Small (garden) shredder/mulcher

[richyB]

I'm saving up for one of these

 

tractorboy1 I think it is this one Eliet Major Petrol Shredder Chipper

 

agg221 thanks for the offer, but it will have to be petrol, I don't have a very long extension lead.

 

 

I'll get my coat:biggrin:

[RobRainford]

I'm saving up for one of these

 

tractorboy1 I think it is this one Eliet Major Petrol Shredder Chipper

 

agg221 thanks for the offer, but it will have to be petrol, I don't have a very long extension lead.

 

 

I'll get my coat:biggrin:

 

Personally I wouldnt choose the little tw. The greenmech is similar money and will do 4" but will allow 5" if your careful. The tw throws chippings out at a low level. I watched a video of a guy chipping with it and it was just burying itself. The gm has the high chute which will throw chip very far!

[richyB]

Thanks Rob, I've looked at a few on line and agree some are too low. The gm looks the business, perhaps next year.

[RobRainford]

Thanks Rob, I've looked at a few on line and agree some are too low. The gm looks the business, perhaps next year.

 

I looked at a few options too before settling on the gm. It seemed to tick more boxes. The downsides to a gm are that there's a lack of tie down points so you have to get creative with straps! And that if it's on a slight hill it can wander as your feeding it. I tipped it back and started throwing chip over the trailer and all over the truck and everywhere around it!

[Andrew Reed]

For mainly large garden waste to compost I use a Eliet Maestro which I find is very good. Max branch size is 40mm. Though it does not like a 40mm knotty lump on a branch. Easy to shapen the blades with a grinder wheel on a small electric drill. Great for my annual hard cut backs of willow, dogwood, and large shurbs, and even does veg waste. I throw very dry leaves in it as well to mince up for quicker composting. Has swallowed tree prunings from thining up to 40mm as well. Everything else bigger goes for firewood. Manual says it will do "12 wheel barrows" an hour, but you would have to feed it pretty efficently for that. It has a highish feed chute, and fills up a large bag underneath. I tend to layout a very large plastic sheet and often turn out the bag onto to that to create a pile of the sheddings over a few hours, then shovel the pile into compost or wherever. I hear you can get an exit chute which would be useful throw sheddings straight onto a sheet on the ground. You can easily push it onto a trailor or pickup bed, and it even fits into a large estate car (on its side). The larger Eliet Major copes with more throughput but has a lower output point which would be more of a hassle to clear. There is an option for a more open grid for wet leaves and mushy stuff such as kitchen veg waste. Because wet fallen leaves clog it up very quickly.

[Big T]

Its horses for courses, and depends on how much you wanna spend! I recently had a job to do for the local council clearing a very overgrown garden. The only access was through a bakery (complete with customers) up 2 flights of stairs, across a fire escape, over a flat roof and finally down a 1M drop! The machine I ended up getting had to be small and light enough for me to man handle through all of the above obsticals. I eventually got a 5hp Bolens chipper/shredder off Ebay for £175. It will chip upto 2" diameter and as most of the trees and undergrowth I had to remove was mostly under 2" then it was purfect! Anything bigger than 2" I burn on a woodburner anyway! 90% of the materal was chipped on site and left where it fell and I only had to remove an armfull of the bigger logs. Ok, it took a while to chip and shread as its only a small machine but it did the job and saved me a load of work! You dont always need a machine that costs £1000`s!!!!!!!!