shredders are they worth it?

[stella]

I have been thinking of getting a shredder for a while as we have alot of tree branches etc which I just get rid of. However they are about £70 and I thought I would just ask those of you who have one. Are they worth it or does it spend most of the time tucked away in the shed. What do you think?

[Bigmallly]

I have been thinking of getting a shredder for a while as we have alot of tree branches etc which I just get rid of. However they are about £70 and I thought I would just ask those of you who have one. Are they worth it or does it spend most of the time tucked away in the shed. What do you think?

Both, it spends a lot of time under cover but in my opinion is worth every penny when you need it. Have a S****h around the threads, there is plenty of debate on the subject.

[WrexTheDragon]

I have one I use every year, works fine on branches upto 40 mm. Mostly use on apple and cherry branches. The chippings go back on the boarders.

Also use it in the autumn when I collect the leaves. They go through the machine and I get fine pieces out that rot down alot quicker.

I paid £140 for mine a few years ago. The make is Allen.

Lives in the garage, but is used. A good bit of kit if you have a lot of branches and want to use the chippings.

I would check what the maximum size of branch the machine can cope with first.

[geoff]

If you're not sure your use will warrant buying a shredder, why not see about hiring one? Most towns have a hire shop; I've used Hartley Hire a couple of times, the prices were reasonable, and I got advice & instructions on how to use the gizmo I was hiring
Get all your old branches or whatever together, then spend a day shredding. You will also be able to see if it's any good or not before you buy

[wellie]

Trousers and I Ummd'n'Arrd about one too, and decided that it WAS a good idea.

When the garden is very overgrown and you're faced with a lot of things to shred at once, it does seem incredibly overwhelming, and I'd advise burning such monster mountains, but as the garden becomes more tamed and it's just 'manageable amounts' of woody prunings to shred, I do rate them very highly for adding a bit of fibre to your compost bin to counteract all those grass clippings.

Sound advice there geoff. Be governed by the size of your garden and quantity of stuff to be shredded on an annual basis.
Ours' has been invaluable in the last nine months!

[Jeanied]

Hi Stella - this all depends on what kind of shredding you need to do and why. I had an electric shredder which worked fine but my small garden never produced enough to justify keeping it - so when it got damaged I freecycled it. The council takes away all my prunings now - which works for me. But if you have a large garden with lots of pruning then the shredder is really useful and you can use the shreddings on the compost heap or paths. A shredder is good for reducing big piles of small branches and leaves to small compostable pieces. If you don't have lots of those or the council takes it away for free then the advantage is a bit more questionable.
Hope this helps!