Using a shredder instead of a chipper?

[Lawn and Leaf]

We have used both chippers and shredders.

 

In my experience shredders get blocked more often than chippers. You can put a variety of material through a chipper but your limited to what you can put through a small shredder without it blocking...just my opinion.

 

Thanks John, I see. With regards to the variety of material I could put through a chipper if i could find a small Tow able chipper with both a hydraulic roller and an angled hopper for the small stuff then its something to think about, though i would have to be more careful with it than with a shredder.

[John Hancock]

That was the trouble with the Green-mech chipper / shredder....just kept blocking!

[burrell_]

have u had a look at sealen http://www.saelen-industrie.com have a look as look look quit good

[Mike]

A chipper will do 90% of what a shredder will do quicker and more efficiently. If small root balls and excessively dirty material don't come into it then this figure is greater. Look for a hyd machine with twin feed rollers. Judging by the machines you are looking at, I guess your budget is not huge. I would rec a TW125PH or similar. As for feeding the hedge clippings just make a push stick with an end bigger than the feed opening and away you go.

 

The 2 machines you looked at have never been big sellers in the UK esp the Negri. If you decide to buy one of these expect very little in view of any future value, whereas a small recognised brand of chipper will always sell very easily.

[Bald Ed]

IMO if you are looking to feed in small clippings etc without going to the extra expense of a dual purpose chipper / shredder you may find the Jensens interlocking feed rollers will pull the smaller stuff in better than some of other machines!

Have a look on http://www.arborcut.com there are some decent s/h machines on there.

[PeteB]

What ever you decide on, please consider what the resale value is going to be in years to come. I've come across so many people that have purchased "not so mainstream" machinery and then cannot find a buyer for it when they need to trade up. Have alook at the GreenMech website, there is a section that explains the difference between a chipper and a shredder and what they do. But, as others have said, by the sounds of it that a chipper could well suffice for most of your work.

[Mesterh]

If your going to be putting hedge clippings through a shredder then it will probably come out the shoot looking the same as it went it!

 

I'd go for a chipper with dual feedwheels like others have said and try to get one with a letter box type of opening ie the infeed is wider than it is tall.

 

Make sure you get one that cuts 90% to the feedwheel it will produce better chip than say an old style bandit. It also wants to have only a small gap between the feedwheel and the blades/anvil or it will probably clog up with trimmings.

 

We just use a piece of 4"x2" as a push stick probably the cheapest and most effective ways of not getting your arm pulled in

[PeteB]

The post about the interlocking (meshing) rollers is, in my opinion misleading. They are indeed intermeshing but only when there is nothing between them. Once open, they intermesh about the same as every other twin roller machine ie they don't. Don't try and mislead someone who is after straight advise.

[Bald Ed]

Under no circumstances was my comment relating to intermeshing feed rollers meant to be misleading, the point that I was making was that the rollers will pull in the smallest piece of brash and as you will no doubt agree, when feeding clippings etc you rely on the rollers to get hold of small pieces to drag the rest in. If I have misled anyone then I apologise but I stand by the point that I made.

 

Experience is a great teacher!

[PeteB]

I agree, experience is great, I hope my 21 years involved in the Arb game and the variety of machines available doesn't come across as sour grapes. Having owned two GreenMechs and an Arboreater (as well as using most other machines), I can confirm that all handled hedge cuttings with aplomb. Non of them liked stones or mud as indeed no chipper does.

 

However, my point stands - a Jensens interlocking rollers handle hedge clippings the same as any other chipper and when the rollers are apart namely when they have material between them, they are no longer interlocking. Am I correct?