"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message ...

"stryped" wrote in message
...
I have a spare 13 horse Honda engine laying around and a need for a
vibratory compactor. My thought was to use the engine to drive a shaft
attached to two pillow block bearings. The shaft would have a piece of
square tubing or something else welded to it to create the "off
balance" effect.

Yes I know I can rent one but I need it for several different things
and not all at the same time if that makes sense.

Any ideas on the proper way to build the out of balance shaft? Such as
how much weight and how far from the centerline of the axle it should
be?

Thanks,

============

You could rent one the first time and study its design.

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HarborFreight has a 6.5 hp model,
http://www.harborfreight.com/65-hp-p...tor-69738.html, they say 5500
beats per minute and a total weight of 176 lbs. In the manual is an
exploded diagram that is probably close to scale, which makes it look like
they step up the engine speed less than 2:1 with pulleys and two drive belts
in parallel, and the eccentric is pretty small. They list the bearings for
the shaft as a 6308 so that tells you the shaft size and what strength
bearings they felt it needed, the weight looks to be less than the shaft
diameter and tight to one side of the shaft. They claim 3000 lbs of force.
Anyway, just one place to get some info.

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Regards,
Carl Ijames