Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:50:50 +0100, Stephen wrote:

Have I got that about right?

Yep.

Are they really noisy?

Yes, I use ear defenders.

Do the blades blunt that quickly?

The do blunt but not exceptionaly quickly, at least not on our B&D
model. I suspect what and how fast you feed hard materials into it
has a bearing.

Can they be resharpened at home?

Ther are often reversable and I have sharpened them at home with an
ordinary file and, once I had one, a grinder.

What size branches can it cut without complaining?

How long is a piece of string. Depends on the model, ours will eat
broom handle sized stuff without much fuss.

Who are Einhell and are their machines any good?

German company:

http://www.einhell.com/englisch/englisch.aspx

Seem to produce good quality tools at decent prices.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

Yes, they are noisy, and the blades do get blunt, but they can be sharpened
at home.

Alan

Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades

Avoid the Black and Decker one with rotating blades, it is rubbish.
I spent more time unblocking it than using it and threw it away in the
end. Complete waste of money. If I ever buy another it will be one of
the Bosch quiet shredders which have been much praised on this group.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On Sep 30, 12:50*pm, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

Sounds it. The bladed ones also tend to clog up quite easily if you
feed sticky stuff in (slightly rotted leaves for example).


I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Probably not. The green matter doesn't need shredding (except for
thick stuff like the stalks of broccolli plants - which the cogs will
handle).

Are they really noisy?
Yes
Do the blades blunt that quickly?
Pretty quickly - particularly if there is /any/ soil involved (it's
the stone that blunts them)
Can they be resharpened at home?
Yes - but with difficulty (the nicks can be substantial)

What size branches can it cut without complaining?

Mine will cope with stuff a bit thicker than my thumb when the blades
are sharp. If I bought a new one, I would get one of the cog ones.


I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?
No idea.

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

They produce stuff down to a price for places like Aldi.

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:50:50 +0100, Stephen
wrote:

As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

They are hideously noisy, jam frequently and tend not to last well.

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

Having had two rotating blade and one Bosch it is no competition. The
Bosch is quiet, rarely jams, eats quite large branches and chops up
leaves a bit - certainly sufficiently so they take up very little
room. Vastly better than the high speed things.

In article ,
Stephen writes:
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

I recently picked up an ALKO shredder second-hand.
Not knowing anything much about shredders before, this one
is the rotating blade type, and probably towards the more
expensive and robust end of the market (so second hand is
definitely a good move here, as I wouldn't pay anything like
the new price).

It doesn't cut up leaves or any very fine twigs much -- they
just get ejected. It is superb with branches though.
Instructions say it works better if they've had time to dry
out after pruning - mine were all very well dried. I haven't
tried it with fresh cuttings, which are apparently more likely
to jam.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

No experience of this type.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Not in my experience.

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

The noise didn't bother me.
The blades didn't noticably blunten during my long session.
I sharpened them before I started. The (second-hand) machine
came with completely blunt blades and it didn't work at all
until I had sharpened them. That may be why it was discarded.

Search back for my previous article on uk.d-i-y which had more
detail and lots of others' comments in the thread.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

alan.holmes wrote:
"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

Yes, they are noisy, and the blades do get blunt, but they can be sharpened
at home.

Alan


yeah. I simply use my ride on lawnmower, and accept the fact that the
blades need replacing every year, and the deck welding up every other.

Still cheaper than buying a shredder.

13 bhp of rotating knives. Yumm!

"Peter Parry" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:50:50 +0100, Stephen
wrote:

As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

They are hideously noisy, jam frequently and tend not to last well.

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

Having had two rotating blade and one Bosch it is no competition. The
Bosch is quiet, rarely jams, eats quite large branches and chops up
leaves a bit - certainly sufficiently so they take up very little
room. Vastly better than the high speed things.


I've had an Al-KO rotating thingy and I've currently got a Bosch. Much
prefer the Bosch although I do find that if I get too carried away with very
green stuff I can end up with a mush which blocks the shredding mech until I
put something woody through.

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:18:50 +0100 (BST) someone who may be "Dave
Liquorice" wrote this:-

Are they really noisy?

Yes, I use ear defenders.

I have one I bought in Lidl. The gear type and not noisy.

Not silent, but not noisy enough to block having a conversation in a
normal voice.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000...#pt3-pb3-l1g54

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:50:50 +0100, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

I've got a "cogger" and it's reasonably quiet. Though you would still
get abuse and other things hurled at you if you decided to do a quick
bit of shredding at 3 a.m.
I'm no expert, but ISTM the difference in noise level might be that
my one uses an induction motor, whereas some (build to a budget) types
use a brushed motor.
So far as mulching leaves, I don't bother. The chips that come out
of the shredder and any leaves in amongst them go straight back onto
the flower beds and presumably the leaves just decay a little slower
than if they'd been chopped up.

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Stephen writes:
Hello,


I recently picked up an ALKO shredder second-hand.

dittos all the way through, except that we've not sharpened the blades and
it still gets throough most things up to about 3/8 inch, which is the limit
before we dry them out to burn on the chiminea*



* or sit on the log pile anyway - the chiminea's only been lit the once this
summer.

On 30 Sep, 12:50, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

The other sort is supposed to crunch the waste between cogs. These are
supposed to be much quieter and require less servicing and cope with
thicker branches but apparently they do not shred leaves. Leaves get
spat out whole, unless you can feed them in amongst some wood.

Have I got that about right?

I quite like the silence and reliability of the second type but I feel
that although we prune branches, I would expect we would want to
dispose more green matter than wood. Does these mean I need the first
type?

Are they really noisy? Do the blades blunt that quickly? Can they be
resharpened at home? What size branches can it cut without
complaining?

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

The thing I found about the bladed ones is that after a couple of
seasons the blades are practically welded to the plate and require
lots of swearing and effort to undo the screws.

--
Halmyre

"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I was considering buying a garden shredder. As I understand it there
are two types: one that has rotating blades, like a large food
processor. The pros are that it will cut leaves into a fine mulch but
the cons are that they are noisy, the blades quickly blunt, and they
don't like thick branches.

I understand there is a third model made by Bosch that uses a helical
blade. How does that compare? What are its pros and cons? Would that
work in my situation?

I have seen Bosch ones at all the DIY stores but I also noticed Aldi
and Focus are selling Einhell models, much cheaper than the Bosch. Who
are Einhell and are their machines any good?

Thanks,
Stephen.

I have the screw type bosch and it's great. The feed inlet is conical so a
3/4" branch can have a lot of leaves at the other end which can jam. Just
break branches up so all the leaves don't go through at once.
They are available on ebay just over £100. I bought mine off ebay 6-7 years
ago and it's been outside all the time. Shredded a 40ft cherry into less
than 1cube yd. this summer plus the logs -will shred as thick as a
thumb -not 38mm!
Sounds like a washing machine! Plus self feeding once the branch is put in.

"davej" wrote in message
. uk...


I have the screw type bosch and it's great. The feed inlet is conical so a
3/4" branch can have a lot of leaves at the other end which can jam. Just
break branches up so all the leaves don't go through at once.
They are available on ebay just over £100. I bought mine off ebay 6-7
years ago and it's been outside all the time. Shredded a 40ft cherry into
less than 1cube yd. this summer plus the logs -will shred as thick as a
thumb -not 38mm!

I have the bigger of the two screw feed bosch ones and it will do branches a
lot thicker than 3/4".

Sounds like a washing machine!

Mine can be made quieter by putting a wedge in the plastic motor cover to
stop it vibrating.

Plus self feeding once the branch is put in.