I have an Al-Ko SP4000 shredder that is about seven years old and has
done sterling service in getting the jungle that was the garden fairly
clear. However it is now starting to not quite cut thick branches (I was
shredding a confer at the weekend) instead turning it into a flexible
almost tentacle-like strip. It appears that the gap between rotating
cutter and the nylon drum is too large.

I stripped it down at the weekend expecting to find some form of
adjustment for the gap but both cutter and roller seem to be in fixed
positions. Does anyone know this shredder and is there any adjustment
that I can do or do I just have to replace both cutter and roller even
though there should be plenty of life in them. Neither look as if they
are significantly worn.

Thanks,

Andrew

Andrew,

If you've already stripped it down, maybe this info will be redundant
but I'll post on the off-chance that it's useful.

We have an Atika which I think is very similar to the AlKo and it has
an adjustment knob on the front for tightening/resharpening the
cutter. The instructions are to turn the knob clockwise with the motor
running until you hear a scraping and fine aluminium shavings fall out
of the chute.

I assume the AlKo doesn't have the external adjustment knob but, if
you take the front panel off, is there a bolt or screw on the left
that tightens the plate against the cutter head?

John Rumm wrote:
Andrew May wrote:
I have an Al-Ko SP4000 shredder that is about seven years old and has
done sterling service in getting the jungle that was the garden fairly
clear. However it is now starting to not quite cut thick branches (I
was shredding a confer at the weekend) instead turning it into a
flexible almost tentacle-like strip. It appears that the gap between
rotating cutter and the nylon drum is too large.

I stripped it down at the weekend expecting to find some form of
adjustment for the gap but both cutter and roller seem to be in fixed
positions. Does anyone know this shredder and is there any adjustment
that I can do or do I just have to replace both cutter and roller even
though there should be plenty of life in them. Neither look as if they
are significantly worn.

I had a similar problem with a Bosch helical shredder. That had a ali
helix in a ali casting. Neither appeared to be worn. Replacing the helix
however restored it to normal operation - but there was very little
visible difference between them. I guess they are quite intolerant of
even small amounts of ware, or loss in sharpness.

If I can't find any other way then that is my preferred option. One site
selling spares that I have found reckons that the nylon wheel is more
likely to wear than the cutter and I can quite believe it. I may try
that first to see how it goes. However neither show much where inasmuch
as I would expect the wear to be uneven and higher in the centre where
more stuff goes through. I was quite surprised though that it did not
seem to be adjustable since a couple of turns of an appropriate screw
should be all that it needs to line the two up again.

A temporary fix that I might try is to wrap some gaffer tape around the
nylon wheel. It may improve the cutting but then may just get chewed up
by the cutter.

Andrew

mike wrote:
Andrew,

If you've already stripped it down, maybe this info will be redundant
but I'll post on the off-chance that it's useful.

We have an Atika which I think is very similar to the AlKo and it has
an adjustment knob on the front for tightening/resharpening the
cutter. The instructions are to turn the knob clockwise with the motor
running until you hear a scraping and fine aluminium shavings fall out
of the chute.

I assume the AlKo doesn't have the external adjustment knob but, if
you take the front panel off, is there a bolt or screw on the left
that tightens the plate against the cutter head?

Unfortunately not on the Al-ko. I have stripped it down to at least let
me clean all the gunge out. The axles of both the cutter and the roller
sit in recesses in the front plate so no adjustment is possible. I like
the idea of sharpening in the Atika though.

Andrew

On 26 Aug, 17:10, Andrew May wrote:
mike wrote:
Andrew,

If you've already stripped it down, maybe this info will be redundant
but I'll post on the off-chance that it's useful.

We have an Atika which I think is very similar to the AlKo and it has
an adjustment knob on the front for tightening/resharpening the
cutter. The instructions are to turn the knob clockwise with the motor
running until you hear a scraping and fine aluminium shavings fall out
of the chute.

I assume the AlKo doesn't have the external adjustment knob but, if
you take the front panel off, is there a bolt or screw on the left
that tightens the plate against the cutter head?

Unfortunately not on the Al-ko. I have stripped it down to at least let
me clean all the gunge out. The axles of both the cutter and the roller
sit in recesses in the front plate so no adjustment is possible. I like
the idea of sharpening in the Atika though.

Andrew

We have a Lidl/Aldi's special that has a similar adjustment to
Mike's. I know that doesn't help the OP much, but such adjustment is
a feature that should occur on all these machines and it looks as if
any purchaser should make sure it's present.

Rob

Andrew May wrote:
I have an Al-Ko SP4000 shredder that is about seven years old and has
done sterling service in getting the jungle that was the garden fairly
clear. However it is now starting to not quite cut thick branches (I
was shredding a confer at the weekend) instead turning it into a
flexible almost tentacle-like strip. It appears that the gap between
rotating cutter and the nylon drum is too large.

I stripped it down at the weekend expecting to find some form of
adjustment for the gap but both cutter and roller seem to be in fixed
positions. Does anyone know this shredder and is there any adjustment
that I can do or do I just have to replace both cutter and roller even
though there should be plenty of life in them. Neither look as if they
are significantly worn.

I have one of those and yes as far as I could work out one has to replace
the nylon roller.
It worked fine again after replacing it.
£24 from the local ALKO supplier.

Slatts

On Aug 26, 5:56*pm, "Sla#s" wrote:

I have one of those and yes as far as I could work out one has to replace
the nylon roller.
It worked fine again after replacing it.
£24 from the local ALKO supplier.


A whole new machine from Aldi/Lidl/B&Q is less than £100 so that's a
hefty chunk of change for a nylon roller.

Aldi's was £85 last September.