Garden Impact Shredders

[Hysteresis]

Has anyone any Advice/Experience of the Low cost Garden Impact shredders for domestic use. Some Comments from some Web Sites suggest these low cost machines are excellent value for Money.
I am considering the one sold at B&Q. It looks OK and has a 2400 watt power raring and claims a maximum branch diameter of 45mm. This spec sounds fine for domestic use, but of course performance and durability is often not reflected in the Spec.
Any advice from anyone would be appreciated.

 

[Burnerman]

If the sort of shredder you are looking at has the high speed (noisy) flail cutting system I would think you would be disappointed really......perhaps its better to go for the type that has the slow revolving milling machine type cutter, that traps the branches between the cutter head and a metal anvil.
I think the Bosch AXT 2000 is one, but not absolutely sure.
John

 

[JohnD]

I have a low-cost B&D one with two whirling knife blades, it's rubbish. Jams with thick twigs, clogs with leafy twigs.

I think when read the which reports it said that all the cheap ones were rubbish.

 

[JohnD]

p.s.

I just looked at the "which" review

best buys are all 5 Bosch between £165 and £400, and a Yellow Al-Ko at £250

The Wolf SDL 25 is so bad they say "don't buy"

What's your budget?

 

[nickjb]

We've got a cheap one from B&Q, it's green and black, can't remember the brand (if it even has one). Basically the thicker the branch the better it is. It struggles with twigs, especially leafy ones, they can be a bit hard to feed in and get going. The best thing is to keep them long and they'll pull all the way through. It took a while to get the hang of it but once you have the technique it munches through the waste. It's a once or twice a year job for us so it's fine. If you have a huge garden and do a lot of pruning it might be worth investing a little more.

 

[Hysteresis]

Thanks for your advice everyone. My fears are confirmed in that the cheap ones are not really up to the job. I only have a relatively small garden and a large capital outlay is not justified. My thoughts were that at £80 it would be worth it but all the advice is that is would be £80 thrown away. So I guess I will have to put up with disposing of the hedge cutting in the usual laborious way.
Thanks so much for you advice.

 

[enyam]

Hysteresis,do you have a local tool hire,the one here hires out shredder's.

 

[ellal]

Avoid the bladed shredders...Go for the crushing/cog ones.

I've had one from wickes which has worked almost flawlessly for several years...If you want to shred a lot of green leaved 'twigs', the trick is to feed them in alongside larger branches.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/189594

You can still pick one up for under £100 when they have their regular 'sales' promotions.

 

[Hysteresis]

Thanks for the link Wickes ellal.
That looks to be the thing I need. Looking at the reviews on the Wickes site, most give it 5 stars although a few say that it can't manage anything over 25mm which is OK for me but the reviewers reckoned it clogged up very easily. Do you experience the same problem?
All I need now is for Wickes to put it on offer.

 

[ellal]

I've had no problems putting in branches as big as it will take ...

As I said small green stuff can clog up this (and I guess any similar) crushing/cog shredder, but if you feed that through alongside some bigger branches it minimises the problem..

The issue with the spinning blade machines (apart from the noise!) is that they chip and blunt very quickly..

The worst that can happen with crushing/cog shredders is that you may have to clean the cog with a sharp stick if you get it clogged with leaves.

Edit: Oh, and it produces excellent mulch if you have any veg/flower beds!