Posted: 11/2/2012 12:35:56 AM EDT
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Hi guys,
I'm looking into buying a chipper/shredder for use around the yard and I was wondering if anyone had experience with a unit they would recommend. My intent is to use it for chipping up tree pruning residue for mulch in the garden, as well as shredding various garden wastes for the compost pile. I consider myself a pretty serious gardener and composter, so I'm willing to pay for a quality unit. I don't have a tractor, otherwise I would get a PTO model. A casual search of Home Depot's website shows what appears to be mostly machines of Chinese origin. Home Depot lists a couple of 15 HP machines (which appear to be the same machine with different branding) for $1000 and $1300. I also looked at Wallenstein's website, and they are now offering a smaller push around unit, but it looks like it will cost about twice as much as the Chinese units from Home Depot, and it only comes with a 6 HP motor. For general home use, would a 6 HP motor be a limiting factor? Bear in mind that I'm not looking to chip up trees or large diameter branches. In fact, around here, anything bigger than what these units are rated for is considered firewood. Also, the Wallenstein, aside from not being made in China, has a better warranty at three years vs. one for the other Home Depot models. In addition to the models I've listed here, I've looked into the BCS chipper/shredders that work with their garden tractors, but the price of tractor and implement would be a bit much to justify. With all that, besides the aforementioned units, are there any others that I should look at before making my decision? Thanks in advance for any input. |
| I wouldn't really call it a recommendation since I don't have anything to compare it to, but I've got a Troy-Bilt (similar to this one) that I'm happy enough with. My only complaints are that the bag is kind of a PITA to deal with (not sure what a good alternative would be, other than just blowing it out on the ground, though), and that the input to the chipper part is too small. I'm sure they do that purposefully to keep people from feeding larger stock than the unit is rated for, which would be fine if you were chipping 2" broomsticks. But in the real world, branches are crooked, so they won't feed unless broken down into relatively straight sections... which is more trouble than it's worth. |
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I bought a simplicity chipper/shredder I found on craigslist...it has been a champ that has always started and done very well. It does up to 2.5" limbs.
http://www.simplicitymfg.com/products/lawn-and-garden-products/chipper-shredder/ |
| I have this unit from Sears/Craftsman and it has worked very well for me for 2 full seasons so far. This one. I bought it on sale for under $500 and have seen it on sale since then for about the same. Have used it to chip tree trimmings up to 2-3" and it devours leaves. The leaf hopper will fold down flat to the ground so you can just rake the leaves directly into it, as long as they are not too wet the air flow will suck them through without plugging. Wet leaves do require you to stop and clean the chute from time to time. For leaves I typically bag all of my yard in 2 or 3 bags when my neighbors use upwards of 20. Before getting this one I used a leaf van/shredder and it would take probably 10 bags to do the same yard. Has a good sized engine and other than taking a pretty hard tug starts usually 1st pull due to the heavy fly-wheel effect of the blades. Only downside is it does not have a draw-bar, keep meaning to make one up as it would be a lot easier to pull around the yard with my tractor rather than pulling by hand all the time. |