Which wood chipper???

[allyclaret]

Hi there folks.

I'm just in the process of taking down a huge privet bush which has gone completely mad and would like to know if anyone can advise as to the best chipper to invest in?

Cheers,

Allyclaret

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hi allyclaret and welcome to the Vine!

I know nothing about chippers, I'm afraid, but perhaps you could hire one rather than splash out?

[allyclaret]

Hi Hazel, thanks for the lovely welcome.

I'm looking to make constant use of the shredder once the bush is tamed so hiring is out of the question. But thanks for the advice!!!

Ally

[pigletwillie]

It all depends upon your budget. If you can, go for a petrol one as they are much more robust than electric ones and get one that takes at least 50mm diameter branches, 75mm is better. Going for a well known brand means that you will always be able to get spare parts and more importantly, spare blades.

Budget £2-300 for a reasonable one and £500 for an excellent one.

[Dovecote]

Hi Ally! Welcome to the Grapevine!

We have a shredder but it tends to get jammed alot. You can't put much through at a time and privets take for ever to do. You also need to be careful with children as the sharp shredded bits can be flung about.

I would recommend not putting children in the chipper to avoid this.

[Alice]

Thanks for the question Allyclaret and welcome to the Vine. Can I expand the question. I don't have a shredder but have thought about it. I do have plenty of space where I can dump stuff out of sight until it rots down - even if it takes years. Or I could put it through a shredder. Is a shredder really worth having. What would I gain ?

[nick the grief]

It take a lot less space ALice and it will rot down in half the time ( if you save your old compost bags add 6ozs ( I think) Sulphate of ammonia and stand back 12 months later lovely stuff to either dig in your beds or use as a mulch.

PS I got one from Focus its a Champion and I got it for £100 and it is retty good but you can't get big stuff thru it. I want on elike the one they brought to our lottie site that was a beast. It took 3"+ branches no probs but I suspect it had a nought on the end of what piglet suggested !

[Birdie Wife]

Do you mean chipper or shredder? They are different beasts really. Chippers are big and meaty and a small one will take 8" branches and small trees. Very expensive and not worth it on domestic scale. I think you mean shredder? No experience of these, sorry, but I just wanted to clarify!

[Two_Sheds]

We've just pruned a Privet (god I hate the smell of their flowers) and will use the bits as twiggy pea sticks. Once they've dried out a bit, so they don't root!

[Paulottie]

Much cheaper to put stuff out on lawn and run over it with rotary mower.... same tool -two jobs. Obviously don't be too ambitious but it works well.

Easy TS...I once put a load of unshreded privet in the heap and the whole lot sprouted ...nightmare.

[allyclaret]

Thanks to everyone for "chipping" in! (ho ho ho!!)

I'm going to try the lawn mower trick with my hedge clippings and if that works, maybe hire a shredder/chipper for the 16 foot bush I'm taking down.

Thanks again all!

Ally

[heebiejeebie]

Just resurrecting this thread to add that the Bosch 1800W electric shredder I just bought is going back to the shop because it doesn't do the job. It claims to shred up to 33mm diameter branches, but struggled with anything over about 10mm and jammed so often that I gave up. I wanted it to deal with the bits that were too big for the lawnmower (soft hedge trimmings get spread over the grass and mowed over - works a treat) but it wasn't powerful enough.