chipper/shredder

Like many of you, I realize the days of putting our garden to bed is just around the corner. We have lots
of trees and shrubs that we will be tending to, and each year as our garden has grown, we have thought
about getting a piece of equipment that would help us make mulch/compost out of the debris. Unfortunately,
so many of them seem to be quite expensive. What have any of you found to be most useful in this regard?
Given the shrubs and small limbs we will have in limbing up, it can't be too small.

If no one answers you just post on the 'Apropos of nothing' thread to get their attention. I have no info on shredders.

This message was edited Sep 21, 2009 6:01 PM

All I know about them is that I wish I could have one. hehe.

I can't give you a recommendation for a good chipper/shreder, but I have used several and my two cents is this. Most work really well for small to medium sticks, but if you are trying to mulch leaves and other dense material they tend to jamb up fairly quickly, especially in our wet climate. They work great for early spring pruning of shrubs and trees, but not for fall leaves or grass clippings. If you are looking for something that will do leaves better, I can give you a recomendation, but it will have to wait until I look at the mulcher I use...it's kind of like a weed eater in a bucket.

Julie, I'm interested in knowing what you use, too. I need the carbon in my compost and I have tons of small twigs and leaves.

I have a Troybuilt - takes limbs up to 3", but I stay closer to 2 - 2 1/2".
Dittos on the leaves comments by Julie. They all tend to jam up.

OK...found it without going out into the dark garden shed. The tool I got for my leaves is a FlowTron® Electric Leaf Eater and Mulcher, and I just love it. I have tons of maple trees, and although it is quite a bit of work, I have made some glorious mulch for my daylily beds with it. It has gone down tons in price...I paid $170 or so for mine a few years ago, but wouldn't trade it for the world. It is basically a dual string weedeater in a plastic tub, but it does an awesome job of chopping up leaves and not jambing if stuff is dry, and cleaning out way easier than a shredder if it does pack up with wet stuff. Found it at Sam's club here:

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=333071&pid=_Froogle&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=125177

Down side is that it does need to be plugged in.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Julie and Kate!! My leaves are always wet - most of them don't come down from the Maples until the rains hit. They do seem to break down okay before too long.

Kate, how does the Troybuilt do with the smaller pieces of twig? I have a ton of those things that I'd love to work into the soil.

This message was edited Sep 21, 2009 9:18 PM

Not so good with smaller twigs...it's kind of a catch 22....what works well on soft stuff doesn't work good on sticks and vice versa. It does good with the heavy stems of the maple leaves, but not much tougher stuff. Again, think of a weed eater...what it chops through easily vs what breaks the string.

Interesting. My neighbor has a heavy duty chipper, but he thinks it will jam with the smaller pieces . . .

I can't tell you how many cuss words I have invented trying to unclog chipper/shredders doing cleanup on this property. I get lots of boughs, which have both the stick part and the needles/leaves. Sticks go great, even up to 2", but when I get to the leafy parts, even if they are somewhat dry, I have always ended up with a gooey snotball in an inexcessible place.

hmmm...hadn't thought of it as such, but Julie you have more than adequately described what occurs with dense leafy material!

So the FlowTron and the Troybuilt both do twigs?

big twigs with the Troybuilt.
The way one loads it might make a difference, too. Not lots of small stuff together.

Flowtron will only do VERY small twigs...and pretty much cuts them into about 2" sections.

Okay. Thanks!!

Sorry about posting twice! For some reason, my first post didn't appear on my page
until I posted the second one. Oh, well, live and learn. Thank you so much for your
thoughts. I would never haveconsidered the jamming of wet leaves, nor the same problem
if you tried to use smaller twigs in a more powerful machine. Man, it sounds like you
can't get a "one size fits all." Also, isn't the Troy-bilt pretty spendy? Like some of you,
we garden 5 acres, so have more than our fair share of trees, leaves, and pruning. While
I don't want to invest too much into something we use such a short time of year, it's
one of those things that I find myself saying when I need it: dang, where is my shredder!

The Troy Bilt isn't cheap, but it's less than I would have expected for something with its reputation. And I know it's something I'd definitely get use of each year.

http://www.troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category2_10001_14102_54995_54995_54995_-1

You'll have it a very long time - I amortized the cost over the past 18 years & think it's worth it. Plus, you'll use it more than you realize.

We bought a used Bearcat, and boy that thing will chew me up and spit me out in little shreds. I absolutely had to have it, but I hate to admit, it might be a bit too much for me to use by myself. Joey made me promise I would not use it by myself, so maybe he just has me afraid of it. I am considering getting a leaf shredder like Rarejem has. I do have a gas leaf blower/mulcher, but I burned a hole in the bag catcher. Will the leaf shredder do a better/easier/quicker job than the blower?

http://www.globeorganic.co.uk/products/shredder/gardenmaster9hp.html

I have this one, both shreds and chips (hammer and blades) rarely jams, is easy to unstuff, and with the big hopper gets through a BIG pile in no time. Brillant.

OMG. *drool*

I love it, Pony - I'd like its big brother, too - the Forester. Great names, and very willy wonka looking.

Oompa Loompa Doompity Do... I'm going to shred these branches for you... :D

So nice to have another Dahl fan around. Brillant books - I love letting kids know they have a dark side to compliment their angelness.

Following the recommendation on the Troy-bilt, the reviews on their own page are pretty dreary. Anybody know about
this machine first-hand?

I get the sense that Kate really likes hers - maybe she could address what the specific complaints on the site are (or are they just rankings?)

Here's a tip I read in an old issue of Organic Gardening magazine. Use a galvanized garbage can and your weed whacker. Just put a layer of leaves in the bottom and weed whack away until you reach the desired size to add to your compost pile. You can mix in shredded paper from your home office shredder, too. This really breaks down fast. I am experimenting with a cold frame full of shredded leaves, a sprinkling of soil, paper and wood chips combined with compostable household scraps that I've processed through the Vita mix. I hope by next spring I'll have a usable soil ammendment.

Now that's interesting. It might just work with our wet leaves. Mine don't all finish coming down until the rains have started and then I have heavy, wet mats of hug Maple leaves. This might help me to get them started breaking down.

The cold frame is a good idea, too . . .

Thanks!

Katie:

They aren't just rankings. I think out of 5 stars, 2 out of four gave the machine 1 star, and when you read their
actual review, it's surprising they even gave them one! They had huge problems with them, not only with their
operation, but also with the lack of durability. What I can't quite understand is that they call them MTD machines,
though they have a Troy-bilt label. So perhaps Troy-bilt is simply putting their brand on somebody else's
machine?

In the day, Troy-bilt was rock-solid. I bought a Troy-bilt "horse," with a 7hp Kohler engine and it was one of the
most dependable pieces of equipment I have ever owned. No, I'd say it was THE most dependable. When I
sold it (sorry I did, now) about 13 years after buying it, I sold it for more than I paid for it new. And it still ran
just as good. The company stood behind everything they made, and it was almost all mail-order. Boy have
times changed that!

We have an Echo/Bearcat. It only chips, not shreds. It's a big mother and I don't get it out to use. I just have my hubby do all that stuff.

My Troy built is about 20-something. I believe it has a Briggs & Stratton engine, but I may be mixing this up with something else. It's pouring here, otherwise I'd go out to the shed & look at it to make sure.
It works well - but I wish it had an electric start to make it easier. It is not a machine that shreds wet stuff well - we bought it more for chipping branches and it does this quite well.

It's pouring here, too, and has been for the last hour. Eeek! Winter descends.

sobbing into my pretend glass of merlot...hmmm - smells like coffee.

Very . . . . sad . . . getting . . . sleepy . . . very . . . sleepy . . .

oy vey! WetCold has arrived in all its glory.

Time to turn the heat up and pour a glass of red wine, eh?

I just cannot allow myself to turn the heater on before October - but I did light a fire!

Oh, you're funny. My rule is Labor Day and we're certainly past that. I have the heat turned up right now and it's great.

But then, I'm also celebrating the absence of those hot flashes. It feels so good to be cold. :-)

Come to think of it, I think my stricter rules apply to the fire. I thought about it last night and decided to wait until October. Funny!

I had excess cardboard & a very dry log....and then there was warmth.