A garden chipper, often referred to as a shredder, is a power instrument used in the garden that reduces large piles of shrubs or hedge trimmings into smaller amounts of wood chips. A garden shredder might save you cash on skip rental or multiple journeys to the council landfill if your yard is old or overgrown. This article will help you to know how to choose a garden shredder.
The wood chips produced by something like a lawn shredder can indeed be utilized in the garden as mulch, added to the compost pile, or placed in an out-of-the-way location.
If you apply common sense when using a shredder, it is simple and safe. Realistically speaking, a garden shredder won't be able to chop up many large logs. You need strong tools, like a hatchet or a log splitter, for that work. These are tractor trailer tools that pose a risk in the hands of a novice.
How to choose a garden shredder
Garden shredders cost at around $100, but prices can go much higher. Before you spend the money on this pricey piece of equipment, consider whether you'll actually receive your money's worth. The best models can handle prunings up to 4 cm in diameter, and you'll discover that a huge pile of garden trash quickly shrinks into a smaller quantity whether you have a big garden or an area that quickly becomes overgrown. You can increase the capacity of your recycling bin, make your compost pile more effective, or even repurpose the wood chips as land cover for your garden beds.
A garden shed or other type of covered storage is required for garden shredders, and you will also need an outside electrical outlet to power the machine.
While other shredders are more suited to wooden branches and produce wood chips, you could find that perhaps the leaves pass through uncut. Some grinders are better at shredding foliage and green twigs into mulching that will subsequently break down quicker in your compost heap.
Kinds of Garden Shredder
Impact shredder
These devices, often referred to as quick shredders, are noisier compared to roller shredders and slice up garden waste with a sharp, rotating blade mechanism. They very finely cut green branches and leaves, but may not be as good for woody material. Look for a device with several blades because a single-blade machine will require more frequent replacement of the worn-out blades. Compared to roller shredders, contact shredders are typically less expensive and less prone to blockages.
It may be simpler to feed in branches and twigs into shredders that have large, frequent hoppers without the need for a plastic border. Impact shredders are lightweight enough to move all around the garden with ease.
Roller Shredder
The machine's ridged roller is used to cut and smash garden waste. If you have a large amount of material to shred, this option is usually better because it works by dragging stuff through the machine. They are more likely to be blocked, though. A design with accessible rollers can reduce the likelihood of clogs. Search for a shredder that is relatively light; some roller shredders are difficult to move. And costs can be rather high.
Petrol shredder
They are stronger than electric-powered shredding and allow you to move the unit more easily across your yard. Although they cost more to acquire, maintain, and often refuel, they produce clippings of excellent quality.
System of shredders
Each garden shredder has a distinct shredding mechanism, which you should select based on your individual requirements. You must consider the material you wish to shred as well as the size of the branches in order to pick the best choice. Blade disc, rotor, turbine-cut, and rolling shredding machines are the four fundamental types.
Turbine system
Similar to a rotor but more effective, a turbine-type system can decompose very hard wood, including fruit trees and dense undergrowth with large branches.
Rotating system
Big gardens with branches that are 50 mm diameter work best for this method. These machines often have a rather low RPM, so they will work steadily but slowly. Strong hedges and bushes are chopped into larger chippings that are ideal for the compost heap using a rotating gear mechanism. A rotor system is more suited for frequent usage since it jams less frequently than just devices that are capable and is quieter.
Roller system
Rollers, the preferred technique for the most potent shredders, can crush tree trees up to 50 mm in diameter. The rollers do, though, occasionally clog.
Blade disc
Choose a shredder with just a blade disc if your garden is smaller than 300 m2 but only occasionally needs to be cleaned up. If you don't want to chip any hardwood and just want to dissolve leaves, household debris, and small branches up to 35 mm, this device will still function. Blade discs generate a very finely shredded material at high RPMs of roughly 2000 to 4500. This system's only drawbacks are its noise and tendency to jam.
Other things to consider
The majority of backyard gardeners will choose an electricity garden shredder. Make sure the cable is the right length for your garden before you buy it. You might require an outdoor extension cord because some brands cut corners with cable length.
Prunings can be shredded by most machines, however there is a trade-off between velocity and noise when in operation. There are quieter models available if you can't stand noisy machines, but they often take a little longer to complete the task.
To use a shredder properly, you'll need some basic PPE, including safety goggles, gloves, and earplugs.
Integrated collection box
One or more garden shredders include a built-in collection box. Ejector chutes are frequently found at the front of blade disk shredders. Garden shredders with rotors or turbines typically feature an integrated collection box.
Degree of noise
The range of the noise level, measured in decibels (dB), is 85 to 105. A spinning system will make electric models even less noisy; because they rotate more slowly than previous models, their maximum noise production is just about 88 dB. Regardless of the model you select, hearing protection should always be worn.
Weight
It will be challenging to maneuver even a garden shredder that is only about 15 kg in weight. Generally speaking, a garden shredder gets heavier as its power increases. The type with wheels is the one you should choose if you can't decide between two.
Feeder hopper
You feed branches or any additional material you really want shred into the hopper, which is at the head of the crusher. A chute in the shape of a funnel makes feeding easier and chips more quickly.
Easy of use
Electric shredders are quicker to start up because no special settings are needed. In order to feed the trees into the grinding machine more conveniently, blade disc and spindle systems need to be used. Since a turbine system is inherently more jamming resistant, you won't really need to take this into account.
Storage is simple
Garden shredders do occupy up a fair lot of space, so if at all possible, use a folding one. If your back garden has been crammed with tools like whipper snipper and lawn mowers, you'll enjoy the extra space.
Conclusion
Overall, for people who have a mature or overcrowded garden who don't want garden trash plastered on the interior of their car from numerous visits to the dump, the garden shredder is indeed a marvel. It's not nearly as romantic as a campfire, but it's undoubtedly cleaner and probably won't annoy the neighbors as much.
After reading our article, you could know how to choose a garden shredder which is essential for jobs like pruning and cutting that include clearing out the garden since they make it easier to compost and get rid of larger bits of garbage like hedge trimmings and smaller branches.
