Garden shredder?

[caroline7758]

I'm thinking of investing in a shredder, mainly to reduce prunings etc to a more easily compostable state, not likely to have any big stuff. Can anyone suggest what size I should be looking for and recommend a reliable one?

[caroline7758]

[supersprout]

take a look at Gardening Which?, they did a very comprehensive survey a couple of years ago with loads of advice on what to look for :)

[saddad]

Some of the recent ones are much quieter I'm told...
Power supply can be a problem, the cheaper ones are 'Leccie and you may not have access to a source at the plot.
;D

[daisymay]

worth investing in a decent one if you are going to get one,

I bought a cheap one on offer in homebase and it is not very good. It gets clogged up very quickly (very dangerous to unclog - have to take top of and manually clear the chopping blade) and it just kind of bruises thin branches.

as long as all your branches are a uniform length and thickness it works quite well, unfortunately not the case in reality.


.........unless of course the OH  is reading this - then best decision I ever made - i will use it again, I promise  ;D

[Barnowl]

This chap obvoiusly has a bit of  thing about shredders, but some useful info:

http://www.fredshed.co.uk/boschshredders.htm

[Artisan]

Personally I find them a bit of a nuisance, Ive even got a big petrol one now which still blocks, and takes three times longer to shred material than it did to cut a hedge in the first place.  I prefer to lay out any woody stuff on the lawn, and chop it up with my mower, works far better for me.

[caroline7758]

I've managed to get one on ebay for £25. It's an Alko new tec 1400. Unfortunately no instructions with it. I've e-mailed the maker, but if anyone has one like this, I'd be garteful for any tips, especially on what size stuff it will shred. Thanks.