In the below video, vlogger The Middle-Sized Garden explains whether your best option is to compost, bonfire or take to the recycling centre - depending on the size of your plot. A garden shredder is a clever piece of machinery, usually housed in a shed, that converts bulky waste into shreds and woodchip in an effortless manner. Some have a blade mechanism to slice twigs and branches, others (more robust ones) use a ridge roller to pull through the waste and crush it. But we'll go into this in more detail later. Two steel blades chop down garden waste in this design. There’s a motor circuit breaker to prevent overloading, too. How to choose the best garden shredders Trees and hedges take a lot of looking after, and once you’ve put down the hedge-trimmer, loppers or chainsaw, that doesn’t mean you’re finished with the job. Simply getting rid of hedge clippings, branches and shrub prunings can be a major endeavour, particularly if you’re dealing with established plants, larger trees or fast-growing conifers.

The only instance you might opt for a petrol garden shredder is if you have a large garden where you need to manoeuvre your shredding machine away from an electrical power source. Impact shredders are generally more compact in size and lighter to move around the garden. Roller designs will take up more room and are heavier. Petrol versions can be substantial appliances. Read more: That's where a quality, multi-purpose garden shredder comes in handy. They'll (hopefully) last you for years and magically transform your waste into enough free mulch (compost) to feed your entire neighbourhood. Similar to the Bosch AXT 25 TC garden shredder, the Makita UD2500 (electric) also makes an excellent top-performing heavy-duty roller. Although it may be an investment, this shredder is a fair price for what you get, which is an effective cut-and-crush system. Alongside minimising the volume of shredded waste and easy-to-use control panel, the shredder comes with a large collector bin. I gave this item 4 stars rather than 5 because it mysteriously cut out after an hour of use and would not restart or reset even after leaving it to the following day. A couple of days later when I was preparing to return it under warranty it started working again and has been fine ever since. Read full review

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Alternatively, you can spit them straight into a wheelbarrow depending on your preferred working style. The plate inside the garden shredder can cause a jam when feeding through chunky branches into the feed hopper, but this happens very rarely. However, we then like to go a little deeper to explore more detail about the product by looking at products in the same category as Mac Allister MIS2500 Electric Impact shredder. That then tells us that there are 765 products in the Garden Tools category at B & Q. Find yourself stowing away bags of garden waste in your shed while waiting for the brown bin to empty, or keeping an unsightly pile in your garden until the weather dries up enough for a bonfire? There is another solution - a garden shredder. What is a garden shredder?

There is a number of safety features plus an overload cutout. So far the 2800 watt motor has barely slowed down no matter what materials have been shredded. Whether you're composting or looking for an effortless disposal method, the main use of garden shredders and chippers is to reduce garden waste. A garden shredder is essentially a gardening tool that cuts down on garden maintenance time. The shredder works to break down the excess material in the garden, especially the larger, peskier items like twigs and branches. Electric vs petrol garden shreddersKey specs – Maximum branch capacity: 44mm; Motor: 2,800W electric; Torque: Not specified; Collector: 55l bin; Cord length: 3m; Dimensions: 92 x 62 x 46cm; Weight: 20.5kg By observation, we think the summary details for the Might Macs must be wrong. The 2 LSC machines differ by engine size – 205cc vs 249cc. That represents a big power difference. It cannot be right that both machines only deliver a 100kg/hr throughput. Aldi for Garden Shredders If you plan to compost shredded woody materials, they will need to be mixed with nitrogen-rich materials such as lawn mowings to increase their decomposition rate. It will take typically three to four years for woody chippings to break down into crumbly compost. Shreddings with a larger proportion of greener/younger wood may reduce the time required. Once well-rotted, it can be dug into the soil to improve its structure. Do I need a garden shredder? Obviously, with these shredders, the larger the collector the better, so you can get away with emptying it less often. Cheaper models tend to come without any bag or box so you will either have to provide your own or let the clippings pile up on the ground. The main advantage of impact shredders is that they are able to cope with green sappy material such as leaves and hedge cuttings. However, they can be a bit noisy and there's some maintenance involved in that you will need to replace blunt cutting blades. Look out for impact shredders with 'reversible' blades' i.e. blades that you can turn round to give a fresh cutting edge, and so prolong the life of your machine.

The really great thing about Aldi’s special offers is that they really are special. If you see a garden shredder on offer, you can bet you are going to get it for a great price. Conclusion Aldi is one of the fastest growing retailers in the UK. One of the reasons that people shop at Aldi is the range of special offers that often have nothing to do with groceries. We have seen everything from tents and picnic table, to, you guessed it, garden shredders as special offers. Remove any plastic tape etc, then roll your card up into a big cardboard log. Feed this into the chipper and you have shredded card in a flash!Garden shredders also tend to jam, often due to soft blades, or blades that can’t cope with the load being pushed in at once. It will happen to them all, even the good ones; it's something you’ll have to deal with when the time comes. What are the two types of garden shredders? Garden shredders work in one of two ways - either they have spinning cutting blades that chomp through the material (much like a food processor). These are called impact or rapid shredders. Impact garden shredders are typically lightweight and manoeuvrable. Gardening can be confusing, difficult, and expensive - with plenty going wrong from the get-go, for that bit of extra help - here are the best gardening books available this year. What is a garden shredder?