IN THE WORKSHOP
Blades: It’s a question of balance
T
here is no quicker way,
short of mowing
through a field of rocks,
to destroy any kind of rotary
cutting device such as a
tractor-drawn slasher or
mower, than to run it with
unbalanced blades.
That's because the vibration
caused by the blades of
different weights rotating
about the shaft will soon
destroy any shaft bearings,
not to mention wearing
...because if your blades AREN!T
balanced you!ll destroy your mower
through vibration
the shaft itself.
In the process, of course, the
vibration will cause other
components to wear and
break, including cracking
welds, loosening bolts and
causing unnecessary engine
PLANNING
From page 30
scheduling watering times to
avoid the heat of the sun,
when more will be lost to
evaporation than at cooler
times, and use of mulches on
one's beds to help seal in the
moisture in the soil, as well as
to help keep the soil cool.
Another advantage of a good
layer of mulch is that it will
help suppress weed growth.
Good sources of mulch are
can be achieved very
accurately after sharpening
by weighing them on a small
kitchen scale ~ the kind one
wear through vibration.
uses to measure out very
It is imperative, therefore, that small quantities of flour for
the two, or four bolt-on
baking. Simply weigh each
blades of whatever system
blade in turn, and dress the
one has weigh exactly the
heavier blades till their
same.
weights correspond to that of
For small bolt-on blades this
Continued on page 34
any seed-free organic matter
of sufficiently small size that it
can be spread around small
plants without damaging
them.
Thus, a useful addition to
one's range of garden
equipment is a shredder
which is able to chop up small
branches, scrub, dry fruit tree
prunings etc. Such material
should not be added to the
compost heap but should be
32
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reserved for use as mulch.
Having made that point, the
shredder can also be used to
chop up dry leaves and other
plant material for addition to
the compost heap where it
will take up less space and be
processed into usable
compost faster than if added
whole.