Carrying branches and stuff on roof and not damaging paintwork?

[StephenOak]

What John just said. I cut back / down a load of laurels last winter. each time the loose pile of branches was massive, maybe 4' by 6' and 5' tall if it was in one place (the garden is on the side of a valley so it was in two or three smaller piles).

I shredded that with a Bosch AXT 25TD (slightly less capable than the AXT 25TC mentioned earlier) and each time I ended up with:
- loads & loads of shreddings
- a few branches / trunks clearly thicker than anything in your pictures (e.g. 3-6") which I did not put anywhere near the shredder
- a pile of branches that would probably fit in one ot two of those large green garden sacks (the sort that are c. 2' across and almost 4' tall)

I put plenty of this last group into the shredder thin end first and let it chew off what it could, which is often more than you might expect.

Look at the pictures of the AXT 25TC here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Quiet-Shredder-Cutting-Capacity/dp/B00D43EF06
and you will see that the top comes off and stores in the bin at the bottom to save space in storage. That also makes it easy to clear if it gets jammed.

 

[purpleroad]

What John just said. I cut back / down a load of laurels last winter. each time the loose pile of branches was massive, maybe 4' by 6' and 5' tall if it was in one place (the garden is on the side of a valley so it was in two or three smaller piles).

I shredded that with a Bosch AXT 25TD (slightly less capable than the AXT 25TC mentioned earlier) and each time I ended up with:
- loads & loads of shreddings
- a few branches / trunks clearly thicker than anything in your pictures (e.g. 3-6") which I did not put anywhere near the shredder
- a pile of branches that would probably fit in one ot two of those large green garden sacks (the sort that are c. 2' across and almost 4' tall)

I put plenty of this last group into the shredder thin end first and let it chew off what it could, which is often more than you might expect.

Look at the pictures of the AXT 25TC here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Quiet-Shredder-Cutting-Capacity/dp/B00D43EF06
and you will see that the top comes off and stores in the bin at the bottom to save space in storage. That also makes it easy to clear if it gets jammed.

Those chippers look great. When I worked with some gardeners they had this big petrol thing. Way too big for me to store.

Don't the council take it for free if it's chippings as well?

 

[StephenOak]

Don't the council take it for free if it's chippings as well?

Bound to vary between councils.

Mine takes pretty much anything if it is domestic. I have c. a third of an acre & lots of mature trees so I have taken large bits of rotting wood to the dump with no trouble. If they think it is commercial though you are supposed to pay by weight (there is a weighbridge on the commercial side).

I have seen someone stopped with a van load of plant matter at the residents side. A bigger van than yours, maybe Transit sized but an open back with tall mesh sides and full of stuff. They were just behind us so all I heard was the driver saying that he was helping a relative (friend?) clear an overgrown garden and the guy on the gate being unimpressed.

 

[purpleroad]

Bound to vary between councils.

Mine takes pretty much anything if it is domestic. I have c. a third of an acre & lots of mature trees so I have taken large bits of rotting wood to the dump with no trouble. If they think it is commercial though you are supposed to pay by weight (there is a weighbridge on the commercial side).

I have seen someone stopped with a van load of plant matter at the residents side. A bigger van than yours, maybe Transit sized but an open back with tall mesh sides and full of stuff. They were just behind us so all I heard was the driver saying that he was helping a relative (friend?) clear an overgrown garden and the guy on the gate being unimpressed.

No, I have a van- they would never take it. But the wood chippings are used by the council as mulch so they take them for free. This machine does make chippings?

 

[StephenOak]

No, I have a van

That shouldn't make a difference to my council. It is the source that matters not the vehicle.

But the wood chippings are used by the council as mulch so they take them for free.

As I said it is bound to vary between councils.

However my guess would be that they will have reliable commercial supplies of any wood chip they use and so would not be interested in intermittent supplies from householders that may have anything in them - leaves, berries seeds, etc.

This machine does make chippings?

Not sure which machine you are talking about, the one I have or the one that John suggested.

My one will chip branches up to 40-45mm (depending on type and how dry) if that is what you put in to it.

I tend to cut off any leaf-bearing parts and shred those for the compost (to stop the C:N ratio getting too high) and then shredd the rest separately for use as mulch. But that adds time to the process.