I find garden shredders of benefit to the working gardener and garden enthusiast.

PAGE CONTENTS: Why use a shredder? Two shredder designs Cutting & Crushing Cutting & Turbo How to use a shredder

• Garden waste is reduced from a sprawling pile of hedge cuttings and branches, to a much smaller volume easily managed in bags and by shovel and rake
• Wood chippings can be used on paths or as mulch
• Shredded green and brown organic matter produces fine material that composts quicker
• Shredded material has good insulating properties that are well-used when applying it as mulch
• Shredding accelerates garden recycling, it clears up, saves burning, and saves you money if you normally buy compost and wood chippings

2 designs of garden shredders and 1 leaf shredder

CUT AND CRUSH QUIETLY
The mechanism in these garden shredders moves relatively slowly but quietly. They are especially suited to cutting, crushing and chipping twigs and branches and where more power is required. They all draw branches through once the teeth bite.

There are several mechanisms. The Silent Power SP3500 uses a 1.8KW electric motor to drive a powerful toothed roller that cuts and crushes branches up to 35mm (1 1/3") diameter against a drum. I have a machine similar to this. The chug chug sound is remarkably quiet compared to the sound of my old turbo design shredder.

The Atco 2000 Quiet Shredder uses a 2KW motor to work similarly to the above except the drum is replaced by a lever. Can shred up to 140Kg per hour.

The Atco 1800 Quiet Shredder uses a 1.8KW motor but this time it uses a screw to cut and draw branches up to 35mm (1 1/3") diameter through a narrow crusher.

The mechanism in these garden shredders moves relatively slowly but quietly. They make good use of power to crush and are especially good at dealing with branches. They all draw branches through once the teeth bite.

NOTE: If you're mainly shredding soft and pliable material like paper, soft stems, leaves, or small twigs, then the above designs are probably not for you.

CUT AND SHRED TURBOS
These machines have fast rotating blades to cut and shred material. The spinning action also draws material through. These are the ideal choice for softer material like leaves, green waste or soft twigs.

My old Black & Decker machine was an example. It had 2 shaft mounted blades about 1" apart set at right angles to each other. Beneath was a disc with 2 slits mounted by 2 more blades. The spinning action created a whirl wind that sucked material through.

Now I've selected some new machines: The Power Slider 2500 Shredder uses a 2.5KW motor to power hard corrosion resistant blades inside a plastic housing for reducing noise. Remarkably it can cut shred 40mm (1 2/3") thick branches.

The other machine I would draw your attention to is the Ryobi Shredder Mulcher 1500 with 1.6KW motor can cut branches up to 38mm (1 1/2") diameter branches. This machine has 3 feed ports for material from leaves, rougher stuff, and branches. It's a good choice of garden shredders if you want to shred everything for compost or mulch.

You may be surprised at the difference in prices.
Compare U.K. prices here

• GoneGardening range of garden shredders
• Ferndale-Lodge range of garden shredders

NOTE: If you're mainly shredding woody branches or robust hedge cuttings then a cut and crush design may be better for you.

Some garden shredders are made specially to deal with leaves. They have serrated cutting edges. Check out this page to see some examples of leaf shredders available in U.S.A.

More links to shredders available in the U.S.A. coming soon.

LEAF SHREDDERS
Recyling leaves for composting is far better than burning. Shredding speeds up the process and prevents leaves forming compact layers that seal the heap. The leaf shredder will help with resistant waxy leaves - and you can make leaf mould quickly.

This machine shreds leaves to course or fine, from wet or dry, including pine needles, grass clippings and wet or dry paper.
Check out Leaf Shredder - Vermont U.S.A.

How to use garden shredders with safety in mind

Some of these safety points are obvious and some come with experience.

• Avoid wrapping collecting bag tightly around outlet as it may cause overheating leading to cut out - especially in cut and crush models.
• Take care that stones don’t get caught in the waste when sweeping leaves off the soil.
• Don’t push your hand through the neck of the feeder. There’s little room free it and it could be dragged by branches into the crushing unit.
• Where possible put the stout end of your branches through first.
• Retain a firm stouter branch to hand for pushing through softer pliable twigs if necessary.
• Avoid shredding of old dried wood or seasoned wood which are both harder than fresh cut wood.
• Ensure the outlet is kept clear - but don’t shove your hand up the outlet to clear it while the machine is connected – use a stick with a V shape.
• It’s easy to accidentally switch a machine on while one hand is fiddling around and the other is feeling around for something to hold onto. But you can’t if it’s not connected.
• Avoid wearing clothing that could get entangled in machinery or twigs.
• Manufacturers usually advise wearing gloves.
• If you’re using a ‘turbo shredder’ or any industrial chipper … then wear eye protection.

Take care and be sensible. I find my shredder a pleasure to use. It takes me about 40 minutes to get through cuttings from about a 25ft length of the Beach and Privet hedge.

A standard 2000W rated electric kettle boils in about 3 minutes. So 800W garden shredders operating for 40 minutes use about 5.3 times more energy than for making a pot of tea. More on power consumption and sustainable energy coming soon...

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