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#1
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
I acquired my first wood chipper today. What a fantastic toy! I spent four
hours sredding branches from some overgrown bushes that I heavily pruned last week. Ended up with a fantastic quantity of good mulch. After that, I shredded some seaweed I had gathered a few days ago. That will make it much more suitable for brew-creating purposes. I'm trying to think of some less-obvious things one might be able to turn into mulch, with the help of one of these machines. Does anyone have any ideas? Do you use your garden shredder for any other purposes, apart from making wood-chip mulch? TIA, Al |
#2
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On 19 Feb 2012 17:47:28 GMT, "AL_n" wrote:
I acquired my first wood chipper today. What a fantastic toy! I spent four hours sredding branches from some overgrown bushes that I heavily pruned last week. Ended up with a fantastic quantity of good mulch. After that, I shredded some seaweed I had gathered a few days ago. That will make it much more suitable for brew-creating purposes. I'm trying to think of some less-obvious things one might be able to turn into mulch, with the help of one of these machines. Does anyone have any ideas? Do you use your garden shredder for any other purposes, apart from making wood-chip mulch? TIA, Al Later in the year the woody herbaceous perennials go through mine on their way to the compost bin. Unfortunately the feed hole isn't big enough to get SWMBO in following an argument. It's not a good idea to use a shredder for things it's not designed for and it can be a good idea to keep a little pile of dry wood somewhere to feed through it if you're shredding a lot of softer green growth - helps to keep it clean. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay. For those that notice such things - I'm changing my Usenet provider to News.Individual.NET. It's still me! |
#3
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
Jake wrote in
: Unfortunately the feed hole isn't big enough to get SWMBO in following an argument. funnily enough, I was wondering how it would serve as a coarse bonemeal- maker... Unfortunately, I'm a vegitarian, and don't have a SWMBO, so I don't find myself tossing many femurs and tibias into the kitchen waste. It's not a good idea to use a shredder for things it's not designed for and it can be a good idea to keep a little pile of dry wood somewhere to feed through it if you're shredding a lot of softer green growth - helps to keep it clean. That seems wise. Thanks for the tip. Al |
#4
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
"AL_n" wrote in message ... Jake wrote in : Unfortunately the feed hole isn't big enough to get SWMBO in following an argument. funnily enough, I was wondering how it would serve as a coarse bonemeal- maker... Unfortunately, I'm a vegitarian, and don't have a SWMBO, so I don't find myself tossing many femurs and tibias into the kitchen waste. It's not a good idea to use a shredder for things it's not designed for and it can be a good idea to keep a little pile of dry wood somewhere to feed through it if you're shredding a lot of softer green growth - helps to keep it clean. That seems wise. Thanks for the tip. Al I mentioned somewhere in a thread earlier that a gardener who gave our club a talk said that he put new bought general purpose compost through his chipper/shredder to give a much finer compost. The shredder changed the compresed compost to a much lighter consistency . Do what Jake said about keeping some dry wood handy to clean out the cutters. Bill |
#5
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On 19 Feb 2012 17:47:28 GMT, "AL_n" wrote:
I acquired my first wood chipper today. What a fantastic toy! I'm trying to think of some less-obvious things one might be able to turn into mulch, with the help of one of these machines. Does anyone have any ideas? Do you use your garden shredder for any other purposes, apart from making wood-chip mulch? Have pulped apples in a clean one ,then squeezed and filtered the mush to get the apple juice out. Clean it well after use as being acidic the apple juice may damage some alloy parts. G.Harman |
#6
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On Sun, 19 Feb 2012 21:18:10 -0000, "Bill Grey"
wrote: "AL_n" wrote in message ... Jake wrote in : Unfortunately the feed hole isn't big enough to get SWMBO in following an argument. funnily enough, I was wondering how it would serve as a coarse bonemeal- maker... Unfortunately, I'm a vegitarian, and don't have a SWMBO, so I don't find myself tossing many femurs and tibias into the kitchen waste. It's not a good idea to use a shredder for things it's not designed for and it can be a good idea to keep a little pile of dry wood somewhere to feed through it if you're shredding a lot of softer green growth - helps to keep it clean. That seems wise. Thanks for the tip. Al I mentioned somewhere in a thread earlier that a gardener who gave our club a talk said that he put new bought general purpose compost through his chipper/shredder to give a much finer compost. The shredder changed the compresed compost to a much lighter consistency . Do what Jake said about keeping some dry wood handy to clean out the cutters. Bill Remember there are two main types of shredder. The so called "impact" type has a spinning blade that cuts stuff up. This type will get clogged very easily if you use it for anything that it's not designed for - lots of soft green growth for example. The other, more expensive, type uses a crusher mechanism. Quieter and less likely to clog so could be used to crush compost I suppose though I wouldn't risk it as this type of shredder costs bucks! I use one of these http://tinyurl.com/82gelt2 although I can't believe the price and probably wouldn't buy one now (I paid around £15 when I bought mine many years ago). Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay. For those that notice such things - I'm changing my Usenet provider to News.Individual.NET. It's still me! |
#7
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On Feb 19, 5:47*pm, "AL_n" wrote:
I acquired my first wood chipper today. What a fantastic toy! I spent four hours sredding branches from some overgrown bushes that I heavily pruned last week. Ended up with a fantastic quantity of good mulch. After that, I shredded some seaweed I had gathered a few days ago. That will make it much more suitable for brew-creating purposes. I'm trying to think of some less-obvious things one might be able to turn into mulch, with the help of one of these machines. Does anyone have any ideas? Do you use your garden shredder for any other purposes, apart from making wood-chip mulch? TIA, Al Cut a synthetic carpet into diagonal strips using an electric cutter, feed it into a garden shredder and out comes lots of fibres suitable for crackproofing and somewhat reinforcing concrete. It does seem to be harder going than 1" branches, so dont put too much in at once. NT |
#8
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
Jake wrote in
: The other, more expensive, type uses a crusher mechanism. Quieter and less likely to clog so could be used to crush compost I suppose though I wouldn't risk it as this type of shredder costs bucks! I think that's what I've got. Here is a pictu http://tinyurl.com/7z9duvg The shredding mechanism looks like a 4" diameter gear wheel with hardened edges to the teeth. It turns slowly (about 60 rpm) and drags the branches (up to about 35mm thick) in, and chews them up. The seller advised not to put my hand in there; can't think why. ;-) Wish I had the original manual for it, just in case there are any important maintenance jobs that need doing periodically. Al |
#9
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On 20 Feb 2012 11:09:56 GMT, AL_n wrote:
I think that's what I've got. Here is a pictu http://tinyurl.com/7z9duvg That's not what I would call a chipper, that's a normal domestic shredder. Chippers are the things that you see the guys tidying up roadside trees use, things that eat 4" dia branches at a foot or so per second http://www.fordbarton.co.uk/assets/images/chipper.jpg -- Cheers Dave. |
#10
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On 20 Feb 2012 11:09:56 GMT, "AL_n" wrote:
Jake wrote in : The other, more expensive, type uses a crusher mechanism. Quieter and less likely to clog so could be used to crush compost I suppose though I wouldn't risk it as this type of shredder costs bucks! I think that's what I've got. Here is a pictu http://tinyurl.com/7z9duvg The shredding mechanism looks like a 4" diameter gear wheel with hardened edges to the teeth. It turns slowly (about 60 rpm) and drags the branches (up to about 35mm thick) in, and chews them up. The seller advised not to put my hand in there; can't think why. ;-) Wish I had the original manual for it, just in case there are any important maintenance jobs that need doing periodically. Al Go to http://www.varo.com/2900/12311/shred...der-2500w.aspx Click download manual on the right. Enter exact model number and hopefully your wish will be fulfilled. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay. For those that notice such things - I'm changing my Usenet provider to News.Individual.NET. It's still me! |
#11
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On 20/02/2012 08:50, Jake wrote:
On Sun, 19 Feb 2012 21:18:10 -0000, "Bill Grey" wrote: wrote in message ... wrote in : Unfortunately the feed hole isn't big enough to get SWMBO in following an argument. funnily enough, I was wondering how it would serve as a coarse bonemeal- maker... Unfortunately, I'm a vegitarian, and don't have a SWMBO, so I don't find myself tossing many femurs and tibias into the kitchen waste. It's not a good idea to use a shredder for things it's not designed for and it can be a good idea to keep a little pile of dry wood somewhere to feed through it if you're shredding a lot of softer green growth - helps to keep it clean. That seems wise. Thanks for the tip. Al I mentioned somewhere in a thread earlier that a gardener who gave our club a talk said that he put new bought general purpose compost through his chipper/shredder to give a much finer compost. The shredder changed the compresed compost to a much lighter consistency . Do what Jake said about keeping some dry wood handy to clean out the cutters. Bill Remember there are two main types of shredder. The so called "impact" type has a spinning blade that cuts stuff up. This type will get clogged very easily if you use it for anything that it's not designed for - lots of soft green growth for example. The other, more expensive, type uses a crusher mechanism. Quieter and less likely to clog so could be used to crush compost I suppose though I wouldn't risk it as this type of shredder costs bucks! I use one of these http://tinyurl.com/82gelt2 although I can't believe the price and probably wouldn't buy one now (I paid around £15 when I bought mine many years ago). Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay. For those that notice such things - I'm changing my Usenet provider to News.Individual.NET. It's still me! Jake, I've often looked at those green rotary jobs and wondered how good they were. One of my compost sieving problems is how to extract my lovely red worms from the good sieved compost. Usually, I have to leave a few stragglers in with the compost as I scatter it. How do you avoid crushing worms with that rotary arm .. or are you just not as precious as me about our wriggly friends? Also, how does that gadget cope with the occasional stone or nugget of brick that inevitably finds its way into the compost bin? -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
#12
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:13:19 +0000, Spider wrote:
On 20/02/2012 08:50, Jake wrote: I use one of these http://tinyurl.com/82gelt2 although I can't believe the price and probably wouldn't buy one now (I paid around £15 when I bought mine many years ago). Jake, I've often looked at those green rotary jobs and wondered how good they were. One of my compost sieving problems is how to extract my lovely red worms from the good sieved compost. Usually, I have to leave a few stragglers in with the compost as I scatter it. How do you avoid crushing worms with that rotary arm .. or are you just not as precious as me about our wriggly friends? Also, how does that gadget cope with the occasional stone or nugget of brick that inevitably finds its way into the compost bin? It's down to technique I suppose. Depends on what I'm sieving: - bought compost - I fill it up from the bag and sieve the lot nicely in about 30 secs. No worms to worry about. It's ok for multi-purpose but if you use one of the types that contain more substantial bits (such as Westland's West+) it'll just remove them so no point using it. - anything else gets added in bits until I've got about a 3" deep pile in the gizmo. Worms are no problem as easily seen and removed as I'm adding. I use dalek type composters and by the time I remove stuff from the bottom of those there are few worms left as they always like to go up in the world to the fresher stuff. If I'm sieving soil I'm more likely to halve a worm with the spade than in the gizmo. It probably takes longer to empty out what isn't going to go through the mesh than to get a load through it. It is quick to use. I just keep filling it until I reach a point where stuff that's not going through the sieve gets a bit much when it's tipped out either back into the compost dalek, onto ground or into a bag if I want to get rid of some stony bits. Any stone up to the size of a golf ball will be no problem - the rotor bits are round so anything that won't go through the sieve under them simply rolls over them or gets pushed around a bit. It's great for producing a fine tilth for a seed bed. Fraction of the time it would take to fork over my clay soil. It's sturdy and, after God knows how many years of heavy use there's not even a chip in the powder coating. But as I've said, I don't know if I'd pay over £40 for one today. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay. For those that notice such things - I'm changing my Usenet provider to News.Individual.NET. It's still me! |
#13
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On 20/02/2012 14:10, Jake wrote:
On Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:13:19 +0000, wrote: On 20/02/2012 08:50, Jake wrote: I use one of these http://tinyurl.com/82gelt2 although I can't believe the price and probably wouldn't buy one now (I paid around £15 when I bought mine many years ago). Jake, I've often looked at those green rotary jobs and wondered how good they were. One of my compost sieving problems is how to extract my lovely red worms from the good sieved compost. Usually, I have to leave a few stragglers in with the compost as I scatter it. How do you avoid crushing worms with that rotary arm .. or are you just not as precious as me about our wriggly friends? Also, how does that gadget cope with the occasional stone or nugget of brick that inevitably finds its way into the compost bin? It's down to technique I suppose. Depends on what I'm sieving: - bought compost - I fill it up from the bag and sieve the lot nicely in about 30 secs. No worms to worry about. It's ok for multi-purpose but if you use one of the types that contain more substantial bits (such as Westland's West+) it'll just remove them so no point using it. - anything else gets added in bits until I've got about a 3" deep pile in the gizmo. Worms are no problem as easily seen and removed as I'm adding. I use dalek type composters and by the time I remove stuff from the bottom of those there are few worms left as they always like to go up in the world to the fresher stuff. If I'm sieving soil I'm more likely to halve a worm with the spade than in the gizmo. It probably takes longer to empty out what isn't going to go through the mesh than to get a load through it. It is quick to use. I just keep filling it until I reach a point where stuff that's not going through the sieve gets a bit much when it's tipped out either back into the compost dalek, onto ground or into a bag if I want to get rid of some stony bits. Any stone up to the size of a golf ball will be no problem - the rotor bits are round so anything that won't go through the sieve under them simply rolls over them or gets pushed around a bit. It's great for producing a fine tilth for a seed bed. Fraction of the time it would take to fork over my clay soil. It's sturdy and, after God knows how many years of heavy use there's not even a chip in the powder coating. But as I've said, I don't know if I'd pay over £40 for one today. Cheers, Jake ======================================= Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay. For those that notice such things - I'm changing my Usenet provider to News.Individual.NET. It's still me! Thanks, Jake, that's very helpful. I've been making do with ordinary round sieves which are shaken vigorously. They work, but are a bit slow when I've got lots of compost to riddle. I know £40+ is a bit expensive (I've seen the same tool at £50 btw), but if it's that useful and as sturdy as you suggest, then I may look around for a good price. It would be great if Lidl/Aldi had a deal on them, but I won't hold my breath. -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
#14
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
"Dave Liquorice" wrote in
ll.co.uk: On 20 Feb 2012 11:09:56 GMT, AL_n wrote: I think that's what I've got. Here is a pictu http://tinyurl.com/7z9duvg That's not what I would call a chipper, that's a normal domestic shredder. Chippers are the things that you see the guys tidying up roadside trees use, things that eat 4" dia branches at a foot or so per second Anything that produces chips can be rightfully called a chipper. This machine produces chips and/or shreds - depending on what you feed into it. Feed branches in and it produces chips. Feed greenery in and it shreds. Mopst of what I have done is producing chips. Therefore I call it my chipper! Al |
#15
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Wow - fun with new chipper!
On Feb 20, 6:09*pm, "AL_n" wrote:
"Dave Liquorice" wrote hill.co.uk: On 20 Feb 2012 11:09:56 GMT, AL_n wrote: I think that's what I've got. Here is a pictu http://tinyurl.com/7z9duvg That's not what I would call a chipper, that's a normal domestic shredder. Chippers are the things that you see the guys tidying up roadside trees use, things that eat 4" dia branches at a foot or so per second Anything that produces chips can be rightfully called a chipper. This machine produces chips and/or shreds - depending on what you feed into it.. Feed branches in and it produces chips. Feed greenery in and it shreds. Mopst of what I have done is producing chips. Therefore I call it my chipper! Al It's one thing to put compost through your shredder but DON@T put soil that may contain stones, they can be spat out at great speed. Dangerous |
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