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#1
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal
with, probably about 3 skip loads. Next problem is how to dispose of them. Options include: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. o Skips. Pros - easy. Cons - expensive. o Hire a chipper (& operator) and disposal of chips in garden. Pros - plenty of space to use the chippings. Cons - man came out today and did that sucking through the teeth bit and said that the bushieness & density of the hedge would probably choke his machine. o Buy a garden shredder and shred what we can. Pros - relatively cheap and I end up with a shredder at the end of it. Cons - won't handle the thicker/bushier stuff and I might end up with a *broken* shredder at the end of it. Any other suggestions? Would something like this (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? Tim |
#2
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
HI Tim
On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:26:04 -0000, "Tim Downie" wrote: Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. Next problem is how to dispose of them. Options include: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. o Skips. Pros - easy. Cons - expensive. o Hire a chipper (& operator) and disposal of chips in garden. Pros - plenty of space to use the chippings. Cons - man came out today and did that sucking through the teeth bit and said that the bushieness & density of the hedge would probably choke his machine. o Buy a garden shredder and shred what we can. Pros - relatively cheap and I end up with a shredder at the end of it. Cons - won't handle the thicker/bushier stuff and I might end up with a *broken* shredder at the end of it. Any other suggestions? Would something like this (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? Tim Quickest and tidyiest is a _proper_ shredder - We had 12 x 40ft pines removed just after Christmas - proper Tree Surgeons came with a unimog-mounted, hydraulically driver shredder which ate everything from 4" diameter down. made one heck of a noise - and a large pile of chippings... Back at the last house I did the 'bonfire' route - possible a bit unecological - but very satisfying ! Regards Adrian |
#3
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On Feb 23, 12:26 pm, "Tim Downie"
wrote: o Hire a chipper (& operator) and disposal of chips in garden. Pros - plenty of space to use the chippings. Cons - man came out today and did that sucking through the teeth bit and said that the bushieness & density of the hedge would probably choke his machine. You spoke to the wrong person. We had South Bucks Tree Surgeons who came with a huge trailer based shredder that dumped the chippings into another trailer. Think of a combine harvester throwing the corn out of the spout. They also had an "angle grinder on a wheelbarrow" stump grinder to lower the level of the remains so we could cover them with soil. MBQ |
#4
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
Adrian wrote:
On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:26:04 -0000, "Tim Downie" wrote: Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. Next problem is how to dispose of them. Options include: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. o Skips. Pros - easy. Cons - expensive. o Hire a chipper (& operator) and disposal of chips in garden. Pros - plenty of space to use the chippings. Cons - man came out today and did that sucking through the teeth bit and said that the bushieness & density of the hedge would probably choke his machine. o Buy a garden shredder and shred what we can. Pros - relatively cheap and I end up with a shredder at the end of it. Cons - won't handle the thicker/bushier stuff and I might end up with a *broken* shredder at the end of it. Any other suggestions? Would something like this (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? Quickest and tidyiest is a _proper_ shredder - We had 12 x 40ft pines removed just after Christmas - proper Tree Surgeons came with a unimog-mounted, hydraulically driver shredder which ate everything from 4" diameter down. What a waste of good heating fuel! OK, so it's a bit more labour using the smaller bits but when we fell trees we make firewood down to 2" diameter or even less. Having used everything down to that size you can shred the rest with a 'lighter' shredder. made one heck of a noise - and a large pile of chippings... Back at the last house I did the 'bonfire' route - possible a bit unecological - but very satisfying ! Regards Adrian -- Chris Green |
#6
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
"Adrian" wrote in message ... Quickest and tidyiest is a _proper_ shredder - I suspect I just need to do a bit more phoning around. We had 12 x 40ft pines removed just after Christmas - proper Tree Surgeons came with a unimog-mounted, hydraulically driver shredder which ate everything from 4" diameter down. I want one! ;-) Any ball park figures on how much I should expect to pay to hire such a beast (& operator)? Cheers! Tim |
#7
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
Adrian wrote:
Back in Suffolk I took out a couple of hundred yards of mature (even geriatric !) leylandii - and decided that (as firewood) they were more trouble than they were worth. Even after several years drying they were still full of sticky sap that got everywhere, and they didn't burn all that well either in our stove..... That's what we're burning and it's pretty good actually. It needs seasoning well (preferably 12 months) but in that it's very little different from most wood. It's much better than pine and seems rather better than aspen. I'm surpised you had difficulty burning it after 'several years', not our experience at all. -- Chris Green |
#8
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:19:32 +0000, Adrian wrote:
Back in Suffolk I took out a couple of hundred yards of mature (even geriatric !) leylandii - and decided that (as firewood) they were more trouble than they were worth. Even after several years drying they were still full of sticky sap that got everywhere, and they didn't burn all that well either in our stove..... Leylandii didn't burn well? Your stove needed to be replaced. Leylandii, apply match, stand well back. |
#9
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On 23 Feb, 12:26, "Tim Downie"
wrote: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. Cost one of my neighbours his E-type Jag _Don't_ burn Leylandii unless you know what you're doing, i.e. you've burned it before and you have adequate space to do it in (several times more than you think). Leylandii is chock-full of resins and burns somewhere between ferociously and explosively. _Many_ people get seriously surprised by how out of control a Leylandii bonfire can get. |
#10
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:26:04 -0000, "Tim Downie"
wrote: |!Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal |!with, probably about 3 skip loads. |! |!Next problem is how to dispose of them. |! |!Options include: |! |!o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. |! |!o Skips. Pros - easy. Cons - expensive. |! |!o Hire a chipper (& operator) and disposal of chips in garden. Pros - |!plenty of space to use the chippings. Cons - man came out today and did |!that sucking through the teeth bit and said that the bushieness & density of |!the hedge would probably choke his machine. |! |!o Buy a garden shredder and shred what we can. Pros - relatively cheap and |!I end up with a shredder at the end of it. Cons - won't handle the |!thicker/bushier stuff and I might end up with a *broken* shredder at the end |!of it. |! |!Any other suggestions? Would something like this |!(http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the |!job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? Our local tip (Domestic Refuse Site), FREE, has a place for green waste, The would take a Leylandii no problem. Every so often the bring in a *huge* shredder and haul everything away to compost -- Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk 20,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.org For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/ http://www.gutenberg.org/author/John_Hartley http://www.gutenberg.org/author/F_W_Moorman |
#11
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
"Andy Dingley" wrote in message oups.com... On 23 Feb, 12:26, "Tim Downie" wrote: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. Cost one of my neighbours his E-type Jag _Don't_ burn Leylandii unless you know what you're doing, i.e. you've burned it before and you have adequate space to do it in (several times more than you think). Leylandii is chock-full of resins and burns somewhere between ferociously and explosively. _Many_ people get seriously surprised by how out of control a Leylandii bonfire can get. I have had the whole of a galvanised steel fire bin glowing red-white burning conifer bits. They burn so well that you get a blast of red hot flame several feet in the air and no smoke if you do it properly. |
#12
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
HI Tim
On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:21:56 -0000, "Tim Downie" wrote: "Adrian" wrote in message .. . Quickest and tidyiest is a _proper_ shredder - I suspect I just need to do a bit more phoning around. We had 12 x 40ft pines removed just after Christmas - proper Tree Surgeons came with a unimog-mounted, hydraulically driver shredder which ate everything from 4" diameter down. I want one! ;-) Don't we all g The unimog was a nice piece of kit also...... .....but too many toys here already ! Any ball park figures on how much I should expect to pay to hire such a beast (& operator)? The whole job cost us 800 euro - that was three men plus the 'mog and chipper - and they worked a good 'full day'..... If it was only one or two of the trees I might have had a go myself - but they were a bit on the big side (three of them were about 15" diameter) - and the telephone line was dangerously close to where the trees had to fall - so I chickened out ! However - I shall be logging up the remains - when it stops raining for long enough. Even the locals are saying it's been a particularly wet Autumn - Winter...... Ah well Adrian Cheers! Tim |
#13
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
In article ,
"Tim Downie" writes: Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. Next problem is how to dispose of them. Options include: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. A friend of mine did that. It was followed by a very large insurance claim to get all the neighbours' cars resprayed, on which the fall-out had landed. -- Andrew Gabriel [email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup] |
#14
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
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#15
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On 23 Feb 2007 13:24:07 GMT, Huge wrote:
No. I have a 2kW shredder and it's a useless pain. It blocks up all the time and won't shred anything thicker than your thumb. Oh, and the safety features are a PITA, too. You can't get anything with side branches into the feed chute and it's a right pain to take apart when it blocks up. Hmm, I've got a 2.5kW shredder and it's fine. It's also easy to take apart, just one big thumbscrew to undo and it hinges open at the cutting plate. The knives are double sided and secured using allen bolts and it wolfs down branches up to 1" dia. The blades are mounted on a heavy flywheel so it doesn't tend to jam unless one is daft. However the big models have powered feeders and can handle huge bits of wood and can be stacked with branches then you walk away and load some more. That's a huge time saving over any noddy household device. Since I've got to thin out upwards of a tonne of wood a year I've been looking at buying one for the PTO on my tractor but they cost big bucks. At present I use a billhook and muscle power to reduce branches to brash and logs usable in the log burner. |
#16
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On 23 Feb, 14:14, "dennis@home" wrote:
I have had the whole of a galvanised steel fire bin glowing red-white burning conifer bits. Doing it inside a container is probably the most sensible. I love Leylandii as firewood (open hearth or closed stove), but I certainly don't do it in big lumps... |
#17
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On 23 Feb, 12:26, "Tim Downie"
wrote: Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. Next problem is how to dispose of them. If its just a little hedge, not much use for anything, but for tall hedges its a waste of good wood. If you dont want to build anything with it, I'll bet you could find people on freecycle that would, especially if you cut them to 8' lengths. NT |
#18
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
Huge wrote:
On 2007-02-23, Tim Downie wrote: Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. Next problem is how to dispose of them. Options include: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. o Skips. Pros - easy. Cons - expensive. o Hire a chipper (& operator) and disposal of chips in garden. Pros - plenty of space to use the chippings. Cons - man came out today and did that sucking through the teeth bit and said that the bushieness & density of the hedge would probably choke his machine. o Buy a garden shredder and shred what we can. Pros - relatively cheap and I end up with a shredder at the end of it. Cons - won't handle the thicker/bushier stuff and I might end up with a *broken* shredder at the end of it. Any other suggestions? Would something like this (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? No. I have a 2kW shredder and it's a useless pain. It blocks up all the time and won't shred anything thicker than your thumb. Oh, and the safety features are a PITA, too. You can't get anything with side branches into the feed chute and it's a right pain to take apart when it blocks up. If you can't burn it, I'd get a man with a big shredder in. When we had our oak tree cut down (too close to the house), they shredded everything less than about 6" diameter. We kept the shreddings and used them as mulch. I have a ride on lawnmower. Antyhing over 1" diameter gets chainsawed, anything over 2" gets on the winter fires, the rest gets run over with the lawnmower. A set of new blades is only £20 and an hour to fit.... |
#19
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
Andy Dingley wrote:
On 23 Feb, 12:26, "Tim Downie" wrote: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. Cost one of my neighbours his E-type Jag _Don't_ burn Leylandii unless you know what you're doing, i.e. you've burned it before and you have adequate space to do it in (several times more than you think). Leylandii is chock-full of resins and burns somewhere between ferociously and explosively. _Many_ people get seriously surprised by how out of control a Leylandii bonfire can get. Yes, they are serious fun. Nov 5th is a good time. |
#20
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
Tim Downie wrote:
Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. SNIP Any other suggestions? Would something like this (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? If that shreds a 40mm branch then I'm a Dutchman. No chance! We removed a tree yaer before last. Cut it into useable pieces & bought a cast iron Chimira. Great! Outside sitting on the decking with a large drink, logs crackling away! -- Dave The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk 01634 717930 07850 597257 |
#21
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On 23 Feb, 12:26, "Tim Downie"
wrote: Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. Next problem is how to dispose of them. Options include: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. o Skips. Pros - easy. Cons - expensive. o Hire a chipper (& operator) and disposal of chips in garden. Pros - plenty of space to use the chippings. Cons - man came out today and did that sucking through the teeth bit and said that the bushieness & density of the hedge would probably choke his machine. o Buy a garden shredder and shred what we can. Pros - relatively cheap and I end up with a shredder at the end of it. Cons - won't handle the thicker/bushier stuff and I might end up with a *broken* shredder at the end of it. Any other suggestions? Would something like this (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? Tim Our Council, Wychavon, have a free service for this. They will send a guy round with the machine and take it away. You must supply bags. Worth asking your local authority |
#22
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On 23 Feb, 18:41, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote: Tim Downie wrote: Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. SNIP Any other suggestions? Would something like this (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? If that shreds a 40mm branch then I'm a Dutchman. No chance! We removed a tree yaer before last. Cut it into useable pieces & bought a cast iron Chimira. Great! Outside sitting on the decking with a large drink, logs crackling away! I got a basic £70 one that does 4cm, and got through a pretty big pile with it. But it was ---ing noisy and slower than I'd hoped for. NT |
#23
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On 23 Feb, 12:26, "Tim Downie"
wrote: Having grubbed out my hedge, I now have a huge pile of branches to deal with, probably about 3 skip loads. Next problem is how to dispose of them. Options include: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. o Skips. Pros - easy. Cons - expensive. o Hire a chipper (& operator) and disposal of chips in garden. Pros - plenty of space to use the chippings. Cons - man came out today and did that sucking through the teeth bit and said that the bushieness & density of the hedge would probably choke his machine. o Buy a garden shredder and shred what we can. Pros - relatively cheap and I end up with a shredder at the end of it. Cons - won't handle the thicker/bushier stuff and I might end up with a *broken* shredder at the end of it. Any other suggestions? Would something like this (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/7218400.htm) be up to the job (assuming we avoid stuffing anything too thick down its throat)? Tim Domestic garden shredders are useless and a waste of money. I have been down this route in the past and I can tell you that it is worth paying a tree surgeon to do the work for no other reason than he disposes of the trimmings. I can trim these trees in no time flat with my chain saw but then I reduce myself to nervous wreck trying to dispose of the mountain of trimmings piled around the garden over the subsequent weeks and months. |
#24
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
"dennis@home" wrote in message ... "Andy Dingley" wrote in message oups.com... On 23 Feb, 12:26, "Tim Downie" wrote: o Big bonfire. Pros- cheap. Cons - no good site handy for a bonfire. Cost one of my neighbours his E-type Jag _Don't_ burn Leylandii unless you know what you're doing, i.e. you've burned it before and you have adequate space to do it in (several times more than you think). Leylandii is chock-full of resins and burns somewhere between ferociously and explosively. _Many_ people get seriously surprised by how out of control a Leylandii bonfire can get. I have had the whole of a galvanised steel fire bin glowing red-white burning conifer bits. Same here. It should only be burned in a container to be safe. We shred the leafy parts and either compost them or just spread them on the ground for the chickens to turn over and incorporate but the woody parts are burned. I wouldn't burn them in the bread oven though, no matter how well dried they were. Mary |
#25
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Shredding/chipping leylandii
On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:56:39 +0000, Steve Firth
wrote: Leylandii didn't burn well? Your stove needed to be replaced. Leylandii often don't burn well in a closed stove. If you've limited volume above the firebed and don't have separately controllable top air, then you'll not burn the vapourised resin. As well as not burning usefully, it'll give you big creosote buildups in the flue and the risk of a chimney fire. |
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