed with an internal spur and pinion gear system which transmits the torque to its spiral mechanism. The cutting mechanism was made of a flat blade rigidly fixed to the frame behind the reel arrangement which was configured to make a slight contact with the reel blades during its rotation. Test and performance evaluation of the machine was conducted at an open grass field in the premises of the University of Benin. An effective field capacity of 0.20 m2/s and field efficiency of 63.44% was obtained. The cutting effectiveness was achieved at a rotary speed of 715 rpm of the shaft. The cost of this machine indicates that it is economically viable and is comparable to other currently available options in terms of efficiency.
Affiliations: Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria
Keywords: Grass, Cutting, Lawn Mower, Performance Evaluation, Pollution Control
Published date: 2017/06/30
