Chipper/shredder

[Lorri D]

Hello, I'm thinking about buying a chipper/shredder to make mulch for my garden. I'd love to keep it under $800.00. I saw a Sears Craftsman for about that. Does anyone have one of these and do you like it? Any other brand recommendations? Thank you all, Lorri D

[Durgan]

The chipper/shredders sold today are generally underpowered. There is still as bit of handling when shredding but the machines sure beat chopping up vegetation using a machete.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?ZFRDI 10 May 2012 Shredding Sod
The sod was dried in he Sun for one day and put through the Chipper/Shredder and placed on the bed and rototilled in.The sod must be fed in small chunks to prevent jamming. If the sod is too dry much dust is created, so there is a happy medium gained by experience. The shredding process kills all grass roots, but as as precaution I do remove the larger grass roots by screening.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?AEVBL 17 September 2011 Composting.
All my spent vegetation is chopped into small pieces in the chipper/shredder. The spent vegetation should be slightly green (corn stalks in this case) to facilitate chopping, and it composts quicker, which takes about a year. There is only about a month left of good weather, so I am removing vegetation a bit at a time.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BNBCF 30 August 2011 Practical Composting
There is too much misleading information written about home gardening composting, which has more to do with selling silly containers than practical composting.Composting is a simple process. If the garden is any reasonable size there is a fair amount of vegetation that must be removed each year, and disposed of in some manner. It takes a large amount of vegetation to make any reasonable amount of compost. I get probably less then four cubic yards of compost from about 0.4 of an acre of home garden vegetation.The main process is to chop all vegetation into small chunks. I use a chipper/shredder but a block and a machete can be used. It is just a matter of expenditure of labor. The larger the chunks the longer the composting takes. Layering is nonsense, since often the suggested material is simply not available. It is totally impracticable. I never put materiel, which is attractive to insects, and rodents in the compost pile. The kitchen waste goes in the garbage.Leaves are special case and I never compost them, since they are too much trouble for the amount of material obtained. Leaves are better centrally composed where the pile can be manipulated using machinery. Grass clippings are always welcome and do compost well. I get a neighbor’s grass clipping, since mine are left where they are cut.I build as lattice container system using metal fence posts and plastic ties. It is readily accessible. The pile is rototilled when it is considered appropriate. It takes about eight months to get good compost using my simple non-intrusive method. I have a tarp to cover the pile if there is periods of too much rainfall.

The compost produced if insufficient for my needs, and each year I pick up about ten yards from the City each Spring.

[PaulF]

I bought a Troy-Bilt ten years ago and it has done a lot of chipping and shredding with few if any problems. Troy-bilt is terrifically loud with the 10 horse power motor, so get good ear protection. I would suggest getting the most powerful motor you possibly can if you plan to chip tree branches. The more the horsepower, the thicker the limbs you can chip.

Sears used to manufacture their own stuff years ago, but now buy machines from whoever has the low bid. Not that they are a bad brand, but if you look around you can see who makes the Sears and get one from that maker for less than Sears...but then maybe not. If money were no object, I would love to try out a D.R. Chipper/Shredder.

For leaves and yard waste to shred you may be able to back down on the power and save a little money.

[meatburner]

Lorri, my Troy-Bilt is 6.5 HP and does an excellent job. I agree with PaulF about more horse power really works much better all around.

[b54red]

I too agree. I once had a six horsepower shredder that did a good job with small things like hay and leaves and very small limbs. I eventually wore it out but if I was able to get one now I would certainly be looking for a machine with more power and much more solid construction. Chipper shredders take quite a beating over the years and if they are not very well made they will be more trouble than they are worth. I wished within a year that I had gone ahead and gotten the Troy-Bilt which was several hundred dollars more. Do some online research before you buy. If you can't afford a really good one and are planning on chipping a lot of branches then you might be better off to wait and save up a bit more money and get one that will do the job and last.

[gggeek]

I bought a Sun Joe electric Chipper/Shredder for about $130 and it works great. It only handles smaller sticks and makes quick work of any stalks from the garden (it doesn't do vegetation such as leaves). Definitely the perfect fit for smaller scale, but if you had any extensive clean up to do on a regular basis this wouldn't be the one to use.

[DirtyDan]

Lorri,you might check craigs list before you buy I've seen some heavy duty [industrial]chippers listed before.

[BarryW3]

Originally Posted by Lorri D

Hello, I'm thinking about buying a chipper/shredder to make mulch for my garden. ?.. Does anyone have one of these and do you like it? Any other brand recommendations?

I've had an MTD/Yard Machines model 462 for several years. http://www.hammerwall.com/Download_Manual/12411/
It is rugged and has chipped and shredded many cubic yards of leaves, grass, pine needles, acorns, pine bark, sticks and limbs, etc., over the years. Usually I make compost piles about 4 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, several every year. That's the equivalent of lots of bags of good, expensive potting soil. The shredded material composts fast and makes excellent soil.

The reviews of the smaller (?) 452 model now sold at Home Depot mostly apply to the 462 too. http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/2034603...d#.UTwDuYy9KSN

It almost always starts on the first pull. It's heavy/sturdy, noisy, and gives lots of finely shredded matter. You'll need a big stirring stick to keep the leaf chute feeding efficiently. Checking the oil level is a bother.
The 462 has a longer (bigger?) limb feed chute than the 452 (462 takes branches 2 1/2 inch diameter, bigger if dry or already decomposing).
It will stall if fibrous (or wet) matter clogs the shredding chamber--avoid vines, plastic bags, hay-bale-twine, rope, pampas grass, etc. Also metal, rocks, and fresh magnolia cones. Caution: Rocks, fresh pine cones, and hickory nuts may come flying back out of the leaf chute. If the material shredded is very dry, you may want to wet it some to cut down on the dust. Best to use ethanol-free gasoline.

If you want lots of good exercise, have a desire for lots of almost-free shredded matter, and can afford the $$, get yourself such a good, big chipper-shredder!