Homemade potato digger for walk-behind tractor

Last year I thought about making a potato digger because I was worried about back pain and harvesting needed to be simplified as much as possible. The farm has an electric winch, so the device had to be similar to a plow. I found a suitable option on the Internet and made the necessary design.

On a note
If, when plowing, the soil with potatoes spreads to the sides and does not fall on the grid, it is necessary to bend the edges of the shovel or weld the sides 5-6 cm high.

To implement the idea, an old horse-drawn hiller came in handy, which I never got around to sending for scrap.

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From its base, I removed the body shoe (the central part in the form of a wedge) and the blade wings, but left the support heel.

From sheet steel 5 mm thick, I cut out a semicircular shovel of the required size (see photo p. 1). I bent it slightly in an arc along the plane. To the smooth edge, stepping back from the edges by about 10 cm, I welded tubes with an internal diameter of 14 mm, and sharpened the rounded part with emery.

A steel strip with a cross-section of 25×3 mm was cut into plates 350 mm long; they are needed to make the grating (2) of the future digger.

Using metal rods (3), bushings (4) (pieces of pipe d 14 mm) and welding, I secured the shovel to the base and assembled the grille.

To make it convenient to work with the digger and not pull it to the side when plowing, I installed wheels (5). The axle for them was made from scraps of a U-shaped profile, metal wheels with plates were borrowed from old agricultural machinery (can be from a stroller or cart). Using bolts and nuts, I assembled the assembly and fixed it on the rod of the plow-shovel.

I plow the furrow with a digger, like an ordinary plow, the earth with potatoes rises along the shovel onto the grate and spills through it.

By the way
Having tested the digger in action, I was convinced that the wheelbase should be adjustable in height, thanks to this you can choose the required depth angle of the shovel, thereby reducing the load on your hands.

DIY potato digger (full version)

How to make a garden digger

Homemade items from a washing machine motor:
1. How to connect a motor from an old washing machine through or without a capacitor 2. Homemade emery from a washing machine motor 3. Homemade generator from a washing machine motor 4. Connecting and adjusting the speed of a commutator motor from a washing machine - automatic 5. Potter's wheel from a washing machine 6. Lathe from an automatic washing machine 7. Wood splitter with an engine from a washing machine 8. Homemade concrete mixer

7 country miracle helpers!

Unusual hand gardening tools (photos, videos, drawings)

1. Fokina flat cutter

The flat cutter is a great achievement of the agricultural mind. This is the first truly universal garden tool. Not just for cultivating the soil, but a tool for comprehensive cohabitation with the cultural plant community and soil.

Fokina flat cutter drawing:

Fokina flat cutter “Swift”

2. Ripper Miracle shovel “Plowman”

Ripper Miracle shovel “Plowman” drawings:

A shovel that can be classified as a ripper-cultivator - “Plowman”. The mechanism of the Plowman ripper is simple and quite effective. Raising the earth is carried out by the operation of a simple lever. The main load falls on the legs, which press the working forks into the ground. The lifting of the soil comes from the force of the hands, which relieves the back and is therefore attractive to the elderly and gardeners suffering from lower back pain. Two opposing forks, passing one through the other, loosen the soil without turning it around, providing a loosening depth of 15-20 cm.

Miracle shovel Prokopenko

Advantages of the design of a shovel or soil ripper or potato digger

1.Deep tillage without soil turnover.

2.High labor productivity.

3. Significant physical effort is not required when processing the formation.

4.Available in production.

A special feature of cultivating the soil with a miracle shovel is that the garden is dug lengthwise rather than across. With both outstretched hands, we take the miracle shovel by the edges of the top bar, step on the platform (footboard) and it easily goes into the ground. With a slight movement (can be combined with light shaking), taking two steps back, we move the shovel from a vertical position to an almost horizontal one. After this, we take a step forward, pull the shovel back 30 cm, give the shovel a vertical position, drive it into the ground and repeat the cycles until the row ends. Then we proceed to processing the next row.

Materials: half-inch labor, round timber (or hexagon) with a diameter of 15 mm.

For ease of transportation, a collapsible design can be made.

Miracle shovel Prokopenko drawings:

3. Miracle turning forks

Miracle forks allow you to dig up the ground without putting any strain on your back due to the unique rotary working method. Miracle Forks do not require bending or squatting. Efforts are applied only to the “steering wheel”. At the same time, digging productivity increases 3-4 times.

Miracle forks are adjustable in height over a wide range, which allows you to ideally adjust the tool to your height.

Miracle forks rotating photos:

4. Miracle shovel of the monk - Father Gennady

Miracle shovel of the monk - Father Gennady photo and drawings:

5. Miracle Cleaver

The Miracle Cleaver is a tool for easily and safely chopping wood. You will be able to chop three times more firewood, spending the same time and the same effort as when working with a regular splitter. At the same time, even women and children will be able to chop wood, because the main work consists only of raising and lowering a weight weighing 3.3 kg.

One Miracle Cleaver replaces four tools: a cleaver, an axe, a hammer and a chisel. If you follow the instructions for use, the tool is absolutely safe.

The miracle cleaver allows you to chop even very thick logs. However, it does not require any special skills and is very easy to use.

Miracle cleaver photo:

6. Miracle potato hiller

The miracle hiller is designed for loosening the soil on potato beds and hilling up the sprouted potatoes.

Thanks to an optimally calculated design, the new invention promotes high-quality soil cultivation (loosening and hilling) and the correct formation of the crest of a potato ridge. The distance between the discs is adjustable, which allows you to loosen the soil near the bushes and hill up the bushes.

The miracle hiller will allow you to hill up potatoes without much effort and in the shortest possible time, avoiding the labor-intensive and tedious work of cultivating the soil with a hand hoe. It takes two people to work as a potato hiller.

Miracle potato hiller photos and drawings:

7. Soil ripper "Tornado"

The “Tornado” soil ripper loosens the soil and easily copes with perennial weeds such as wheatgrass or field bindweed.

Soil ripper "Tornado" photos and drawings:

Do-it-yourself potato digger for a walk-behind tractor: video from Yu. Leskov

Potato digger for the Neva walk-behind tractor

For people living in rural areas, harvesting potatoes in the fall remains a labor-intensive task. Of course, today, few people do this kind of work manually, using a shovel. Many people buy various mechanical devices for this, and some, the so-called “Kulibins,” make various devices with their own hands to save themselves and their loved ones from hard work. Particularly in demand among rural workers is a potato digger, which operates using a walk-behind tractor of any modification, be it the beloved Neva model, or a device from another manufacturer. The main thing here is to have a clear idea of what a homemade potato digger is and to be able to create drawings according to the necessary calculations.

Design features and types

It is worth immediately recalling that this mechanical device, as can be seen from the photo, clings to the walk-behind tractor to perform the work. Such a do-it-yourself digger, as shown in the video, is capable of cultivating a plot of land not only near the house, but also in the field.

The main purpose of a potato digger is to separate potato tubers from the soil and lay them out on the ground area. This unit is easy to operate and has a simple design. Therefore, constructing it with your own hands is usually not particularly difficult. The most important thing is that this attachment mechanism is suitable for any model of walk-behind tractor, be it the well-known “Neva” or another modification.

Many readers will say that you can buy such a potato digger at a retail outlet that sells agricultural machinery and equipment, and why make it yourself. This statement is correct, but not entirely. Any experienced gardener will tell you that a digger designed in a home workshop will be more practical, since it will be designed to suit the already known characteristics of the soil, and will also be made within the capabilities of a specific person. Another thing worth adding here is the price. A DIY device will cost much less than buying it in a store.

Before you begin creative constructive work on creating a potato digger, you need to remember that it is adapted to work on soils that have medium and low density criteria. To manufacture units adapted to work on heavy soils, it is necessary to have a deep knowledge of physics and mechanics.

Vibrating potato digger

Lancet potato digger Conveyor potato digger

A potato digger, adapted to a walk-behind tractor, as shown in the photo, comes in the following types:

Screening or vibrating mechanism - it consists mainly of a ploughshare and a vibrating sieve. The operating principle of this type of potato digger, operating using a walk-behind tractor, is simple. The soil along with the potatoes is undermined by a ploughshare. Then the immovable conveyor grid leaves the tubers on its surface, and shakes the soil back, as if through a sieve. This model is effective in operation, but quite difficult to manufacture.
A conveyor installation for digging potatoes - it can work freely, for example, on the basis of a walk-behind tractor such as the Neva. By design, a conveyor digger consists of a ploughshare and a driving conveyor, which has a special hooking device for maintaining tubers on the platform and clearing soil. The conveyor design for digging potatoes is more practical than the vibrating type of potato digger. But on soil with a light degree of density, it is not advisable to use this type of device.
Lancet type - in terms of design, this is the simplest mechanism that can easily be adapted to any model of mini tractor, for example, such as the Neva. It does not contain movable components. As shown in the video, the soil with tubers is trimmed with a knife. Next, the cut falls on the surface of special rods, where the earth is poured back, and the fruits in their pure form lie on top of the soil. This digger is effective on soil with a low degree of density, where it is not practical to use other types of devices.

Before you start constructing such a device, first of all, you need to accurately determine the density of the soil on which it will be used. It is worth remembering that where a conveyor structure with a lancet appearance could be ideally used, it will be difficult to work.

Drawings of homemade and factory potato diggers

For a small farm, in order to conveniently harvest potatoes, you need to make a small device. It should be convenient during operation and easily hung on the walk-behind tractor.

Potato digger design: 1 - welded frame, 2 - knife, 3 - conveyor, 4 - pulley, 5 - connecting rod, 6 - bevel gear pulley. 7 - belt, 8 - stand, 9 - adapter, 10 - support wheel, 11 - spring tensioner.

In order to make the device in question, you must have:

Steel channel.
The opener is cast from a high-quality metal alloy, with a thickness of at least 5 mm. To make it, you can use a saw from a circulation machine.
Metal corners in sizes 40 and 63 mm.
Steel rods. They are required to make the device, as shown in the photo, at least 8 pieces.

To make a vibration-type potato digging device, you first need to make a frame. It should easily dock, for example, with the Neva mini tractor or with another modification.

In general, as shown in the video, such a device consists of the following components:

Frame design.
Hanging elements.
Vertical adjusting rods.
Chassis.

To design such a unit, it is necessary to make accurate calculations and create drawings based on them. Without following this rule, the DIY process will be difficult.

Stages of manufacturing a potato digger of a screening type

As you can see from the video, before starting work you need to prepare the following tool:

angle grinder;
welding machine;
engraver or drill.

To make the device, you also need to prepare bolts and nuts.

stage - frame manufacturing. To do this, as shown in the photo, a square pipe is cut into four parts. Two pieces should be 1200 mm, and two should be 800 mm. Pipe size – 40*40 mm. The prepared parts are connected by welding into a rectangle.
stage – Attaching jumpers. From the video it is clear that they are necessary for installing vertical control rods. This element is attached to approximately a quarter of the length of the base of the frame. At the other end, two elements are attached to install wheels. Such an element should be made of two tubes with a diameter of 30 mm and a length of 150 mm.
stage - installation of vertical type racks. On the side where the jumpers are mounted, two squares measuring 30*30 mm and 500 mm long are attached vertically at a distance of 5 mm from the edge of the frame. After this, 40 mm long racks are installed at a distance of 200 mm. Then you need to retreat another 400 mm and secure 300 mm long posts. We connect the racks to each other with a 0.4 mm strip.
stage – Making the rala. First, two holes for fastening are prepared on a metal sheet of 400 * 400 mm, having a thickness of 0.3 mm, and at the bottom of the racks. The workpiece is rigidly attached to the racks. The same blank is attached on the other side. Another square of sheet metal 700 * 700 mm and 0.4 mm thick is butt welded to the first element, and then bent into the desired conical configuration using a sledgehammer.
stage - lattice design. To do this, a rod with a diameter of 10 mm is attached from below to the finished rail, and the other end extends beyond the perimeter of the frame towards the traction mechanism, which can be the Neva model.

A professional potato digger for a walk-behind tractor is very expensive. Due to the difficulties with the harvesting process, land owners are constantly inventing some ways to make the work easier. A budget option is to make a homemade potato digger for a walk-behind tractor or walk-behind tractor.

What is different and what can

To be precise, this is not a shovel, but a ripper, since it not only digs, but also breaks clods. The miracle shovel consists of two (sometimes one) slats with pins movably connected. Some models also have a back stop - for easier digging of dense, heavy soil. So in reality it looks more like double pitchforks (see photo below).

Miracle shovel and its components

From the picture it is clear that this tool does not have a shovel as such, but the differences from the classic bayonet shovel do not end there. It also has a much higher handle - it should reach your shoulder. It is also convenient if there is a crossbar at the top - you can operate it with both hands.

The miracle shovel performs three operations at once:

loosens the soil;
breaks clods;
“extracts” the roots of weeds without tearing or cutting them (in any case, damaging them much less);
Digs root vegetables easily - you can dig carrots, potatoes, etc.

But its main advantage is that it greatly facilitates digging the earth, and the main load falls not on the back, as when using a conventional bayonet shovel, but on the legs (driving the working forks into the ground) and on the hands (turning the forks out of the ground). During work, the back is in a vertical position and is almost not loaded.

Another version of the miracle shovel

The only downside to this tool is the weight. It is really much larger than the bayonet one. But the super shovel can be rearranged; there is no need to lift it. Or rather, it is raised only a few times: when it is placed on the ground at the beginning of the row. Then, by pulling the handle, it is simply tightened a little.

There is another very attractive point in using a miracle shovel - it digs the garden at least twice as fast. This occurs due to the wider working part - up to 50-60 cm. Provided there is little physical activity, this is very good.

How to work

Although this design is not particularly complex, working with it has its own characteristics. First, you need to start from the far edge of the bed, then move back, gradually dragging the forks back. Well, the general procedure is this:

Holding the handle, place a miracle shovel and rest it on the front ripper.
Stick the pitchfork into the ground. Drive them in until the back stop touches the ground. If the ground is heavy or dense, additional force may be needed - press your foot on the crossbar of the front forks.
Pull the handle towards you. With this movement, the forks will begin to move upward. As they rise, they pass through the forks of the front stop, breaking up the lumps.
Pull the device back a little, repeat all the steps (plug, squeeze, pull the handle).

It's actually very simple. It’s worth trying a couple of times and then everything repeats automatically.

The procedure for making a potato digger with your own hands

Before you make the equipment, you will need to prepare the material and equipment. To work you need:

Several sheets of metal, channels and metal corners;
Bolts and nuts;
Welding machine;
Bulgarian;
Roulette;
Sledgehammer.

Having collected everything you need, you can begin to study the drawings. They indicate the material of each element and their dimensions.

It is very important to thoroughly study the diagram so that when working you do not get distracted by searching for the necessary information.

The entire homemade structure should consist of several basic elements:

Ploughshare;
Supporting transport mechanism;
Reliable frame;
Valov;
Elevator.

The build process looks like this:

To begin, take metal corners, a channel 1.2 m long, and start welding the frame;
To install the adjustment mechanisms, weld a separate channel, moving 30 cm down from the frame;
After this, you need to weld the racks. Start doing this from any edge, welding the parts in a vertical position. There should be a distance of 15 cm between them. First, weld a long 50-centimeter stand, and then, one by one, fasten the parts a few centimeters smaller;
Next, the racks are connected with pieces of the remaining channel. Thus, you should get a kind of metal triangle;
Weld a metal plate to it. After this, bend it with a sledgehammer and fix it on the back side;
Attach the share to the elevator with bolts;
Weld the reinforcement to the frame, and attach thick, reliable metal to the sides that will hold the tubers to the structure;
Attach the shafts to the elevator;
Fix the reduction block on the rod using bearings;
At the end, all that remains is to assemble the support and transport mechanism.

If you do everything according to the algorithm, the result will be a reliable device that will serve you for more than one season.

When manufacturing equipment, you should listen to the advice of experts. Experts do not recommend using metal that is too thick - sheets 5 mm thick are sufficient. If you need a small structure, you can make it using hinges from an old car or tractor. For more reliability, use welding instead of bolts.

Most people in rural areas have personal plots. In the fall, harvesting is added to the work. Harvesting potatoes is a labor-intensive task that requires automation. Otherwise, the work will move slowly and hard. It is not profitable to use a shovel.

A walk-behind tractor is a common vehicle on a personal plot. People are trying to purchase attachments for it. This also includes a potato digger. However, there are craftsmen who independently make potato diggers for walk-behind tractors. Some will note that it is easier to purchase a finished product. However, the following advantages speak in favor of a homemade potato digger:

The main thing when making a potato digger with your own hands is to have an idea of the future product.

Note! The purpose of a potato digger is to separate potato tubers from the soil and place them on the ground. The device has a simple design, so making it yourself is not difficult. However, a homemade digger will only be effective on light and medium-heavy soil.

Vibration type mechanism
. The main components are a ploughshare and a vibrating sieve. The principle of operation of the mechanism is quite simple. The ploughshare undermines the soil with its rapid movements, as well as due to the movement of the walk-behind tractor. Next, the tubers fall onto the transport grid, where the tubers are cleaned of soil. Peeled tubers fall to the ground from above. The model is distinguished by high operating efficiency. However, for self-production it has a complex design.
Conveyor type
. Suitable for the Neva walk-behind tractor. The design is similar to the vibrating type, but instead of a sieve, a conveyor is used. There are special grooves on it that allow you to hook tubers onto the platform. This is where they undergo soil removal. The conveyor type of potato digger is distinguished by great practicality. Than vibration. However, it is not advisable to use this design for light and loose soil.
Lancet potato digger
. This is a simple design that can be installed on any type of walk-behind tractor. There are no movable units in this potato digger. Operating principle:

The knife of a potato digger cuts soil with potatoes.
The soil falls on the rods, where cleaning occurs.
Clean potato fruits are placed on top of the soil after cleaning.

However, a lancet potato digger can be used effectively only on loose soil.

Note! The final choice of design depends on the density of the soil on which to work. Where work requires a digger with mechanical moving parts, the lancet design will be useless. If the lancet type is used effectively, the use of other structures is impractical.

The first 2 types of potato digger designs are combined under the name of screening machines

The cost of equipment of all types for a walk-behind tractor ranges from 7 to 12 thousand rubles. Moreover, during the season, closer to autumn, the cost may increase by half. There are models on the market that fit walk-behind tractors:

Firework.
Neva.

Drawings and dimensions for making a digger are presented below. If necessary, the trailed one can be adapted to other agricultural machinery.

Constructions

In addition to the option shown above (called “Tornado”, “Digger” or “Plowman”), there are several more variants of miracle shovel designs under different names.

Assembly drawing of a miracle shovel

Soil ripper without front support

This design also has working and support forks, but does not have a front stop. Because it is less bulky and weighs a little less. But the front stop gives increased stability during operation. And the weight when dragging is not so important.

The handle is attached to the working forks, the back stop is welded to the comb of the second forks. Both of these structures are movably connected to each other (even door hinges can be used).

Ripper miracle shovel for easy tillage

The photo shows one of the implementations, which is made on the basis of a corner and a round pipe. When working, the pins are driven into the ground by pressing on the crossbar, and not on the stop, as in most models.

Digger

An option called “Digger” is essentially a wide fork with a stop for easier turning and a high, powerful handle.

Miracle shovel "Digger"

The peculiarity of this design is the stop and the adjustable handle. It is fixed with two bolts and adjusted to the height of the working person.

The emphasis is not stationary, but movable. It is fixed to the frame. When plunging the pins into the ground, press on it with your foot, then, without removing your foot, turn it out by pressing the handle of the fork out of the ground.

Digger in action

The physical load during work is low, the work progresses quickly. But this miracle shovel will not work for hard and lumpy soils: it does not crush the soil. She collapses through the pitchfork under her own weight. But this is only possible on loose soils. On clay or black soil it is better to have a second comb with pins.

How to make a miracle digger, see the following video.

Lightcop

This miracle shovel design is slightly different from the previous one. The stops in it are rounded, the handle is arched, but the basic structure is the same. There is some drawback - there is no way to adjust the handle, but otherwise everything is the same - a movable stop and working forks.

Two options called "Lightcop". The simplest ripper for the vegetable garden, garden and cottage

It’s hard to say whether this variation is better or worse. It would be possible to evaluate only by comparing the performance of both copies on the same site.

If you watch the following video, you will see that with such a miracle shovel you can dig not only loose soils, but also heavy ones. And the second thing you can pay attention to is that for such soil it is better to have a second comb of pins, against which you can crush the inverted lumps.

Preparation and assembly

From a metal profile pipe with a cross-section of 40×40 mm and a corner with a 50 mm shelf, I welded a U-shaped frame (shape and size are arbitrary) for attaching the future digger to a walk-behind tractor.

I took a steel strip with a cross section of 40x5 mm and, using a sledgehammer and a round iron pipe, bent it into a hook. To the end of the last one, I welded a wedge from a tractor hiller, having first spread the blades slightly to the sides. To do this, simply knock on the bend (in the middle) with a sledgehammer.

The reinforcement rod d 12 mm was cut into six sections 350 mm long. I welded metal pins to the “tail” of the hiller at a distance of 50-60 mm from each other. The “digging arm” is ready, I fixed it on the frame with a bolt and nut TM14 (photo 1)

What and how to make it from

The designs, as you have seen, are different, but the set of materials will be approximately the same. Their number differs, but the cross-section and characteristics remain unchanged.

You can use a round or profiled pipe, metal rods or “parts” from forks

Materials for production

They usually start with making the frame. It is often made from a profiled pipe, the optimal cross-section is 30*30 mm or so. The wall thickness is important - at least 3 mm. Some models used a corner. The shelf width is also about 30 mm, the metal thickness is at least 3 mm.

The handle can be made from the same profile pipe, or you can use a round one. The thickness of the walls is also important. In principle, having made a latch, you can use a wooden shovel holder. Some purchased models provide for the installation of a wooden holder.

The main attention should be paid to the material that is used for the teeth of the working forks. It must be good structural steel. The forks are made from a rod of at least 8 mm in diameter.

What craftsmen make them from:

They cut it off from an ordinary fork and weld it onto a miracle shovel.
Straighten the suspension springs.
Car springs are sawn into narrow strips.

If you can find a good rod - round, square or hexagonal - it doesn't matter, it will be much easier for you. Not a bad option, by the way, with a pitchfork. But you have to buy good ones, and this is not cheap. And one more thing: calculate the dimensions of the miracle shovel so that the working forks have 8 pins. Then you will need to buy two jokes of ordinary pitchforks.

If the design is chosen with two forks - working and thrust, you can place pieces of a suitable length of metal rod on the thrust forks. The loads here are not so high, so the strength should be enough. The diameter of the rod is 10 mm; you can use ribbed reinforcement, which is used to reinforce the foundation.

Dimensions

Most companies that produce miracle shovels have a range of sizes for this product. Our people are different in build and physical fitness. For men, you can make more massive models, and for women and older people, smaller and lighter ones. The average sizes are:

The width of the working part is from 45 cm to 60 cm. There is no need to do more: it will be difficult to dig and productivity will only decrease, not increase.
The length of the working fork pins is 220-300 mm.
The distance between the pins is 70-80 mm.
The length of the handle is according to your height; it is more convenient if it ends near the shoulder.

The dimensions of the miracle shovel can be selected “to suit you” - it is important that it is convenient to work

All other sizes are selected depending on the design and material used.

Blueprints

Miracle shovel working forks

Detailing of the stop and forks

Full design with front stop

Option with single forks and rear support frame

Other dimensions of the digger and different design of the stop

DIY vibration option

A screening (or vibrating) type digger has moving parts, which significantly complicates the design, so the mechanism requires precise manufacturing. However, a device of this type performs well on hard and wet soil, cutting it well. You need to know how to make a potato digger with your own hands without outside help in order to save money.

Manufacturing procedure:

Form a frame. Cut the pipe into 4 parts. It is advisable to use blanks with a square cross-section - these are easier to join. You need two pieces 120 cm long, and two 80 cm long. The cross-section of the pipe is 4 by 4 cm. The parts are connected by welding into a rectangle.
Install jumpers that will serve as the basis for control rods. On one side, elements are mounted a quarter of the length of the base of the frame, and on the other, two blanks for fastening the wheels. To do this, you will need two tubes with a diameter of 3 cm and a length of 15 cm.
Install the racks vertically. On the side where the jumpers are located, 2 sheets 50 cm long are fixed at a distance of 5 mm from the edge of the frame. At a distance of 20 cm from them, racks 4 cm long are installed. Then another 40 cm are retreated and racks 30 cm long are installed.
Ralo is made of metal sheet. It should be 40 by 40 cm in size and at least 3 mm thick. The workpiece is rigidly attached to the racks from below. The second workpiece, measuring 70 by 70 cm and 4 mm thick, is butt welded to the first, then the shape is bent into a cone with a sledgehammer.
The grille is made of metal rods with a diameter of 1 cm. At the bottom they are attached to the railing, and the second end extends beyond the perimeter of the frame. You will need 10 to 15 rods. For additional rigidity, two rods should be welded across the structure.
The wheels are installed in a pre-prepared place.

The manufacturing work is simple. Of the things that require special skills, you only need to be able to work with welding. Drawings and dimensions of a homemade screen digger may differ depending on the model of the MTZ mini-tractor or walk-behind tractor. For the latter, a device should be made that will not interfere with control. Don't forget about the weight - operating a bulky mechanism will be very tiring.

Frame

To create the base of the structure, it is advisable to use a square pipe measuring 4 by 4 cm. For the support beams, you will need a blank of 4 meters. It needs to be divided into segments of 120 and 80 cm.

They make a rectangular base with sides of 120 and 80 cm. The corners are secured by welding.

Rods and their fastenings

The jumpers , but to a quarter of the length of the side .

On the back side of the base it is necessary to weld the deckhouses in a vertical position. These will be located on the outside of the axle base installation. The wheels are then placed on the axle.

The structure is secured with bolts. To do this, drill holes with a drill.

Vertical racks

The profile of the racks made of square pipes should be fixed at a distance of 5 cm from the edge of the frame. Its length is 50 cm and no more. After 15 cm, a second profile is fixed, but 40 cm long. The third profile is fixed after 40 cm. The length of the stand is 30 cm. It turns out to be a kind of paired descending ladder.

Strengthening

To strengthen the racks, additional fastening will be required in their lower part. During excavation work, the device will experience heavy loads, so reinforcement will be required.

To do this you will need a strip of metal half a millimeter thick. The racks are connected by welding. The connection angle is 45 degrees. For additional fastening, the racks should be welded together.

Plowshare or ralo

A self-made potato digger should work the same as its industrial counterpart. It should also go into the ground easily . This is required for digging potato rows.

To make a ral you will need metal 0.3 mm thick. The blades should be cut according to the drawing. A homemade plow is welded to them. To better grip the ground, the blades must have a three-dimensional shape - be concave. To do this, tap the center of the blades with a hammer. The structure must be securely fastened.

pitched board

This is a continuation of the potato digger design. For the pitched board, which will clear the potatoes from the soil, metal rods are used. You should not take them too thick - the weight of the structure will increase.

Fittings with a diameter of 1 cm and a length of no more than 120 cm are suitable. The fittings are welded in increments of 4-5 cm.

Adjustment rods

This element is optional. It is required on wet soil. The rods allow you to adjust the angle of inclination of the pitched board, also known as a reinforcement board. Ideally, the adjustable structure should be mounted on a separate frame, which will have a pitched board in its structure. The fastenings can be tightened using bolts.

Wheels

To make it more convenient to work and move with an attached homemade digger, it should be equipped with wheels . Please note that you will need a wide tire. It doesn’t matter what device you can take it from. A wide wheel will not sink into the ground. Ideally, the wheels can be removed from a garden cart. The mount is similar.

Tool for digging earth: how to replace a shovel

“Don’t be stubborn, give the shovel to your most harmful neighbor!” urges FORUMHOUSE member with the nickname Boris Annenkov and author of the book “Give a Shovel to Your Neighbor.” The participants of our portal, if they did not give the shovel to their neighbor, then at least successfully combine it with other, non-traditional tools for digging and loosening the earth. These tools allow you to dig up beds faster and with less effort. And after working with them, neither your back nor your arms hurt.

In this article we will cover:

How to make a miracle shovel: drawings, instructions, reviews.
An easy way to make a potato digger.
How to make a flat cutter.

Materials-Tools

Materials

Profile pipe 30x30
L-70 cm – 1 piece;
Profile pipe 20x20

L – 25 cm – 2 pcs;
L – 40 cm – 1 piece;
L – 50 cm – 2 pcs;

Profile pipe 40x40

L – 100 – 1 pc.

Screws assembled with nut and washer – 2 pcs;
Garden forks (spade pins) – 2 pairs;
Auxiliary plates, sections of pipe, rod.

Tools

Bulgarian;
Electric welding;
Drill;

Important!
Before taking on any workpiece, we advise you to draw it out on paper and, if possible, calculate all the dimensions. This way the result will be more visually tangible and definite.

DIY miracle shovel

One of the most popular innovative digging tools is the miracle shovel, which consists of twin forks: some are stationary, the other are movable. Mobile forks lift the soil and push it through the teeth of stationary forks. The soil is loosened to a depth of 20-25 cm.

We offer you drawings of the device: it is simple. A participant of our portal, who had previously seen welding machines only in stores, successfully welded such a miracle shovel for herself.

Recommended dimensions of the miracle shovel:

frame width: 35 cm,
frame length – 78 cm,
length of working forks – 23 cm.

According to the experience of operating the unit by the participants of our portal, for its effective operation the ripper must be tilted approximately 25 degrees towards the ground.

A member of our portal with the nickname Mount “slowly sawed with a grinder” on winter weekends and tested this device at the dacha on the May holidays.

I'm shocked: what in previous years I spent several days on, I did in a matter of hours. And the quality of digging is much better: you don’t even need to harrow with a rake. Damp soil sticks to an ordinary shovel with terrible force, but this tool could cope with wet soil, although it worked better where it was drier.

Mount notes that the fork shovel works well on undug soil (although this tool is not intended for virgin soil), and pulls out roots. If you pour peat onto the dug up soil, the unit mixes it with the soil no worse than a mixer.

Digging up beds with this device is very simple: go in one direction, turn, go in the other direction. 10 minutes - and the bed is ready!

And - most importantly - there is no fatigue, as there was from a shovel. At first there were very skeptical remarks from the female contingent about the worthlessness of the device, but after the first 15 minutes of use there was silence.

Our user specifically made this unit lightweight so that it could cope with the most difficult soils, including virgin soil.

Over three years of successful operation, the following advantages were identified in comparison with motor cultivators:

the miracle shovel does not cut the roots of weeds and thereby does not contribute to their spread throughout the garden, but completely pulls them out;
You can use it to hill up potatoes: walk along the rows while simultaneously removing weeds, loosen the soil, and then hill up;
The tool is convenient for digging up long beds;
there is no need to break up lumps and loosen the dug up soil with a rake;
The device loosens the soil without turning over the fertile layer.

A similar device called “two shovels” was made by a user with the nickname Dva11.

I looked at the options for shovels on the Internet and in stores and made my own. Due to the large lever, less effort is required and there is no need to bend over too much.

This is an easier option than the previous one, but it also requires effort. Saddle frame made of 15x15x1.5 profile and 4 mm electrodes; The forks themselves are made from a 20-piece pipe and seven teeth from a horse rake (the distance between them is approximately 6-7 cm).

The length of the teeth is 28 centimeters, but due to the fact that the axis is raised by three centimeters, 24 centimeters go into the ground.

A similar tool was put together by a FORUMHOUSE member with the nickname TOSA1970.

It helps a lot when digging, and your back doesn’t get tired like with a regular shovel.

Drum type potato digger

Potato diggers with drums have proven themselves well when harvesting large areas. This unit consists of three parts:

frames with wheels;
knife (ploughshare);
rotating drum made of steel rods.

The knife is attached to the frame on hinges. He cuts the soil, which, together with the tubers, enters the drum. When the drum rotates, the soil lumps are broken and the soil spills down through the grate. The potatoes move to the end of the drum and fall onto the arable land.

The drum is connected to the tractor shaft through gears, chains and a gearbox, from where torque is transmitted to it. The wide knife cuts deep into the soil, which reduces crop losses to a minimum, and the passage of tubers through the drum cavity does not damage them. This unit justifies the cost and time of its production due to its high productivity.

Sources

https://oselhoztehnike.ru/mini/kartofelekopalka-dlya-motobloka-svoimi-rukami.html
https://www.glav-dacha.ru/kartofelekopalka-dlya-motobloka/
https://seloveselo.ru/tips/kartofelekopalka-svoimi-rukami-oborudovanie-materialy-poryadok-izgotovleniya.html
https://agronomu.com/bok/2580-osnovnye-vidy-kartofelekopalok-dlya-motobloka-preimuschestva-i-nedostatki-ispolzovaniya-na-ogorode.html
https://nasotke.pro/ogorod/kak-sdelat-kartofelekopalku
https://agronomu.com/bok/2272-kartofelekopalka-dlya-motobloka-svoimi-rukami-poshagovaya-instrukciya.html
https://1sadteh.ru/sovet/ruchnaya-kartofelekopalka.html

DIY potato digger

Nobody likes picking potatoes out of holes - this is the most difficult and tedious thing in the whole process of digging potatoes. Mount has made another hand-held gardening tool, a hand-held potato digger, which itself removes root tubers from the holes and also cleans them from the soil!

The advantage of this unit is that you don’t need to shake the ground with a shovel. He stuck his pitchfork under a bush, stomped on the lever with his foot - clean potatoes flew out of the ground.

This tool is convenient for digging all root crops. It is much easier to work with it than with a shovel - you don’t get tired at all!

A potato digger is also used for digging up a vegetable garden. But she needs to dig her garden not along, but across the plot.

How to make a flat cutter from a braid

Vladimir Fokin invented his flat cutter after he was unable to use a shovel. This garden tool is capable of performing many operations: loosening, weeding, hilling, mowing, forming beds, etc.

Its main purpose is to remove weeds and at the same time loosen the soil at a depth of 2-5 cm, but without turning the top layer of soil. Supporters of organic farming know that this method of loosening does not destroy beneficial microorganisms living in the soil, and therefore increases its fertility. The Fokina flat cutter is a bracket that is curved in several places at certain angles, its three cutting surfaces are sharply sharpened. The bracket is secured to the handle. It is important to learn how to work correctly with a flat cutter, then this tool will have no price.

Here's how you can check yourself: if your back is straight when working, your body is tilted quite a bit, your thumbs on the handle look up, then everything is correct. If you hold the tool correctly, the physical load when working with it is reduced several times.

Fokin is my father-in-law. Letters of gratitude, especially from elderly people or people with poor health, stood in bags in his home.

A FORUMHOUSE member with the nickname Antol13, based on Fokin’s flat cutter, made his own tool - a super flat cutter Kosar. This super-effective tool is made from a Sable braid that was lying around the house unnecessarily.

Here's how to make a flat cutter from a braid:

Use a grinder to cut off the stiffening collar so that during operation the flat cutter does not experience resistance and does not cling to the ground. The recommended length of the flat-cutter blade is 17 cm. But it is better to first make the blade longer; after testing, you can always shorten it.
The recommended attack angle of the flat cutter blade is 35 degrees. If necessary, you can increase it by bending it in a vice with a gas wrench.
After testing, adjust the length of the flat cutter and the angles of the working surfaces.
Make grooves on the handle on both sides for better fixation.
For better fastening and to prevent loosening, make a stainless steel clamp at the top of the tenon.

The flat cutter exceeded all expectations. I have never experienced such pleasure at work. Two working edges allow you to do the job quickly and with good quality without bending.

Summarizing

All these tools are easy to make with your own hands. They make the toughest jobs easier and increase productivity. Flat cutters and miracle shovels should be in the arsenal of every cultivated summer resident. But they are only suitable for land that has already been cultivated - they cannot raise virgin soil. True, most gardeners do not face such a task.

On FORUMHOUSE you can find more smart tools for cultivating land, learn how to make a homemade tractor, watch a video that shows in detail the device of the “Mower” flat cutter, and videos that talk about life hacks that improve the life of a summer resident.

How to quickly dig up a garden with a shovel

Despite the active development of technology, many gardeners still use an ordinary shovel to dig up their gardens. This is the most accessible method that requires only one cost - physical.

However, despite the fact that this is one of the most common tools, it is important to remember that working with it for a long time is quite difficult. For small plots this is still tolerable, but for large areas of gardens, digging up using this method is undesirable.

It is recommended to pay special attention to the material from which the tool is made. If it is ordinary hardware, you will have to put a lot of effort into working with it. It is better to give preference to titanium.

In addition, before starting work, you should pay attention to the structure of the soil. When digging up sandy soils, you will have to put in less effort than when cultivating chernozem. This is due to the structural features of soil types.

An easy-to-dig shovel or a miracle shovel

Little is known about the miracle shovel device. As a consequence of the uniqueness of its design, this tool significantly facilitates the process of digging and loosening the soil. The device consists of a frame, inside of which there are two pairs of forks directed towards each other.

The operation scheme is extremely simple: the frame rests on the soil, the main forks penetrate into it and are set in motion by a stationary second pair of forks like a lever. Thus, in the process of such processing, soil clods are broken, and a lever-type mechanism reduces the labor intensity of the work.

Other benefits include:

Digging and loosening occur simultaneously;
When working, it is easier to clear the soil of weed rhizomes, since the device does not crush them, but digs them out, like stones;
The ability to cultivate a larger amount of land compared to a conventional shovel.

Before starting work, it is recommended to spray the soil a little with water, as dry soil will be more difficult to handle.

Despite a number of advantages, it is not a bad idea to be aware of the possible disadvantages of the tool.

These include:

Weight – unlike a regular shovel, it can reach five kilograms;
It is impossible to dig holes with a miracle shovel;
It will be easy to dig up only the soil that was previously cultivated;
Ineffective on clay soil and soil with a lot of stones.

Despite the fact that it immediately seems that all models of this device are the same, there are a number of differences in size and number of teeth, which gives the miracle shovel additional properties.

The basic assembly of the device includes a ripper, hoe, rake, hiller and more. The most famous models include the following.

Mole	Standard model, which is produced in several types: with a grip of 42 and 55 cm. Designed for deep fluffing
Baby	A common model that is characterized by its small size, ease of use and low cost. You can recognize it by the almost complete absence of a frame and the direction of the fork teeth in one direction. Used for deep fluffing of the soil and removing the roots of weeds and stones
Lightcop	The working blade width of this model is larger, reaching 60 cm, which allows you to dig up large areas

The miracle shovel is a tool that will be useful to many gardeners. Easy to handle, it will help in cultivating large areas of soil.

Let's watch an interesting video about the miracle shovel:

Making a miracle shovel - step-by-step instructions

The device is based on a triangular frame made of corrugated pipe. The ends of the 90 cm long sections must be marked at the desired angle and cut with a grinder.

At the top of the triangle, its sides are connected on a small section (length - 15 cm) of the same pipe. The seams are welded and cleaned.

The next element will be directly responsible for digging. For it you need to weld a 20 mm caliber pipe with an unfinished rectangle. We adjust this rectangle to the bottom of the triangular frame (hypotenuse). He will be mobile. We strengthen this connection with two stops from the same professional pipe.

How to make a garden digger with your own hands

Diggers may differ in some details, but the principle is approximately the same.

To make a digger it is recommended:

Select a profiled pipe with a cross section of 30x30 for the frame. It is important that the wall thickness does not exceed 3 mm;
Make a handle from the same pipe;
For the teeth of the working forks, select high-quality steel rods with a diameter of at least 8 mm;
When manufacturing, take into account that the width of the working part should be from 45 to 60 cm. It is not recommended to do it anymore, it will increase the weight and it will become inconvenient to work with such a tool;
The length of the working fork pins should not exceed 300 mm, and the distance between them should not exceed 80 mm;
The length of the handle should be measured individually; it should end at the shoulder area.

All other materials and parts may vary depending on the type of design chosen and the material used in manufacturing.

Miracle forks made with your own hands are more convenient to use, because they are made according to the size of a specific person. In addition, it will cost much less than buying a new tool.

Making a digging shovel with your own hands:

Types of potato diggers, design features

Before assembling a mounted potato digger for a walk-behind tractor, mini tractor or cultivator, you need to familiarize yourself with the factory accessories. They all have a common operating principle: the working body cuts the soil layer along with the tubers, then the fruits are segregated from the clods of earth. Next, the potatoes can be poured back into the garden bed or into a storage hopper.

According to the method of influence and sorting, soil-cultivating tools can be of passive or active action. In the latter case, the working body, as well as the sorting mechanism, have their own drive from the power take-off shaft (PTO) of the traction unit. Passive action diggers have a simple design with no moving parts. Cleaning vegetables from lumps of soil occurs due to natural movement and gravity. For processing small and medium-sized areas use:

lancet;
vibration;
conveyor.

Lancets are a simple tool for harvesting potatoes. It is a one-piece welded structure with no moving components. The cutting of the soil layer occurs with a special knife - a ploughshare. Metal rods are welded to it, fanning out. When harvesting, the knife lifts the tubers along with clods of soil. They roll onto the rods under the influence of constant movement. The earth spills out through small cracks, and the potatoes through large ones. So, the tubers fall on the surface of the bed, and all that remains is to collect them with your hands.

For information! It is the lancet (fan) design that is widely used in small farms.

A vibrating (screen) digger is a representative of the active type of equipment. The working body in it is the same ploughshare, however, segregation occurs on a lattice sieve. The latter is driven by the PTO of the drive unit or by the wheels of the digger. When digging, soil with potato tubers is fed onto a vibrating grid, where the vegetables are cleared of soil and rolled onto the ground or into a receiving hopper.

A conveyor digger is a complex soil-cultivating mechanism with many moving parts. Soil cutting occurs with one wide knife or several plowshares arranged in one row. The extracted tubers and soil fall onto a moving mesh screen, where the soil is removed from the potatoes. The conveyor lifts the fruits and unloads them into a bunker or onto a bed.

Optimal metal thickness

The hanging structure is assembled from metal parts. The thickness of the sheet steel should be selected taking into account the expected load: the greater it is, the thicker the material should be. Experts recommend using sheets with a thickness of at least 8 mm.

Wheels for digging

The design is equipped with movable wheels. When making a digger in a home workshop, you can borrow them from an old garden wheelbarrow. Wide tires will make it easier to move around the beds. The best option is equipped with an axle. Stands are attached to the axle, in which locking holes are made.

Alternatively, you can use metal ones. They will make the structure heavier, which will improve the performance of the rawl on hard soils. Rubber ones will move worse on wet ground; rubber ones, but with a tractor tread, will perform better in such a situation.

Connection methods

All elements of the unit are connected by resistance welding (electric or gas), as well as using classic fasteners (bolts, nuts). Moreover, the advantage of a bolted connection is that, if necessary, the unit can be disassembled and reassembled.

Screen type

The principle of operation of a potato peeler for a walk-behind tractor is that the flatbread is immersed in the soil, captures it along with the tubers and rises. The potatoes remain on the grate, and the soil spills out through the bars. In one pass, the device processes a small area, and this is its drawback.

Fan

The fan design is also called pointed, and it is considered one of the simplest. The walk-behind tractor moves along the row, and special knives cut the soil deeper than the tubers lie. The potatoes, along with the soil, move onto the rods, and the earth crumbles through them. The fan-type digger performed well on loose, soft soils. The disadvantage is that the knives get stuck on an uneven area, which slows down the work.

Fan potato digger

Conveyor

The components of this digger are a moving conveyor and a flat cake. Before digging potatoes, you need to clear the area of weeds. Thick stems will wrap around moving parts and interfere with the operation of the device.

The digger is equipped with a conveyor and rear wheels - lugs. There is a tension adjustment. When moving, the potatoes are shaken up and soil spills out from the platform. The device is connected to the walk-behind tractor with a hooking element. A conveyor potato digger for a walk-behind tractor is not suitable for working in wet soil.

Drum

The drum unit allows you to quickly dig up potatoes over large areas. Components of the digger:

rotating drum;
ploughshare (knife);
frame;
wheels.

The knife is attached to the frame using a hinge joint. While moving, he cuts the layer of soil along with the tubers. The drum rotates, the lumps are broken, soil particles spill out through the bars of the grid. The potatoes move to the edge of the drum and fall to the ground.

Drum potato digger

The knife cuts the soil at such a depth that it captures all the potatoes. Moving inside the drum, the tubers are not damaged. The unit is characterized by high productivity and allows you to harvest the crop with almost no losses.

Vibrating

Experience using a vibrating digger shows that the quality of harvesting compared to a simple fan digger increases by 10%.

The unit is also good because it is easy to remove not only potatoes, but also other vegetables from the field:

carrot;
garlic;
beets;
onion.

A vibrating potato digger for a walk-behind tractor and MTZ is made from spare parts from a passenger car. They use a driveshaft, a front wheel hub and a rear axle gearbox. Brackets are welded to the metal base, and moving elements are attached to them.

When the walk-behind tractor operates, the shaft rotates, the lever and connecting rod transmit movement to the vibrating table. The crank mechanism is connected to the rod, and the ploughshare is connected to the frame and the rumble. The tubers roll and fall backwards or sideways, depending on where the vibrating table is tilted.

The digger is used in an area cleared of grass and tops, otherwise the fasteners and grate will quickly become clogged.

Vibrating potato digger for walk-behind tractor

Conveyor

Conveyor potato diggers are mounted on walk-behind tractors and heavy equipment. They have a complex design with a large number of moving elements. In one pass, the digger captures 2 rows, the tubers after harvesting are clean and whole, ready for storage.

How to dig up a garden with grass

Before starting work, it is recommended to visually assess the extent of the problem. If the grass covering the garden is not tall, you can start digging. The miracle shovel will not only loosen the soil, but also pull out weeds with roots.

The only thing worth considering is that it is better to remove the dug up weeds from the garden.

This will help to significantly reduce the number of weeds next year, since those dug up will not have time to disperse or take root again.

If the weeds have already grown, it is recommended to remove the largest specimens by the roots before cultivating the soil with a miracle shovel. This will help make further work easier and reduce the risk of breaking the tool on roots that are too dense.

If it is possible to postpone digging, it is recommended to treat the area with special chemicals that will destroy the weeds and only then begin digging up the garden.

A shovel is a universal tool that is used for both digging and digging.

However, today's market can offer gardeners an alternative to this traditional device: a miracle shovel. The device is convenient and easy to use, and will be a godsend for many summer residents.

Tool for digging earth: how to replace a shovel

In this article we will cover:

How to make a miracle shovel: drawings, instructions, reviews.
An easy way to make a potato digger.
How to make a flat cutter.

DIY miracle shovel

We offer you drawings of the device: it is simple. A participant of our portal, who had previously seen welding machines only in stores, successfully welded such a miracle shovel for herself.

Recommended dimensions of the miracle shovel:

frame width: 35 cm,
frame length – 78 cm,
length of working forks – 23 cm.

According to the experience of operating the unit by the participants of our portal, for its effective operation the ripper must be tilted approximately 25 degrees towards the ground.

A member of our portal with the nickname Mount “slowly sawed with a grinder” on winter weekends and tested this device at the dacha on the May holidays.

Digging up beds with this device is very simple: go in one direction, turn, go in the other direction. 10 minutes - and the bed is ready!

Our user specifically made this unit lightweight so that it could cope with the most difficult soils, including virgin soil.

Over three years of successful operation, the following advantages were identified in comparison with motor cultivators:

the miracle shovel does not cut the roots of weeds and thereby does not contribute to their spread throughout the garden, but completely pulls them out;
You can use it to hill up potatoes: walk along the rows while simultaneously removing weeds, loosen the soil, and then hill up;
The tool is convenient for digging up long beds;
there is no need to break up lumps and loosen the dug up soil with a rake;
The device loosens the soil without turning over the fertile layer.

A similar device called “two shovels” was made by a user with the nickname Dva11.

I looked at the options for shovels on the Internet and in stores and made my own. Due to the large lever, less effort is required and there is no need to bend over too much.

The length of the teeth is 28 centimeters, but due to the fact that the axis is raised by three centimeters, 24 centimeters go into the ground.

A similar tool was put together by a FORUMHOUSE member with the nickname TOSA1970.

It helps a lot when digging, and your back doesn’t get tired like with a regular shovel.

DIY drawings of a potato digger for a walk-behind tractor

Today we will begin making a potato digger with our own hands for the Neva walk-behind tractor.

We have such materials

: these are the remains of a bicycle, figure eight wire, an old Wagner from which we will take wheels, a corner, sheet metal, profile, tie rods, tips.

Tool

: grinder, drill and welding machine.

Potato digger design

: frame, coupling device with a walk-behind tractor, a knife from a steel saw is riveted onto the ploughshare. Operating principle: let's start from the engine: from the engine, drive to the pulley, from the pulley through the eccentric, to the rod (steering rod from the car) and then to the device, which is fixed on ball bearings through the rods, connected to the share, so the share has a reverse forward motion that is necessary for digging and sifting potatoes. The principle of rumble. On the back of the potato digger are wheels that are adjustable. There is also a belt tensioner, which is made from a regular bearing.

DIY potato digger

The advantage of this unit is that you don’t need to shake the ground with a shovel. He stuck his pitchfork under a bush, stomped on the lever with his foot - clean potatoes flew out of the ground.

This tool is convenient for digging all root crops. It is much easier to work with it than with a shovel - you don’t get tired at all!

A potato digger is also used for digging up a vegetable garden. But she needs to dig her garden not along, but across the plot.

How to make a flat cutter from a braid

Vladimir Fokin invented his flat cutter after he was unable to use a shovel. This garden tool is capable of performing many operations: loosening, weeding, hilling, mowing, forming beds, etc.

Fokin is my father-in-law. Letters of gratitude, especially from elderly people or people with poor health, stood in bags in his home.

Here's how to make a flat cutter from a braid:

Use a grinder to cut off the stiffening collar so that during operation the flat cutter does not experience resistance and does not cling to the ground. The recommended length of the flat-cutter blade is 17 cm. But it is better to first make the blade longer; after testing, you can always shorten it.
The recommended attack angle of the flat cutter blade is 35 degrees. If necessary, you can increase it by bending it in a vice with a gas wrench.
After testing, adjust the length of the flat cutter and the angles of the working surfaces.
Make grooves on the handle on both sides for better fixation.
For better fastening and to prevent loosening, make a stainless steel clamp at the top of the tenon.

The flat cutter exceeded all expectations. I have never experienced such pleasure at work. Two working edges allow you to do the job quickly and with good quality without bending.