Shredder / Chipper

[killjoy]

Can anyone recommend a decent electric shredder/chipper or do i have to go for a petrol one. I did have a Black and Decker which whilst it did a fair job when it was running, everytime I switched it off I had to dissassemble the blade before I could switch it on again as it didn't have enough start up power to overcome the wet pulp that built up round the blade.

[scared55]

Killjoy,

We have a McCulloch MB241 (1400W) that we've had for almost 10 years and are very happy with. We do clean it after every use, but we do that with all our garden kit.

I must quite like McCulloch - my ride-on mower, strimmer, chainsaw and shredder are all of that brand, and I think the petrol pus- mower and rotavator may also be McCulloch rebranded as Mr Bricolage.

KK

[Flummery]

Oh lads, I would LOVE a shredder. Can't get Mr F interested though. Nor can I (often) get him interested in trips to the tip (I don't drive) so things do get a tad overgrown. There's only so much that 3 compost bins can cope with. I'd love to be able to produce my own wood chip mulch - I use it on paths. Can you actually do this with a shredder or is it really just for taking stuff down small enough to compost?

[Madasafish]

I have a 2000watt shredder and it copes with branches up to 2cm in diameter. Preferably green. No longer made iirc...
12 years old: all tree prunings every year, sunflower stalks, sprouts etc...

[Flummery]

Can you see me salivating?

[terrier]

Not meaning to be a killjoy ( ) but I had a B+D shredder and it was the most useless bit of kit I've ever had the misfortune to buy. in fact it completely put me off buying anything else made by B+D. Chipping and shredding is a tough job and you need a tough machine to cope adequately. Buy cheap and you get problems.

[killjoy]

I'm glad it wasn't just me.

[NOG]

everytime I switched it off I had to dissassemble the blade before I could switch it on again as it didn't have enough start up power to overcome the wet pulp that built up round the blade.

Are you sure that wasn't the power brake?

Most electric shredders have a power brake. So if you turn it off at the unit and then turn it back on it will not come back for 90s. It will Humm.

You can overcome this by turning the unit off then truning off the socket then turn the power back on then the unit.

It is to stop you opening it when it is running or turning it on with your hand in it.

[NOG]

Oh lads, I would LOVE a shredder. There's only so much that 3 compost bins can cope with. I'd love to be able to produce my own wood chip mulch - I use it on paths. Can you actually do this with a shredder or is it really just for taking stuff down small enough to compost?

Buy one on Argos Direct and get it delivered.

Buy more compost bins.

Yep you can make wood chip..We have liandi....yes I know but they were here before we were and I lop them and use this to make mulch.

Shredding reduced the stuff by 100%. When we first had the trees lopped and a few removed the tree fellers wanted £300 just to remove the cuttings. So I loaded up the trailer and relisased that we would have about 20 trips to the alotment to burn it. So I got a shreddeer and bunged it all in and the resuting pile was one trailer load. There is a lot of air in prunings and by shredding it composts quicker.