Garden shredder

[Spinney]

I want to buy a garden shredder, not too expensive, to chop up hedge trimmings etc, and maybe bits of branch up to 2 or 3 cm diameter.

A quick look on the internet shows I can pay anything from £75 to £500. Some reviews also mention things like blades going dull too quickly/not being able to buy replacement blades.

So, any recommendations, please? Or things to avoid.

Ta!

 

[berty bassett]

i shouldnt bother with the cheaper end - i had a bosch that said it could take branches up to 1 inch
what a load of tosh ! constantly jamming
another one for mowing it up

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I'm afraid even the smaller Timber Wolves jam on things like yucca even though they shred fence posts.

As mentioned upthread, a cheap mower will do the job to a standard suitable for composting.

 

[welsh dragon]

Whichever one you get, you want one that crushes rather than shreds. A shredder is very agressive, and is really noisy. A crusher is much quieter, and will last longer. As usual, cheapest isn't always best, then again, sometimes the most expensive isn't either.

Sorry i can't help with makes spinney.

 

[KnackeredBike]

Another vote for a lawnmower. Anything unmowable can be firewood.

 

[Mr Celine]

If you must, get one that doesn't take up too much space or can be used for hanging things on.

Mrs Celine has one. A completely useless waste of space. (The shredder, not Mrs C).

Anything that the mower wouldn't chop up just jams it. It's hard to clear jams, removing the blades to replace or sharpen is a krypton factor excercise. And it's very noisy. I think it's a Black and Decker.

 

[PaulSB]

Another vote for a lawnmower. I have a wood burner and open fires. Most wood waste is stored for kindling or burning. Trimming off the foliage and twiggy bits doesn't take long, add these to my compost heap to feed the eternally hungry vegetable garden.

 

[lazyfatgit]

We've one that's designed to take palm fronds which are fibrous and hard to chop up. The difference is the blade. It's like a water wheel which crushes whatever's put in against a metal plate. Self feeding and rarely jams. Does up to about 40mm as long as the cuttings are still a bit moist. Middle of the road price wise.

For the amount of mulch we've made just using the pruning from the garden it's paid for itself in a year.

 

[Bazzer]

Bought a German one (begins with L but name escapes me at the moment and my shed is currently 17 miles away), about 20 years ago. Currently out of action for reasons I'll not bore you with and it may be terminal.
I'd treat with scepticism any claims about how thick the machines can handle. Ours is a twin bladded chopper and will/would cope with up to 4.5cm branches, provided they were fed in carefully. But that doesn't mean I can feed a 2cm branch in with impunity. I found you have to learn the thickness of wood the machine can handle, or if not thick, the density of the material going into the feeder. Also some wood chops better when freshly cut, whilst other chops better when dry, so sometimes you can't get a clearing/cutting job completed at the time you are working.
Jamming on my machine is easy enough to rectify, (the feeder was held on by four readily accessible bolts), but if it keeps happening it becomes a PITA. So if you go down the shredder route, I'd check what you need to do to clear jams, before buying.
As to the blades, mine is still has the original blades. The blades are user replaceable and can be sharpened at home. Replacing the whole of the disc on which the blades are fitted would be likely to be a lot more expensive, so I'd check for that.
Oh and if you decide on one, get yourself some ear defenders.and safety specs. The machine might hum away reasonably quietly when turned on, but the noise, (certainly of mine) when shredding, gets very loud and bits can fly out of the feeder.

 

[Globalti]

Fans of the film Fargo will remember the garden shredder use to dispose of evidence:

 

[rich p]

I borrowed a cheap (I suspect) one from a neighbour and stopped using it pretty quickly as I was so embarrassed by the unholy noise.
Maybe dearer ones are quieter, but I suspect they're just as bad, but take larger diameters.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

[QUOTE 4937622, member: 9609"]after borrowing one today from a neighbour link I have changed my mind, they are absolutely brilliant, I pruned this tree back a little and I fed everything through that smaller than an inch n dia - never jammed once, quite satisfying watching it go in, just used the spoil as a mulch View attachment 370843 View attachment 370844
amazing how much brighter it came after giving it a good trim[/QUOTE]

Very impressive. Even more impressive is the fact the lamppost has gone too. Did it make much noise in the shredder?

 

[classic33]

Fans of the film Fargo will remember the garden shredder use to dispose of evidence:

View attachment 367985

Bones can damage the blades & body fluid spatter has to be considered.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Whichever one you get, you want one that crushes rather than shreds. A shredder is very agressive, and is really noisy. A crusher is much quieter, and will last longer. As usual, cheapest isn't always best, then again, sometimes the most expensive isn't either.

Sorry i can't help with makes spinney.

As above, a crusher is far better. Mine is a Scheppach Lonos, which I've had for 15 years and use regularly. . It has a rhythmic samba beat type sound, quite satisfying and will take branches an inch wide.
It replaced a McCulloch, which was a high speed spinning blade type, which by contrast was ear splitting in use and also the branches had to be fed in at shoulder height so after a couple of hours your shoulders were very painful.
A crusher type all the way for me, not cheap, but far better.