Garden Shredders any good?

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tdgeek

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#236150 20-May-2018 10:56

I have quite a lot of hedge. Typical one with small leaves and red flowers, NZ Broadleaf which the twigs are soft, and a finer hedge. I bought a low cost shredder, about $80 after big employee discount through a mate. It worked, but the hole was small, and you really had to strip the cutting of much of its bulk to feed it in, so pretty impractical. Ive looked at $400 to $500 ones online, they cut up to 45mm although I would rarely cut that. I just want to grab 4 pieces of hedge trimmings from the cut end and feed the lot leaf end first and it deals with it. So maybe an input hole of 200mm+ square? And can you then feed shredded stuff back in to make it finer?

I have a new trailer I got for a 6 month need, now I only need it for green dump runs, Id rather shred it all, and add to the gardens as mulch, and vegetables gardens if I can shred it finer.

Are blades easily removable to sharpen and easy to source or usually proprietary so potentially may become unavailable?

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#2019289 20-May-2018 11:07

The smaller cheaper ones I've seen have had removable knivies - they are screwed down to a rotating plate, and can fairly easily be sharpened on a bench grinder or even a stone.

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blackjack17

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#2019294 20-May-2018 11:35

I run the lawn mower over my hedge trimmings.

Not perfect but seems to work

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tdgeek

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#2019314 20-May-2018 12:03

Ive just watched some YouTube reviews. Some are not great. Plus Id also want capability to throw handfuls of smaller twigs with leaves, but thats more of a leaf shredder type of machine.

Bung

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#2019315 20-May-2018 12:07

I have a shredder that rarely gets used for garden waste. It is so much quicker to run over stuff with the mower a couple of times before putting the catcher on.

MikeB4

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#2019317 20-May-2018 12:11

We have one and it is great. We generally shred stuff straight back onto the gardens as mulch or put it into the compost bins. They cannot do flax, Cabbage tree leaves, corydalines or pampas. If you suspect the trimmings are from a plant with a health issues eg roses do not put the shreddings on the garden or in the compost or green waste. Throw them in the general waste.

Also be careful of the recommended maximum thickness of what you put through, our one can do two about two finger thickness.

Our one is a combination shredder and mulcher for can do branches and green leaves etc without clogging up.

tdgeek

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#2019322 20-May-2018 12:20

MikeB4:

We have one and it is great. We generally shred stuff straight back onto the gardens as mulch or put it into the compost bins. They cannot do flax, Cabbage tree leaves, corydalines or pampas. If you suspect the trimmings are from a plant with a health issues eg roses do not put the shreddings on the garden or in the compost or green waste. Throw them in the general waste.

Also be careful of the recommended maximum thickness of what you put through, our one can do two about two finger thickness.

Our one is a combination shredder and mulcher for can do branches and green leaves etc without clogging up.

As in throw a bunch of leaves in? So it has a big input hole, or one for twigs and branches and one for leaves? Sounds what I need.

I might have twigs a few feet long with leaves, or shorter ones, plus if I am up to date with the hedge, I'll have short cuttings on twigs and leaves.

Not likely to have anything too thick.

What brand/model is your one Mike?

Can you throw shreddings back in to fine them up?

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#2019339 20-May-2018 14:21

With my Alko blade shredder a 2nd pass doesn't do much as the premulched material tends to just pass through without being cut again.

MikeB4

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#2019382 20-May-2018 15:47

Our machine is a Bosch. Never had to put stuff though twice, the output is very small.

mattwnz

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#2019402 20-May-2018 16:36

We have had one of the masport petrol ones form many years, similar to these ones http://www.masport.co.nz/category/outdoor-garden-products/outdoor-power-equipment/chipper-shredders It is quite powerful and does okay, but even that can jam with hedge trimmings.

Honestly, I think you get what you pay for. If you are paying under 1k IMO, it is probably more for very small garden use, and only for occasional use.

beddy

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#2019404 20-May-2018 16:39

I've recently bought an Ozito Silent Shredder and I'm really happy with it.

1101

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#2019681 21-May-2018 11:17

http://www.masport.co.nz/category/outdoor-garden-products/outdoor-power-equipment/chipper-shredders

Ive had one of those for 10 years . It runs off a belt drive 6hp motor
Its got a chipper and a shredder
The shredder is insanely noisy . Your neighbours will hate you.

Shredding is a slow process , the mouth on home shredders is allways too small so have to spend alot of time cutting everything small
enough to fit it : the mouth gets smaller near the blades .
If you have a lot of leafy stuff , just throw some sticks in with it & that seems to stop blockages.
Its quicker & easier to get a jumbo bin or a sign up for a weekly collected large rubbish bin.
The chipper 'hole' is much faster and quieter & now push stuff into that if I can. The chipper inlet is very small though

Unless you pay $5k and get something really huge you will allways have the same issues . Chipper and shredder inlets too small
I dont think I'd recommend a shredder . Too noisey & too slow.

If I was to buy again I'd look at a dedicated chipper .

neb

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#2019789 21-May-2018 13:46

tdgeek:
I have a new trailer I got for a 6 month need, now I only need it for green dump runs, Id rather shred it all, and add to the gardens as mulch, and vegetables gardens if I can shred it finer.

One thing about green mulch is that when its broken down by bacteria they're going to leach nitrogen out of the soil in the process. The way to get good-quality compost-mulch is to dump it all in a heap and water in urea to provide the necessary nitrogen. Leave it for a few weeks, the current warm weather and rain is perfect for it, and you've got good-quality composted mulch.

mattwnz

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#2019828 21-May-2018 14:38

1101:

http://www.masport.co.nz/category/outdoor-garden-products/outdoor-power-equipment/chipper-shredders

Ive had one of those for 10 years . It runs off a belt drive 6hp motor
Its got a chipper and a shredder
The shredder is insanely noisy . Your neighbours will hate you.

If I was to buy again I'd look at a dedicated chipper .

Depends what you are putting though it. I find it fine for my hedge, and it is about a noisy as a lawn mower. I find petrol leaf blowers far more noisy. But I hate to think how some of their cheap electric ones must perform! But when the neighbors get a company in to do their gardening, the chipper they use is deafening, and they run it all day! I am a big fan of mulching stuff, as it is far better to do that than burn it, or send it to the landfill.

richrdh18

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#2019904 21-May-2018 15:38

Bought a cheap one from Bunnings a few months ago approx $198, did the job, got rid of all the branches etc, used it as mulch on the garden.

Saved getting trailer and dump fees (obviously cheaper but didn't have time)

tdgeek

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#2020013 21-May-2018 18:35

neb:
tdgeek:

I have a new trailer I got for a 6 month need, now I only need it for green dump runs, Id rather shred it all, and add to the gardens as mulch, and vegetables gardens if I can shred it finer.

One thing about green mulch is that when its broken down by bacteria they're going to leach nitrogen out of the soil in the process. The way to get good-quality compost-mulch is to dump it all in a heap and water in urea to provide the necessary nitrogen. Leave it for a few weeks, the current warm weather and rain is perfect for it, and you've got good-quality composted mulch.

Agree, if I can find a means to shred it all

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