What garden shredder?

[nickjb]

Thinking of getting a shredder as we seem to keep generating a lot of waste. It might save a few trips to the tip and make some of the waste usable or compostable.

Are any of the cheap ones worthwhile? Didn't want to spend too much on it if possible (<£100).

 

[LeadFarmer]

I have a Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 which is great with dry and woody material, but its blade tends to clog if I put too much wet/green stuff through it.

There seem to be two types of shredder mechanisms. One has a spinning blade (like mine) that cuts into small pieces, and the other has cogs that mash the material.

I guess the cog type may be better, but it depends what you are going to shred.

Once you start using one it is hard to stop, you tend to want to shred everything in sight. I put my xmas tree through mine each year, along with any prunings etc. The shreddings are perfect for adding to the compost.

Get the most powerful one you can afford, and also consider its maximum cutting thickness.

 

[lymmranger]

I took a massive gamble and bought the BandQ own brand - approx £120

Simply it is brilliant!

We have a large garden = alot of shredding. It is very, no VERY quiet and comes with a handy collection box. It will happily shred up to 47mm (anything bigger goes on the fire!). My experience of the cheaper ones is just how dam noisy they are

Good luck

 

[ellal]

Having looked around for ages, I decided to choose the cog/crushing system rather than the blade one, and havn't been disappointed.

Not wanting to break the bank I got the Wickes 'quiet shredder'.

Whilst it doesn't cut things up as fine as a blade, there is very little clogging (except if you feed wet leaves/branches through), and it dealt with everything that could fit through the slot.

 

[JohnD]

what are the model numbers of the ones you are happy with? I have an old B&D that is useless.