Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

alan.holmes wrote:
"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

Yes, they are noisy, and the blades do get blunt, but they can be sharpened
at home.

Alan


yeah. I simply use my ride on lawnmower, and accept the fact that the
blades need replacing every year, and the deck welding up every other.

Still cheaper than buying a shredder.

13 bhp of rotating knives. Yumm!

"Peter Parry" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:50:50 +0100, Stephen
wrote:

As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

They are hideously noisy, jam frequently and tend not to last well.

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

Having had two rotating blade and one Bosch it is no competition. The
Bosch is quiet, rarely jams, eats quite large branches and chops up
leaves a bit - certainly sufficiently so they take up very little
room. Vastly better than the high speed things.


I've had an Al-KO rotating thingy and I've currently got a Bosch. Much
prefer the Bosch although I do find that if I get too carried away with very
green stuff I can end up with a mush which blocks the shredding mech until I
put something woody through.

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:18:50 +0100 (BST) someone who may be "Dave
Liquorice" wrote this:-

Are they really noisy?

Yes, I use ear defenders.

I have one I bought in Lidl. The gear type and not noisy.

Not silent, but not noisy enough to block having a conversation in a
normal voice.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000...#pt3-pb3-l1g54

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:50:50 +0100, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

I've got a "cogger" and it's reasonably quiet. Though you would still
get abuse and other things hurled at you if you decided to do a quick
bit of shredding at 3 a.m.
I'm no expert, but ISTM the difference in noise level might be that
my one uses an induction motor, whereas some (build to a budget) types
use a brushed motor.
So far as mulching leaves, I don't bother. The chips that come out
of the shredder and any leaves in amongst them go straight back onto
the flower beds and presumably the leaves just decay a little slower
than if they'd been chopped up.

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Stephen writes:
Hello,


I recently picked up an ALKO shredder second-hand.

dittos all the way through, except that we've not sharpened the blades and
it still gets throough most things up to about 3/8 inch, which is the limit
before we dry them out to burn on the chiminea*



* or sit on the log pile anyway - the chiminea's only been lit the once this
summer.

On 30 Sep, 12:50, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

The thing I found about the bladed ones is that after a couple of
seasons the blades are practically welded to the plate and require
lots of swearing and effort to undo the screws.

--
Halmyre

"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

I have the screw type bosch and it's great. The feed inlet is conical so a
3/4" branch can have a lot of leaves at the other end which can jam. Just
break branches up so all the leaves don't go through at once.
They are available on ebay just over £100. I bought mine off ebay 6-7 years
ago and it's been outside all the time. Shredded a 40ft cherry into less
than 1cube yd. this summer plus the logs -will shred as thick as a
thumb -not 38mm!
Sounds like a washing machine! Plus self feeding once the branch is put in.

"davej" wrote in message
. uk...


I have the screw type bosch and it's great. The feed inlet is conical so a
3/4" branch can have a lot of leaves at the other end which can jam. Just
break branches up so all the leaves don't go through at once.
They are available on ebay just over £100. I bought mine off ebay 6-7
years ago and it's been outside all the time. Shredded a 40ft cherry into
less than 1cube yd. this summer plus the logs -will shred as thick as a
thumb -not 38mm!

I have the bigger of the two screw feed bosch ones and it will do branches a
lot thicker than 3/4".

Sounds like a washing machine!

Mine can be made quieter by putting a wedge in the plastic motor cover to
stop it vibrating.

Plus self feeding once the branch is put in.

"Halmyre" wrote in message
...
On 30 Sep, 12:50, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

The thing I found about the bladed ones is that after a couple of
seasons the blades are practically welded to the plate and require
lots of swearing and effort to undo the screws.

--
Halmyre

I have a petrol chipper/shredder. Very expensive but one of my best buys.
A job which would have taken 3 hours with my old electric B&D now takes less
than an hour. It is noisy but it can cope with branches up to 2 inches or
more in diameter. My borders all have a layer of chippings around 3 inches
deep at this time of year. By next summer most will have disappeared!

Lawrence

"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.


I have a JCB shredder. It will cut branches the size of broom handles all
day but hates fresh leaves, they choke it up. I just wait until everything
I want to shred is dry.
I use the results for my chicken runs.

T