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Recycling garden cuttings - choosing the right shredder

If youve got a mature or overgrown garden, the prunings and foliage from your hedges, shrubs and bushes can quickly pile up, overwhelming your compost heap and garden burner and requiring you to make a huge number of trips to the tip!

A garden shredder can be an excellent solution to this problem, transforming garden waste into smaller woodchips that are easier to store, compost well, and can be used for a range of garden jobs, including mulching and path-building.

However, knowing where to start when purchasing a garden shredder can be tricky, which is why weve created this handy guide, packed with buying tips to help you make the right decision.

Petrol or electric

The first thing youll need to think about is whether you want to buy a petrol or an electric shredder.

For the vast majority of gardeners, an electric shredder will probably be sufficient, although they will require covered storage, and access to an outdoor electricity socket.

Electric shredders tend to be smaller, lighter and cheaper than petrol units, but are limited by access to electricity and the length of the cable. In addition, they tend not to be as powerful as petrol units, meaning they may not be suitable if youve got a lot of heavy duty or commercial shredding to do.

Whilst petrol shredders are significantly more expensive than electric chippers, they tend to be more powerful, and arent limited by the restrictions of a cable or the electricity grid.

Impact vs Crushing

There are two main types of shredder “ impact and crushing, and the best shredder for your garden will depend on what it is you are looking to shred!

Impact shredders

Impact shredders (also known as mulching/rotary shredders) work by using a blade or multiple blades to chop and cut foliage, branches and leaves quite finely, making them a great solution for smaller soft stemmed green twigs and foliage.

However, they can struggle with larger woodier material, and are quite loud, so if youre in a residential area, you may want to opt for a quiet version to ensure that you dont upset the neighbours! Impact shredders also require some maintenance, as youll need to replace the blades when the wear out.

Crushing shredders

Crushing shredders (also known as quiet or silent shredders) utilise a rotating gear to crush the garden waste, which makes them particularly effective at breaking down woody branches into small chips. With no blades to replace, they require less maintenance than impact shredders, but tend not to be as effective at dealing with leaves and greener waste.

Power and capacity

When looking at the power and capacity of your shredder, there are a couple of things you should look for. The first is the maximum twig thickness, which typically ranges from 40mm to 50mm “ so think about the size of branches you are looking to shred, and choose accordingly.

Next on the list is the output (either W or HP, depending on if youre going for electric or petrol). The higher this figure, the more powerful the unit, and the more it will be able to shred!

Portability and Noise

Other considerations when choosing a shredder are the weight of the unit, its portability, and the noise it makes.

If portability is a concern, then make sure you choose a unit with wheels - thankfully, most modern electric shredders are fairly lightweight, so this shouldnt be too much of a problem.

Make sure you check the noise level of the unit as well “ shredders can be very loud, so if this is a concern, opt for a low noise shredder (although even the low noise ones can be fairly loud during operation). When operating a shredder, always use ear protection.

Blockages

When shredding, blockages will happen “ whether you get a little optimistic about the size of the branches youre trying to shred, overfill the container, or feed too much in at a time!

To avoid this, look for a shredder thats easy to unblock, such as units that come supplied with safety function that enable you to reverse the shredding process, making them much easier to unblock.

Other features, like a plunger or automatic feed function will also help to reduce the chance of blockages occurring in the first place.

How Keen Gardener can help

At Keen Gardener, we offer a range of fantastic electric and petrol garden shredders to suit a full range of budgets and garden requirements “ all at fantastic, unbeatable prices.

For further information on selecting the right shredder, speak to an expert member of our team today on 01789 763336.