OH has taken it into his head we need a machine for chomping branches and so on after losing 3 trees to storm damage and a robinia to the dreaded illness. I have managed to stall him as he was all set to go and buy one on offer from a local DIY store cos I don't recognise the make and, to be honest, wouldn't spend a penny in that store having had problems in the past.
Can anyone recommend a good, sturdy machine? Doesn't have to be industrial quality but does need to be safe and reliable.
Thanks in advance. Obxx
We have a bosch one which is great but it really only does small stuff. Anything over 30mm is a struggle. The model doesn't exist anymore though and it does tend to jam if you put too much leaf through it..
First off what size branches are you talking about, if you are talking over 30 mm you are looking at serious money and it may be cheaper to get a tree surgeon in for more meaty branches.
gather all the branches together and hire a petrol one i got one for the weekend that took 5" branches and it cost me £50 for the weekend and did and fantastic job it was so quick i even did all my neighbors bits and bobs they had lying about.
In a normal year, up to 30mm would be fine for normal prunings. This year we have storm damage so more branches than usual and some thicker than that but we can always sort. The thicker ones can be cut into lengths and added to the wildlife refuge log piles or burned.
They don't seem to do hire for garden machines round here so that's not an option.
I borrowed a friend's old Black and Decker chipper and it was quite good, though much bigger than 1" is starting to get a bit tough, but then Robinia burns very well (like Ash it burns green) so I'd keep anything bigger than that for fire wood. However, even the tiniest bits of grit badly blunted the blades, and bigger bits of grit knocked chunks off the edge and made sharpening a real chore, and unless the blades were really sharp it didn't work at all well. I made myself a sharpening jig and that helped a lot, but doing it freehand is totally out of the question.
The model is obsolete now so that probably doesn't help very much.
http://www.garden4less.co.uk/bosch-shredder-axt-rapid-2200.asp I have one of these and its the dogs dangley bits but did manage to get it cheaper than this in an amazon sale
Thanks. I've shown it to OH who asked if I really wanted to spend €200. I said yes if it would last and do the job better and longer than an unknown quantity costing €150! We'll see. I like Bosch. Good drills, good screwdrives, good dishwashers and so on.