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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one
as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks -- Chris Holford |
#2
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 17/06/2018 22:03, Chris Holford wrote:
They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks Amazon reviews are your friend IMHO. FWIW I have a Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 which is fairly amazing, although you do need to replace the rotating blades regularly. People with "serious" gardens tend to go with the more expensive "grinder" type. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#3
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 17/06/18 22:03, Chris Holford wrote:
They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks I've had Screwfix's own brand shredder for over a year, and thoroughly recommend it. Absolutely no problems and it works well using a slow-speed cogwheel-type blade to pull in and cut/crush branches. https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb683shr-2500w-200kg-hr-garden-shredder-230v/6887p Previously I used a high-speed shredder ()rotating blade) which I had to stop to unblock every few minutes. It was also extremely noisy. -- Jeff |
#4
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:34:11 +0100
Jeff Layman wrote: On 17/06/18 22:03, Chris Holford wrote: They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks I've had Screwfix's own brand shredder for over a year, and thoroughly recommend it. Absolutely no problems and it works well using a slow-speed cogwheel-type blade to pull in and cut/crush branches. https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb683shr-2500w-200kg-hr-garden-shredder-230v/6887p That looks like the one I hired - it filled my new compost bin with very well chewed vegetation - everything from inch-and-a-half thick branches to grass and soft green leafy stuff came out nicely crushed and chopped, and occasional jams were easily cleared by shifting into reverse. Previously I used a high-speed shredder ()rotating blade) which I had to stop to unblock every few minutes. It was also extremely noisy. I have one of those, it's crap. If I had paid more than a tenner for it I'd have been annoyed. No amount of careful cleaning, adjustment and sharpening will get it to run for more than a few minutes without jamming and even when it is working it doesn't do a very good job. |
#5
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 17/06/18 22:30, newshound wrote:
On 17/06/2018 22:03, Chris Holford wrote: They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks Amazon reviews are your friend IMHO. FWIW I have a Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 which is fairly amazing, although you do need to replace the rotating blades regularly. People with "serious" gardens tend to go with the more expensive "grinder" type. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus Bosch Shredder AXT 25 TC It's between a cutter and a grinder (slow conical cutting blade). Quiet enough to run for hours without upsetting the neighbours. Been very impressed: It eats upto the stated thickness of branches and it will take fine fresh hedge trimmings without clogging (though these do need a bit of wiggling with the supplied push stick - partly down to the narrow safety chute mouth - but there's not avoiding this on domestic grade gear. Munches cardboard too if you rip it into foot wide strips then roll up like a branch - handy for bulking out grass cuttings in compost. |
#6
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On Mon, 18 Jun 2018 00:10:15 +0100, Rob Morley
wrote: snip Previously I used a high-speed shredder ()rotating blade) which I had to stop to unblock every few minutes. It was also extremely noisy. I have one of those, it's crap. If I had paid more than a tenner for it I'd have been annoyed. No amount of careful cleaning, adjustment and sharpening will get it to run for more than a few minutes without jamming and even when it is working it doesn't do a very good job. I guess even those of a similar design can be different in use. I bought one of the Bosch spinny disk ones (partly because of the good reviews here and elsewhere) and whilst it is a bit noisy, it is fast and therefore on for less time. Daughter took down a small (25') conifer and I fed everything that would go though the chipper though it and it took it faster than I could clear the bags of chip away! You would just drop one or two of the branches in and it would just fall though about the speed of gravity. ;-) There was also an old apple tree and that it also consumed but that was more difficult, simply because *nothing* was straight. It also took all the vegetation ok. We have both used it on other jobs and still agree it's a great bit of kit (for something that small / light / cheap). Her other flail chipper has a 13hp Honda engine and she has played with big trailered jobbies when working for a local Tree Surgery Co so should be able to judge 'a good chipper' from a bad one. ;-) Not quite up to the capacity of the beast we saw at one of the Arb shows that was taking half a dozen telegraph (and bigger) sized tree trunks and chipping them at the same time! Cheers, T i m |
#8
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
In message , Chris Hogg
writes I have the Bosch ATX 25 TC 'Quiet Shredder' which I'm happy with, although I would prefer to be able to see at a glance how full the collector was getting, or even use my own buckets/trugs to collect the shreddings. But it copes with fairly thick branches, up to about 4.5cm, and is quiet, unlike some of the high-speed shredders. Quite a big beast for the amateur, and not particularly cheap. I have one of these here, partly dismantled until I couldn't get any further. It just stopped one day. I thought it had jammed, but I couldn't see anything, and poking things in didn't help. I've given up until my health and stamina improves. We got it for nothing from my son who had become fed up with its slowness on his huge and in those days wild garden. He replaced it with some horrendously noisy and slightly frightening Titan petrol driven thing. It has been fine, although I have already been on a mission to the nearest Fenner agents to buy it new drive belts. -- Bill |
#9
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 18/06/2018 08:07, Tim Watts wrote:
On 17/06/18 22:30, newshound wrote: On 17/06/2018 22:03, Chris Holford wrote: They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks Amazon reviews are your friend IMHO. FWIW I have a Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 which is fairly amazing, although you do need to replace the rotating blades regularly. People with "serious" gardens tend to go with the more expensive "grinder" type. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus Bosch Shredder AXT 25 TC It's between a cutter and a grinder (slow conical cutting blade). Quiet enough to run for hours without upsetting the neighbours. Been very impressed: It eats upto the stated thickness of branches and it will take fine fresh hedge trimmings without clogging (though these do need a bit of wiggling with the supplied push stick - partly down to the narrow safety chute mouth - but there's not avoiding this on domestic grade gear. Munches cardboard too if you rip it into foot wide strips then roll up like a branch - handy for bulking out grass cuttings in compost. I like the look of that. Nice big collection box. More than double the price, though. My ATX rapid can wear out a set of blades inside an hour, the blade tips are induction hardened and I have never had any luck trying to sharpen them. Presumably yours last *much* longer. Mind you, you can get through a HUGE pile of cuttings in an hour. |
#10
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 18/06/2018 00:10, Rob Morley wrote:
On Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:34:11 +0100 Jeff Layman wrote: On 17/06/18 22:03, Chris Holford wrote: They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks I've had Screwfix's own brand shredder for over a year, and thoroughly recommend it. Absolutely no problems and it works well using a slow-speed cogwheel-type blade to pull in and cut/crush branches. https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb683shr-2500w-200kg-hr-garden-shredder-230v/6887p That looks like the one I hired - it filled my new compost bin with very well chewed vegetation - everything from inch-and-a-half thick branches to grass and soft green leafy stuff came out nicely crushed and chopped, and occasional jams were easily cleared by shifting into reverse. Previously I used a high-speed shredder ()rotating blade) which I had to stop to unblock every few minutes. It was also extremely noisy. I have one of those, it's crap. If I had paid more than a tenner for it I'd have been annoyed. No amount of careful cleaning, adjustment and sharpening will get it to run for more than a few minutes without jamming and even when it is working it doesn't do a very good job. I was going to say I liked the look of that, until reading your experience! Some Titan stuff seems to be OK for the price. But a clone of the Bosch £400 one for a quarter of the price looks too good to be true. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#11
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
Chris Holford wrote:
They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. For some time I have had, and been very pleased with, an Alko SP5000, cog type. It has recently needed the capacitor replacing, but that was reasonably easy and inexpensive. Chris -- Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK Plant amazing Acers. |
#12
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On Sunday, June 17, 2018 at 10:34:12 PM UTC+1, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 17/06/18 22:03, Chris Holford wrote: They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks I've had Screwfix's own brand shredder for over a year, and thoroughly recommend it. Absolutely no problems and it works well using a slow-speed cogwheel-type blade to pull in and cut/crush branches. https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb683shr-2500w-200kg-hr-garden-shredder-230v/6887p Previously I used a high-speed shredder ()rotating blade) which I had to stop to unblock every few minutes. It was also extremely noisy. I had a Champion BL1800 shredder from Focus many years ago, it has a rotating disk with a couple of double-sided blades screwed to it. When they wear out, unscrew them and turn them round. Fairly reliable as long as you were careful with larger knotty branches, but a bit noisy. Sadly I can't get new blades for love nor money. |
#13
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 17/06/2018 22:03, Chris Holford wrote:
They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. IME what will work best for you will depend a bit on the type of shredding you want to do... I had an old Bosch "silent" HP2000 which was their previous "quiet" design that used a sharp edged helix to draw stuff in and crush / section it. It was ok on woody stuff (or green stuff you had left to dry for several days prior to shredding), but easily clogged on fresh leafy green stuff. In the end it drove me nuts as it was difficult to feed, and I spent more time unclogging it than using it. The modern cog type are better in that respect I understand. They also do a drum version that slices stuff obliquely, which is supposed to cope with a wider variety of stuff more easily. In the end I had a chat with the arb specialists at FR Jones & Son to see if they could suggest something a little more "industrial". They were initially keen to promote the Viking shredders since they felt they were a good compromise at handing a wide range of waste types (entry level machines were also only about £200 - high end north of £1000). However in the end it became clear that what I really needed was a chipper rather than a shredder, since most of what I want to handle are tree branches, and I have very little need to shred shrubs or hedge clippings etc. So I went for a semi-pro Lawnflite chipper. Its powered by a 6kW+ petrol engine, and that has been outstandingly good. Basically you lob a tree branch in (anything up to 80mm at the thick end[1]), and it spits it out the elevated disposal shoot into what ever container / pile you fancy, rather like a snow blower. A bit of a beast of a machine (135kg - but on big pneumatic tyres, so not actually that difficult to trundle about), loud (you need ear defenders if close to it), but its a kind of petrol mower not too disturbing kind of sound from a distance so not actually that bad for neighbours etc. [1] Which basically means if it won't chip, its big enough to cut as a log instead. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#14
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 18/06/18 11:09, newshound wrote:
My ATX rapid can wear out a set of blades inside an hour, the blade tips are induction hardened and I have never had any luck trying to sharpen them. Presumably yours last *much* longer. Mind you, you can get through a HUGE pile of cuttings in an hour. I've not touched mine - but I've only had it a year mind... |
#15
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On Mon, 18 Jun 2018 06:11:31 -0700 (PDT)
Halmyre wrote: I had a Champion BL1800 shredder from Focus many years ago, it has a rotating disk with a couple of double-sided blades screwed to it. When they wear out, unscrew them and turn them round. Fairly reliable as long as you were careful with larger knotty branches, but a bit noisy. Sadly I can't get new blades for love nor money. Build the worn ones up with a bit of weld and regrind them? |
#16
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On Monday, June 18, 2018 at 9:44:18 PM UTC+1, Rob Morley wrote:
On Mon, 18 Jun 2018 06:11:31 -0700 (PDT) Halmyre wrote: I had a Champion BL1800 shredder from Focus many years ago, it has a rotating disk with a couple of double-sided blades screwed to it. When they wear out, unscrew them and turn them round. Fairly reliable as long as you were careful with larger knotty branches, but a bit noisy. Sadly I can't get new blades for love nor money. Build the worn ones up with a bit of weld and regrind them? That's a bit beyond my capabilities. But I might dig out my dad's old oilstone and have a go at sharpening them, and touch up the kitchen knives while I'm at it. A&E, here I come... |
#17
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 19/06/2018 07:17, Halmyre wrote:
On Monday, June 18, 2018 at 9:44:18 PM UTC+1, Rob Morley wrote: On Mon, 18 Jun 2018 06:11:31 -0700 (PDT) Halmyre wrote: I had a Champion BL1800 shredder from Focus many years ago, it has a rotating disk with a couple of double-sided blades screwed to it. When they wear out, unscrew them and turn them round. Fairly reliable as long as you were careful with larger knotty branches, but a bit noisy. Sadly I can't get new blades for love nor money. Build the worn ones up with a bit of weld and regrind them? That's a bit beyond my capabilities. But I might dig out my dad's old oilstone and have a go at sharpening them, and touch up the kitchen knives while I'm at it. A&E, here I come... Did you check whether the Bosch ATX Rapid ones might be the same? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-F0168...shredder+blade I can check the measurements for you if they look about right. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#18
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at 9:35:51 AM UTC+1, newshound wrote:
On 19/06/2018 07:17, Halmyre wrote: On Monday, June 18, 2018 at 9:44:18 PM UTC+1, Rob Morley wrote: On Mon, 18 Jun 2018 06:11:31 -0700 (PDT) Halmyre wrote: I had a Champion BL1800 shredder from Focus many years ago, it has a rotating disk with a couple of double-sided blades screwed to it. When they wear out, unscrew them and turn them round. Fairly reliable as long as you were careful with larger knotty branches, but a bit noisy. Sadly I can't get new blades for love nor money. Build the worn ones up with a bit of weld and regrind them? That's a bit beyond my capabilities. But I might dig out my dad's old oilstone and have a go at sharpening them, and touch up the kitchen knives while I'm at it. A&E, here I come... Did you check whether the Bosch ATX Rapid ones might be the same? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-F0168...shredder+blade I can check the measurements for you if they look about right. Thanks, but mine are like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/AL-KO-Shred...der/2255374607 only rectangular instead of rhomboidal. I did source a set from somewhere, but the shape was subtly different, they didn't sit quite right on the spinner plate and were trying to take too much off at each pass, so it would either jam on the thicker stuff or pass the lighter stuff through unshredded. The stalls at vintage car or agricultural rallies used to be a good source for this sort of stuff. Also, it might be that the Al-Ko plate is a straightforward swap (hah!), I should look into that. |
#19
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
Recommendation?
Don't waste your time and money! :-) I haven't read any of the other responses here -- mine is a gut reaction, born of (a) having lots of hedges (and border plants for that matter) and (b) cutting them for decades. [And (c) having tried at least two shredders in my time.] You're going to either compost the cuttings/plants, or you're going to take them to the tip: - if keen on composting, pile them up lengthways on the lawn, then use your hedgetrimmer to chop the pile into short lengths. [1] - if taking to the tip, pile them neatly on to a tarpaulin, then wrap them up tightly and ram into your car -- also by far the easiest way to unload at the tip. Shredders are noisy, expensive and worst of all demand hours of your time. [1] Many people, including the TV experts, say "just run over them with the lawn mower". This advice usually comes from people with loads of time, and/or assistants whom we never see, even in the background, on programmes like Gardeners' World. This method is slower than chopping withe the hedge trimmer, and in any case you need a big, powerful, petrol driven mower. hth John |
#20
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 20/06/2018 08:51, Another John wrote:
Recommendation? Don't waste your time and money! :-) I haven't read any of the other responses here -- mine is a gut reaction, born of (a) having lots of hedges (and border plants for that matter) and (b) cutting them for decades. [And (c) having tried at least two shredders in my time.] You're going to either compost the cuttings/plants, or you're going to take them to the tip: - if keen on composting, pile them up lengthways on the lawn, then use your hedgetrimmer to chop the pile into short lengths. [1] - if taking to the tip, pile them neatly on to a tarpaulin, then wrap them up tightly and ram into your car -- also by far the easiest way to unload at the tip. Shredders are noisy, expensive and worst of all demand hours of your time. Noisy, yes. Expensive, I didn't consider my ATX rapid particularly expensive when I bought it (£140 or so?) except for replacement blades. Jams are rare once you get the hang of it, and quick to clear. A very quick way of getting a good volume reduction. I had a cone of stuff more than 6 feet high and probably 8 feet on the base. IIRC this came down in an hour or so to five feed sacks (slightly bigger than rubble sacks) which easily fitted into an Astra estate. I think this wore out both sides of the blade (£14 at the time) but saved hours compared to manual cutting and bagging. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#21
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 21/06/18 15:11, newshound wrote:
Noisy, yes. Expensive, I didn't consider my ATX rapid particularly expensive when I bought it (£140 or so?) except for replacement blades. Jams are rare once you get the hang of it, and quick to clear. A very quick way of getting a good volume reduction. I had a cone of stuff more than 6 feet high and probably 8 feet on the base. IIRC this came down in an hour or so to five feed sacks (slightly bigger than rubble sacks) which easily fitted into an Astra estate. I think this wore out both sides of the blade (£14 at the time) but saved hours compared to manual cutting and bagging. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus I'm impressed. Took me about 4 hours to clear a 6' x 3' x 2' mound of hawthorn with mine - but it was all fine nasty stuff that had to be shoved in the throat in clumps the size of an inflated balloon (that's the real slowdown). I've cleared something like a 6' high 10' deep 30' wide pile in a couple of days with a hired "proper" chipper where you could just literally throw it in. |
#22
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 20/06/2018 08:51, Another John wrote:
You're going to either compost the cuttings/plants, or you're going to take them to the tip: Or simply pile them up in a corner, allow to dry thoroughly and then burn them. It's carbon-neutral and the ash is good for the soil. |
#23
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:00:02 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote: On 21/06/18 15:11, newshound wrote: Noisy, yes. Expensive, I didn't consider my ATX rapid particularly expensive when I bought it (£140 or so?) except for replacement blades. Jams are rare once you get the hang of it, and quick to clear. A very quick way of getting a good volume reduction. I had a cone of stuff more than 6 feet high and probably 8 feet on the base. IIRC this came down in an hour or so to five feed sacks (slightly bigger than rubble sacks) which easily fitted into an Astra estate. I think this wore out both sides of the blade (£14 at the time) but saved hours compared to manual cutting and bagging. I'm impressed. Took me about 4 hours to clear a 6' x 3' x 2' mound of hawthorn with mine - but it was all fine nasty stuff that had to be shoved in the throat in clumps the size of an inflated balloon (that's the real slowdown). I think that's the key with these smaller chippers. When I fed a conifer though mine you just dropped one (or more, depending on size) branches into it and they nearly fell though! ;-) The biggest issue was getting new green-waste bags underneath it fast enough (we hooked the bag handles over the lugs on the chipper and took them off when any more in them would split the bag when lifting). I think I may have 'dressed' the blade with the diamond hone on my Leatherman a couple of times. I've cleared something like a 6' high 10' deep 30' wide pile in a couple of days with a hired "proper" chipper where you could just literally throw it in. Yes, we have access to a range of chippers where the biggest would take a 4" diameter branch and everything on it with reasonable ease. Again, it's amazing how quickly you can fill a transit truck with something like that. ;-) Cheers, T i m |
#24
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 21/06/2018 16:05, Andrew wrote:
On 20/06/2018 08:51, Another John wrote: You're going to either compost the cuttings/plants, or you're going to take them to the tip: Or simply pile them up in a corner, allow to dry thoroughly and then burn them. It's carbon-neutral and the ash is good for the soil. Its what I do with clippings from the hedges and the waste left from when I massacre a pampas grass or three each year. Usually burns pretty well after a couple of days drying. For tree branches its a different matter - they are usually to sparsely spaced to burn well (or get many onto a resonable sized fire at once). For those the chipper is really good - it got through probably 30 m^3 of branches last autumn faster than I could drag em to the machine. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#25
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 21/06/2018 21:19, John Rumm wrote:
On 21/06/2018 16:05, Andrew wrote: On 20/06/2018 08:51, Another John wrote: You're going to either compost the cuttings/plants, or you're going to take them to the tip: Or simply pile them up in a corner, allow to dry thoroughly and then burn them. It's carbon-neutral and the ash is good for the soil. Its what I do with clippings from the hedges and the waste left from when I massacre a pampas grass or three each year. Usually burns pretty well after a couple of days drying. For tree branches its a different matter - they are usually to sparsely spaced to burn well (or get many onto a resonable sized fire at once). For those the chipper is really good - it got through probably 30 m^3 of branches last autumn faster than I could drag em to the machine. Agreed, that is really where they come into their own. I forget which particular plant gave me my big pile, may have been ash, alder, or buddlia but whatever it was I had relatively straight six foot lengths tapering down from 1 inch to 1/4 inch and they self-feed and really whizz through provided the blades are sharp. You can tell when the blades are going blunt because you have to start shoving them a bit. More knarley stuff like hawthorne is not so efficient. I don't have a handy space for drying and burning hedge clippings, you get some volume reduction from the shredder but sometimes I just dig them into a big muck heap. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#26
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 18/06/2018 21:15, Tim Watts wrote:
On 18/06/18 11:09, newshound wrote: My ATX rapid can wear out a set of blades inside an hour, the blade tips are induction hardened and I have never had any luck trying to sharpen them. Presumably yours last *much* longer. Mind you, you can get through a HUGE pile of cuttings in an hour. I've not touched mine - but I've only had it a year mind... I have had a Bosh with the cutting screw for a few years now, not sharpened it yet. It has an induction motor and it can get fouled up if you put a branch with a lot of green leaves on as they get pulled off and block the mouth. They shred much easier if they can dry for a few days first. The branches come out cut into small lengths and partially crushed so they compost well. |
#27
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 17/06/2018 22:34, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 17/06/18 22:03, Chris Holford wrote: They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks I've had Screwfix's own brand shredder for over a year, and thoroughly recommend it. Absolutely no problems and it works well using a slow-speed cogwheel-type blade to pull in and cut/crush branches. https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb683shr-2500w-200kg-hr-garden-shredder-230v/6887p Bosch do a similar one, a lot more expensive though. |
#28
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 22/06/2018 19:03, dennis@home wrote:
On 18/06/2018 21:15, Tim Watts wrote: On 18/06/18 11:09, newshound wrote: My ATX rapid can wear out a set of blades inside an hour, the blade tips are induction hardened and I have never had any luck trying to sharpen them. Presumably yours last *much* longer. Mind you, you can get through a HUGE pile of cuttings in an hour. I've not touched mine - but I've only had it a year mind... I have had a Bosh with the cutting screw for a few years now, not sharpened it yet. It has an induction motor and it can get fouled up if you put a branch with a lot of green leaves on as they get pulled off and block the mouth. They shred much easier if they can dry for a few days first. The branches come out cut into small lengths and partially crushed so they compost well. Sounds like the one I had. No easy way to resharpen the helix alas. ISTR that the part was £80 when I replaced it the first time. They work ok when sharp, so long as you can accept the limitation that it only works well when shredding exactly the right kind of stuff - dryish, not to leafy or lush, nothing too soft. The small opening also makes them hard to feed - you spend alot of time shopping side shoots off to get the thing in the hopper. I think they designed the hopper opening to limit the size of branch that could be fed, but in doing so just made it hard to feed. (I attacked mine with a reciprocating saw in the end to make the hopper neck wider!) In the end I got so fed up with it, I lobbed it in a skip rather than replace the helix again etc. About the only bit of it I miss is it was good when taking down over grown brambles - you could snip a bit off near the root, and feed in an end, it would then pull in the rest of the stalk and save you getting lacerated by it too much. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#29
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 23/06/2018 03:48, John Rumm wrote:
On 22/06/2018 19:03, dennis@home wrote: On 18/06/2018 21:15, Tim Watts wrote: On 18/06/18 11:09, newshound wrote: My ATX rapid can wear out a set of blades inside an hour, the blade tips are induction hardened and I have never had any luck trying to sharpen them. Presumably yours last *much* longer. Mind you, you can get through a HUGE pile of cuttings in an hour. I've not touched mine - but I've only had it a year mind... I have had a Bosh with the cutting screw for a few years now, not sharpened it yet. It has an induction motor and it can get fouled up if you put a branch with a lot of green leaves on as they get pulled off and block the mouth. They shred much easier if they can dry for a few days first. The branches come out cut into small lengths and partially crushed so they compost well. Sounds like the one I had. No easy way to resharpen the helix alas. ISTR that the part was £80 when I replaced it the first time. They work ok when sharp, so long as you can accept the limitation that it only works well when shredding exactly the right kind of stuff - dryish, not to leafy or lush, nothing too soft. The small opening also makes them hard to feed - you spend alot of time shopping side shoots off to get the thing in the hopper. I think they designed the hopper opening to limit the size of branch that could be fed, but in doing so just made it hard to feed. (I attacked mine with a reciprocating saw in the end to make the hopper neck wider!) In the end I got so fed up with it, I lobbed it in a skip rather than replace the helix again etc. About the only bit of it I miss is it was good when taking down over grown brambles - you could snip a bit off near the root, and feed in an end, it would then pull in the rest of the stalk and save you getting lacerated by it too much. I didn't really have a problem with it jamming. The wife does though as she just wont stop bunching loads of stuff up and shoving it all in at once. It will quite happily take a whole branch and pull it through but it won't take three or more at the same time. |
#30
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
On 24/06/2018 09:44, dennis@home wrote:
On 23/06/2018 03:48, John Rumm wrote: On 22/06/2018 19:03, dennis@home wrote: On 18/06/2018 21:15, Tim Watts wrote: On 18/06/18 11:09, newshound wrote: My ATX rapid can wear out a set of blades inside an hour, the blade tips are induction hardened and I have never had any luck trying to sharpen them. Presumably yours last *much* longer. Mind you, you can get through a HUGE pile of cuttings in an hour. I've not touched mine - but I've only had it a year mind... I have had a Bosh with the cutting screw for a few years now, not sharpened it yet. It has an induction motor and it can get fouled up if you put a branch with a lot of green leaves on as they get pulled off and block the mouth. They shred much easier if they can dry for a few days first. The branches come out cut into small lengths and partially crushed so they compost well. Sounds like the one I had. No easy way to resharpen the helix alas. ISTR that the part was £80 when I replaced it the first time. They work ok when sharp, so long as you can accept the limitation that it only works well when shredding exactly the right kind of stuff - dryish, not to leafy or lush, nothing too soft. The small opening also makes them hard to feed - you spend alot of time shopping side shoots off to get the thing in the hopper. I think they designed the hopper opening to limit the size of branch that could be fed, but in doing so just made it hard to feed. (I attacked mine with a reciprocating saw in the end to make the hopper neck wider!) In the end I got so fed up with it, I lobbed it in a skip rather than replace the helix again etc. About the only bit of it I miss is it was good when taking down over grown brambles - you could snip a bit off near the root, and feed in an end, it would then pull in the rest of the stalk and save you getting lacerated by it too much. I didn't really have a problem with it jamming. The wife does though as she just wont stop bunching loads of stuff up and shoving it all in at once. It will quite happily take a whole branch and pull it through but it won't take three or more at the same time. I found with a branch it would start out ok, but then choke when it got down to the leafy bits without much wood left... -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#31
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Garden shredder; recommendations?
In article , Chris Holford c.holford@brownswell
..myzen.co.uk writes They seem to run from about£50 to £500 or more. I'm thing of getting one as my garden has a lot of shrubs that get pruned each year. Looking for a reasonably priced one which will be reliable. Thanks Many thanks for all the helpful comments. I finally bought a Titan TTB683SHR 2500W from Screwfix who had it in stock at the local branch and cheaper than Ebay or Amazon. It seems well made for the price. I've used it for about 3 hours so far it has worked without problems. -- Chris Holford |
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