# Possible to make an ice auger out of a lawnmower engine?



## McNash123 (Aug 28, 2010)

I been doing alot of work with lawnmowers latly. Like most hobbiests i go to the dump grab a lawnmower out of the metal bin and get it running and then think to myself wow people have no respect for old machines that are perfectly fine with a little maintnence. But anyways I have a growing collection of push mowers in my backyard. And a few of them have bad decks but the engines are mint. I know there isnt much use for vertical shaft engines but i was thinking how bout turning a vertical shaft engine into an ice auger? I havent seen any plans on the web for that. Is it possible? Well does a lawnmowr engine have enough tork? Im talking about anywhere from a 2.5 hp all the way up to say a 6.5 hp. So is it possible?


----------



## glennsjr (Mar 17, 2010)

I'm sure it's possible but you would want to put in some kind of clutch,god forbid it got snagged on something it would tie you up like a pretzel.


----------



## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Not too hard to find decks parked out on the curb with bad engines on top. 

Not sure where you are but here any running pushmower is worth $50-100 on craigslist depending on quality and time of year. Not to mention the barter section.


----------



## McNash123 (Aug 28, 2010)

Im in CT. We get a hole $25-$60 for a used pushmower. One reason is we have large yards. Most people use riders. Second most people just think its easier to go out and buy a brand new mower then investing in an old mower (110% wrong new mowers last a good 5-6 years maybe old ones psh with maintnence they'll just never die). Im looking for a way to actually get good cash out of these little engines. I've tried generators, go karts, and an outboard. None of which got me more then $75. But then i rememberd how much ice augers go for around here! Sorry didnt mean to but my hole life story about lawnmowers out there but i just wasnt you to see where im comeing from on wanting to maje an auger.


----------



## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

Sounds like a fun project, I would suggest going somewhere that has gas augers and taking a close look at one, I have never seen one up close. I would think all you would need besides handles is a clutch adapter on the crank. I think the problem will be using 4-cycle engines since you can't lay them down like a 2-cycle, maybe if the handles were mounted so the carb cannot face down it would be ok. Have a good one. Geo


----------



## Maytag (Dec 10, 2007)

I don't think it would be so much an issue of torque as it would be of......well.......torque. By that I mean the engine probably has as much torque as an auger engine would, BUT does it have enough inertia (for the 3 strokes in between the power strokes) to compensate for the lost inertia (fly wheel effect) of the removed mower blade. I quess the auger itself would add some inertia back into the equation, but it's not as wide as a mower blade. And you're putting in a clutch.

Cast iron flywheel would help.

Professionals - does this make sense?
What is used on a factory made auger machine? 
Does it need to be a 2-cycle?

Maytag - hmmm?


----------



## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

To me the storage issue mentioned is a bigun. But I think a lot of the other issues could be worked out with careful clutch selection and throttle stops. 

But then since the engines will vary, so will your clutch interface. And so will the required agressiveness. 

Do I think ya could build one for personal use? Totally. Viable commercial product......not so sure. But totally understand where you're coming from. Good luck with the project


----------



## junebug1701 (Jun 15, 2009)

I know nothing about ice augers, but wouldn't something like this require a gear reduction system? To get maximum torque you would need to run at full throttle and that would mean the auger is turning at something like 3300 RPM!


----------



## jerome007 (Aug 11, 2010)

Yes, you'd likely need a cast iron flywheel for this to work as the mower blade acts as the flywheel on lawn mowers. You need to get a hold of some broken pressure washer engines as they use cast iron flywheels.


----------

