Many summer residents today have abandoned chemical fertilizers so that their own vegetables and fruits are as safe as possible. But what then to feed the garden and garden? Rubbish from your own yard! Of course, it still needs to be processed and laid in a compost heap. But it will be the most ecological and high-quality fertilizer, and you can find a use for all waste. Branches, dried flowers, cuttings of grape vines, rotten apples ... All this is an excellent raw material for future humus, and you are required to grind it and put it in one place for rotting. To help the summer resident, even a special technique was invented - choppers, which facilitate the process of crushing branches. Consider how to choose a garden shredder for your own dacha.
This device is so simple in principle that it is surprising that no one invented it for so long. In some ways, it looks like a meat grinder, which grinds everything that is put into it. True, instead of bones and meat, bark, branches, cones, tops of root crops, etc., enter the grinder, and crushed material comes out. The level of crushing varies from small pieces to sawdust. The waste that has fallen into the receiving funnel is crushed by powerful knives, which are started by an electric or gasoline engine.
To make the right choice of a garden shredder, you should familiarize yourself with the system of knives that will grind country waste. They are of two types: disc and milling.
This device is a disk with several steel knives. The speed of rotation of the disk sets the shaft. How quickly the waste is crushed depends on its composition, but the disk system grinds “soft garbage” best of all: leaves, grass, thin branches, green stems, etc. If dry or thick lignified branches are thrown into the grinder, the knives will quickly become dull.
Disc coulters are designed for “soft debris”: grass, leaves and thin branches
The cutting system is more powerful. It is a one-piece gear, into which the branches are drawn automatically. It is only necessary to immerse the wood waste into the funnel, and from there they will gradually be drawn into the grinding mechanism. Moreover, there is no need to control this process and you can do other work. Milling knives are capable of grinding branches up to 4.5 cm thick. In many models of such choppers, reverse and different levels of crushing are provided. But think about whether you need such a powerful system if you mainly process soft waste. Grass and leaves are better ground with disc knives, and often get stuck in milling systems.
The cutter grinds dry and thick branches perfectly, but the grass can get stuck in it
Like most garden equipment, shredders are available in electric and gasoline models. Both options have a number of advantages. Let's take a closer look at them so that you clearly understand which garden shredder is right for you.
Electric shredders are easy to maintain, so they are suitable for summer residents with little experience in using garden equipment.
Electric motor advantages:
Minuses:
Gasoline shredders are valued for their versatility, because they have enough power for both grass and thick branches.
Pros of a gasoline engine:
When comparing models and analyzing which garden shredder is better, pay attention to the power of the unit. All shredders are conditionally divided into three power classes: amateur systems, middle class and professional models.
This type includes low-power units (up to 1.6 kW), powered by electricity. Their knife system is disc. Before you decide and buy an amateur class product, check what material the knives are made of. The best option is hardened steel. Such units weigh up to 20 kg and are able to chop branches no more than 3 cm thick.
These are intermediate options between amateur and professional models. Such shredders can run on both gasoline and electricity. Maximum power - 2.5 kW. Suitable for private houses and summer cottages, where the garden is small, but no longer young. The units are equipped with milling knives, so they easily grind branches up to 3.5 cm.
Of the advantages of the unit, it is worth noting the system of self-retraction of waste, a funnel for mulch and the presence of wheels that allow you to move the chopper around the site
This includes large, heavy systems that are capable of developing power up to almost 4 kW. The engine can be either gasoline or electric (three-phase). Able to work for a long time and grind branches up to 6-7 cm thick. Moreover, the crushed material is pressed, resulting in an excellent mulch. The units are equipped with large convenient funnels, a powerful milling type cutting mechanism and are able to draw in waste without pushing. Due to their high productivity, they are in demand in farms, large gardens, etc.
To make our review of garden shredders more complete, let's dwell on some of the nuances of choosing a particular model.
If the model you choose has most of the features and additions listed above, then the name of the manufacturer is not so important. Although the products of well-known brands are still more reliable, because they have been tested by time.
With the advent of spring, every owner of a summer cottage thinks about purchasing equipment that will help in gardening. In the absence of a fireplace or a wood-burning stove, the gardener is faced with the task of where to put the cut branches from the tree? A branch chopper will help solve the problem - on the one hand, it allows you to get rid of dead wood, on the other - to prepare mulch for the soil.
There are two types of twig and grass shredders on the technical market, they differ in the type of cutting element:
Carry out the cutting of waste using sharp blades in the form of knives. They do a great job with thin twigs, grass and dry leaves, as well as other soft debris from the garden. But large elements with high density can not only dull the blade, but also break it.
The design has gears, they are slightly stronger than knives. Such equipment is capable of shredding branches with a diameter of 40-50 mm. The disadvantage of such a device is that it does not process soft or too thin wastes well, they simply get stuck in the mechanism or are wound on a rotating element.
In general, the design of both types is arranged according to the principle of a meat grinder, only different parts are used as mechanical elements. Each of the options has individual advantages and disadvantages.
Knife devices are considered more versatile and are great for a small suburban area, while the router does not break or become dull.
The best models of 2017 are successfully used to perform the following tasks:
Before choosing an electric garden wood shredder, you should study the rating of the best modifications that are distinguished by their efficiency and long service life.
The design has 2 blades, a horizontal disc system, an automatic loading element and a device responsible for safe activation. The grass catcher is oriented to 50 kg. German equipment is capable of processing branches 40 mm in diameter. But in this case, it is better to use wet raw materials, since dry ones will break.
Advantages:
No cons were found in this option, except for an increased noise level, which can cause discomfort during operation.
The compact Bosch shredder has a 2000 W power unit that operates in low gear. Throughput reaches 80 kg/h, which is a high figure for a device with a grinding speed of 3,650 rpm. The mass of the device is 11.5 kg, which allows you to easily transfer the unit to any place on the site.
Bosch AXT Rapid-2000
The design has a high-quality cutter in the form of a cutting gear with strong teeth. With this modification, you can grind both dry and wet branches of trees with a diameter of up to 40 mm. The device is equipped with a tank at the bottom, and there is also a security system.
The disadvantages also include the presence of a too thin synthetic bag, which is easily torn when filled with waste.
VIDEO: Overview of the Bosch AXT Rapid-2000 in the field
According to buyers, the Viking disk knife system makes it universal. Thanks to this equipment, it is possible to grind weeds, grass, tree branches and knots with a cross section of 3 cm. The device has a convenient bunker for laying raw materials, which, after processing, exits from the hole in the lower area of the unit.
Advantages:
Flaws:
The maximum power rating of the power unit is 2.5 kW, which will be enough to work in a small garden area.
The garden branch chopper Zubr is sold in online stores at an affordable cost - from 11,700 rubles. The device package includes the device itself, a wheeled chassis with fasteners, a pusher, a waste tank, a key and an instruction manual.
Bison ZIE44-2800
The speed of rotation of the cutting elements is 4,050 rpm, the power of the electric motor is 2500 W, the grinding system consists of a rotor with blades. The unit is driven manually. The device perfectly copes with branches with a diameter of 4.4 cm. In this case, you can adjust the level of grinding.
VIDEO: How the Zubr shredder works
This is a budget version of electric shredders, which has a power of 2.4 kW and a double foot mechanism consisting of hard alloy steel. Thanks to these characteristics, the device is able to easily chop branches with a diameter of 4 cm.
In addition, any soft plant material can be used for processing, be it grass, stems, dry leaves, small branches. Such a mixture after grinding can be used as a fertilizer for the soil.
Advantages:
Flaws:
All of these modifications have a big difference both in pricing and technical features. The best option should be selected primarily based on the budget, and then based on the tasks that it will perform in the garden. The OBI online store has a wide assortment with different costs and capabilities, some do an excellent job of processing small garden debris, others are better when working with dense branches.
VIDEO: How to assemble a shredder with your own hands
Any owner of a garden plot or a private house must, to one degree or another, encounter the problem of plant waste disposal. This issue is especially aggravated with the beginning of spring work and at the end of the season, in the fall. We have to come up with all sorts of ways to get rid of the accumulated cut branches, dry grass and leaves, dead shrubs and the remaining tops, etc.
To help solve this set of problems, and even get a tangible benefit from it, a special type of garden equipment will help, namely, a garden shredder. Not so long ago, few people heard about such a useful unit, but today it often becomes an indispensable assistant to the gardener. True, a technique of this type is still a novelty for the majority, and many do not even imagine what possibilities it has and which side to approach when choosing it. We will help our readers - an article about which garden shredder to choose, what to pay special attention to, what basic rules to follow during operation.
Find out how to do it with tutorials on creation in our new article.
As a rule, such heaps of vegetation waste are extremely non-compact, take up a lot of space, are very difficult to load and transport, and spoil a cozy area with their appearance. What to do with them?
Large branches can still be sawn for firewood. To some extent, the presence of a compost pit solves part of the problem, but laying large fragments in it is extremely unprofitable, since the pit will quickly overflow, and dense branches will decompose for a very long time.
It is quite expensive to take out such mountains of garbage, since the rental of transport, and the loading of waste, and removal - all this costs a lot of money.
It would seem that the simplest way out is to burn. But even here, not everything is so clear:
All this "baggage" of problems is solved by purchasing one garden unit - a chopper (often there are foreign synonyms - a garden shredder or a chipper). This unit is able to quickly grind dimensional plant waste into a small mass, with the disposal of which there will be no special problems.
Thus, the advantages of such a unit are a great many, and it can increasingly be seen in the "arsenal" of zealous owners.
Despite the wide variety of models of garden shredders, differing in size and operational capabilities, they are all assembled according to approximately the same concept, somewhat reminiscent of a food processor.
Garden shredders can be equipped with either an electric drive or an internal combustion engine. Each option has its own pros and cons.
They usually do not differ in large dimensions and weight, therefore they are easily moved to the place of work. Their maintenance is reduced to a minimum, preparation in work, start-up and management does not require any special skills.
At the same time, their "attachment" to the electrical network may be an inconvenience. For example, a large suburban area will require a long cable, which is not always convenient, and sometimes simply impossible, due to the banal lack of a connection point. There are certain restrictions in work and according to the weather criterion - simply for reasons of electrical safety.
As a rule, they are equipped with a two-stroke gasoline engine. Such shredders can already perform more voluminous work, process rather large plant waste, up to the trunks of small trees.
Garden waste shredders ELITECH
The operation of a gasoline engine will already require the owners of certain skills in handling it. So, for refueling, you need to prepare a fuel mixture, you will have to regularly monitor the condition of candles, gasoline and air filters, and carry out preventive work. However, too complex internal combustion engines are not installed on equipment of this class, and all this can be quickly learned.
But in domestic conditions, such shredders are practically not used, simply because of their high cost, large size and difficulty with independent transportation around the site.
However, the type of drive is by no means always the determining factor in the question of the "professionalism" of the chopper. So, you can purchase a compact household model with a two-stroke gasoline engine, and at the same time, there are stationary or mobile pro-class units equipped with a powerful three-phase electric motor.
The torque from the power drive is transmitted to the working tool - the cutting or grinding mechanism of the shredder. And he, in turn, can be arranged in different ways. So, there are three main types:
The advantages of such a scheme are its simplicity, low price, ease of maintenance. Well-honed knives are able to process foliage, grass, stems of bushes and annual plants, usually up to 20 ÷ 25 mm thick. A mechanism of this type does an excellent job with freshly cut shoots and branches, but when processing hard, dried plant waste, the blades can become dull (even a large fruit stone, for example, from a plum or peach, can cause a problem). Some shredders use specially shaped knives with several angled blades. The upper knife cuts the branches fed into smaller pieces, while the lower one already provides the final chopping.
The knife-type mechanism requires a forced supply of material for processing - it will not “pull” the branches into itself. For this, special pushers are used.
In maintenance, such shredders are the simplest, that is, removing a knife for sharpening or replacing with a new one is usually a completely simple procedure. Most household appliances have just such a mechanism.
The teeth of a rotating cutter are able to "gnaw" the sober wood of dry branches and trunks, turning them into small chips. But such a mechanism does not always cope with freshly cut branches and shoots - the fibrous structure “chews”, but may not be fully crushed.
The cutter does not necessarily stand in the singular - there can be several of them on one shaft, with a certain angular “run-up” of the position of the teeth. And on powerful professional-class plants, there is often a two-rotor chopping mechanism, where two rows of milling cutters rotate in the opposite direction, ensuring crushing of even the hardest wood waste.
The convenience of the milling mechanism of grinding is also that it is enough for him to grab a long branch or trunk - in the future, the gear simply drags it inward, simultaneously crushing it into small fragments.
This structure of the cutting mechanism makes it possible to equally successfully grind both freshly cut and old, dried waste. True, garden shredders of this type are already much more expensive.
A rotating screw with sharply honed spiral turns perfectly copes with any type of plant waste - it all depends on the power of the installation itself.
These two concepts, placed in the subtitle, have a direct relationship. The functionality of the grinder as a whole will primarily depend on the power of the power drive.
Bosch garden waste shredders
There is no clear gradation of the whole variety of such equipment, but there is a conditional division into three groups - models of the household class, medium, semi-professional level and, finally, professional-purpose equipment.
To make it easier to perceive the criteria for such a division, it is better to present them in the form of a table:
Chopper category | Power and drive type | Maximum diameter of crushed branches | "Weight category" | Applications and features |
---|---|---|---|---|
household | up to 1.5 kW, electric drive | up to 25 mm | up to 20 kg | Small suburban or house plots, mostly with young trees. Short cycle of continuous operation. As a rule - a knife mechanism. |
Middle class semi-professional | up to 3 kW, electric drive or two-stroke internal combustion engine | up to 40 mm | up to 40-50 kg | Average households or suburban areas with an orchard, shrubs, old trees that require regular pruning. Cope with any type of "green" and dried waste in the established size range. Capable of fairly long non-stop operation |
Professional | from 5 to 9 kW, petrol or diesel drive, three-phase electric motor | 60-80 mm | up to 100 kg and above | Waste disposal in forest parks, industrial enterprises, large farms, utilities, etc. Are calculated on long cycles of work during working shifts. |
Naturally, with the growth of the power and productivity of the garden shredder, its price also increases. Therefore, before purchasing equipment, it is necessary to carefully weigh the planned amount of work to be done, the features of the waste being processed, the frequency of use of the grinder and other parameters. It will be a shame if the purchased shredder either does not cope with the load assigned to it, or if its capacity, for which a lot of money has been paid, will simply remain unclaimed.
In addition, the more powerful and productive the grinder, the larger and heavier it is. From this point of view, an adequate assessment is also needed - how much it will be possible to move it around the site, especially - on the ground.
There are a number of important nuances that require attention when choosing a suitable model:
On many models, the receiving hole can have a pronounced slit-like or cruciform shape, or be equipped with guide ribs - these “tricks make it much easier to feed branchy branches for processing.
Models of the middle and professional class, in addition, can have two receiving hoppers - each for a different type of waste. For example, the supplied soft waste goes to knife shredding, and hard branches go to crushing with a milling cutter.
It will be useful to learn how to make wood from husks in our new article on our portal.
In other models, removable bags can be used as a receiving container, put on the outlet neck. By the way, on the forums you can find critical comments from users - bags sometimes break through sharp fragments of crushed wood flying out at high speed.
There may not be any collection at all - the outlet neck is located at a certain height. Allowing you to substitute, for example, a basket. It is often practiced to throw crushed waste directly onto the ground of the site. In this case, models that provide the ability to adjust the direction and height of the ejection will be of particular convenience.
We will not dwell on the features of choosing models with gasoline engines here. The intricacies of choosing garden equipment with internal combustion engines - two-stroke and four-stroke schemes, launch systems, lubrication, the procedure for preparing the fuel mixture, etc., are given enough attention in another article on this site.
Motokosa - reliable assistants in the suburban area
Read about how to do it right in a special publication of our portal.
The variety of models of garden shredders is very high, and this sometimes even makes it difficult to correctly determine the optimal model. Equipment of this class cannot be called too cheap, so money should be given only for high-quality products.
The fact is that a great variety of different equipment of completely unknown manufacturers has appeared on the market, disguised as sonorous European or Russian names. The vast majority of such samples are semi-underground Chinese production in the negative sense of the word (a lot of really high-quality equipment from China is on sale). The peculiarity of shredders is that the efficiency of their work depends not only on the drive, but also on the quality of the cutting equipment. But in this matter, the manufacturer’s dishonesty is very often manifested - knives or cutters are made of outwardly beautiful and shiny steel, at first they are sharp, but literally after a few approaches they become dull, and simply cannot be sharpened with high quality.
And if we add to this the fact that the cutting equipment is not interchangeable, then it is not far from the situation when a recently purchased device will stand idle simply because of its “unsuitability”.
So, if a garden shredder is purchased, then the choice of honeycombs should be made in favor of proven models of well-known companies. These include Viking, AL-KO, Black & Decker, Gardena, Bosch. Garden equipment of the Russian-Chinese production "Elitech" and "Zubr" deserved very good reviews. Traditionally, the units of the companies Craftsman, Makita, MTD, Oleo-Mac are in high demand.
The table below shows several models that, according to surveys and sales analyzes, top the list of popular garden shredders:
Model name, illustration | Brief description of the model | Approximate price level, rubles |
---|---|---|
Bosch AXT 25TC | One of the most popular models among all garden shredders in general. 2.5 kW electric motor. The universal cutting mechanism "Turbine-Cut" allows you to process any plant material. Productivity - up to 230 kg / h. The thickness of the trunks is up to 45 mm. Equipped with a collection of recycled waste, with a capacity of 53 liters. Convenient wheel travel and handle for transportation around the site. The weight of the chopper is 30.5 kg. | 32900 |
VIKING GE 250S
| One of the main authorities in the field of garden equipment production is VIKING. The presented model is characterized by a powerful electric motor - 2.5 kW. The thickness of processed branches is up to 35 mm. Knife system "Multi-Cut 150" with a two-level Z-shaped arrangement of blades. Reliable emergency blocking system. Convenient wheel travel, stable working position. Assembled height - 1440 mm. Weight - 25 kg | 18000 |
OLEO-MAC SH210E
| Garden shredder with powerful electric motor - 2.1 kW. Low noise level during operation. The frame and body are metal, providing high strength. Convenient wide wheels for moving around the site. Wide loading funnel of the reception bunker. Two pairs of knives - straight and side. The thickness of processed branches is up to 40 mm. The collection bunker is not provided. Weight - 35 kg. | 37000 |
"AL-KO EASY CRUSH МH 2800"
| Affordable price and excellent performance are the reasons why this shredder is at the top of the ranking. Electric drive with a power of 2.8 kW. Built-in bin for collecting recycled waste with a capacity of 50 liters. The maximum branch diameter is 42 mm. The cutting unit is a knife one, additionally equipped with a roller material retraction mechanism. The weight of the chopper is 25 kg. | 15600 |
WOLF-GARTEN SDL 2500
| Reliable, compact and inexpensive unit that can cope with large volumes of waste processing. Electric drive - 2.5 kW. Cutting system - several knives combined into rollers (milling cutter) for high-quality wood crushing. It does not require high revolutions of the cutting mechanism for operation, so the chopper has a low noise level. The maximum branch diameter is 40 mm. The mass of the apparatus is 24.5 kg. | 13000 ÷ 14000 |
VIKING GB 370
| Petrol garden shredder equipped with a 3.3 kW four-stroke engine. Able to process branches up to 45 mm thick. Cutting system - "Multi-Cut 370", with straight and reversible knives and a cutting turbo disc. Convenient neck for material supply (can be in two versions - vertical and inclined). Mechanism for automatic feeding of material for cutting. Height - 1400 mm. Weight - 43 kg. | 72000 |
MTD ROVER 464Q
| Petrol garden shredder of increased functionality. Powerful motor - 5.5 kW. Combined chopping system - rotating cutting blades plus 12 threshing cutters. Processing of trunks up to 75 mm in diameter is provided. Material auto-pulling system. Two loading mouths - for thick branches and for thin and small plant debris. Possibility of lowering the loading tray to the ground level for direct feeding of garbage with a rake. Reliable frame with comfortable wheel travel. Weight - 75 kg. | from 70000 |
All gardeners are well aware that garden care involves the appearance of garden debris. And the larger the garden, the more time it will take to clean up garden branches, branches and other rubbish. For those who want to have less plant debris on the site, the garden shredder was invented. This universal shredder, as practice shows, allows you to reduce the amount of organic debris in the garden by 5-10 times.
Since today the market for gardeners offers a wide range of shredders with different technical characteristics, it makes sense to review garden shredders, which are among the leaders.
Over the past 5 years, the number of manufacturers of garden shredders has grown, and accordingly, the number of options for grass shredders and tree branches has increased.
According to the features of the cutting special element, there are:
An analysis of sales statistics indicates that in recent years there has been an active demand for knife devices (they are bought by gardeners in 85% of cases). Demand for milling devices is lower (15% of consumers buy them). Therefore, we will rank the best devices based on the opinions of independent experts.
This model has become a leader due to the optimal ratio of quality and cost. Power - 2.5 kW. Shreds tree branches, shrubs and other organic garden debris at 4050 rpm.
The model has a horizontal disk system, a pair of blades, a special device responsible for the safe switching mode. The organic waste collector of this shredder can hold 50 kg of waste. Such milling shredders are sold today for an average of 11,000 rubles.
This compact German garden waste shredder features a 2000W power unit. Throughput is 80 kg per hour. This grass, leaf and branch chopper weighs 11.5 kg. Due to its light weight, the user can easily carry it around the site.
Bosch AXT RAPID-2000 has become one of the leaders due to the fact that the mechanical elements of the grinder are made of carbide steel. Gardeners note a slight noise level and very fast crushing of branches.
This Russian garden shredder is rich in equipment, affordable price and low noise level. The device is able to perfectly cope with tree branches with a diameter of 4.4 cm.
Bison ZIE44-2800 makes it possible to adjust the level of grinding.
Electric shredders today differ among themselves in terms of performance, capacity of the garbage collector and power. Below we consider the best models:
For those gardeners who trust gas shredders, the following review of the top three best gas shredders will be useful. So the leaders are:
The top three shredders for recycling garden waste include models such as:
There are few universal garden shredders on the market for tools and garden equipment. The TOP 3 of the best shredders for the garden included:
Today, not only independent shredders are in demand, but also garden shredders, which are a nozzle for a walk-behind tractor.
They are knife, milling, universal. Today you can find a large number of homemade options. But we will discuss factory fixtures.
So, in the TOP-3 of the best options are:
Garden vacuum cleaners with a chopper are used to maintain cleanliness and order not only in the garden, but also within the adjacent areas. They are manual and wheeled. Since wheeled vacuum cleaners are the most convenient, we will analyze the top three options:
Choosing the right garden shredder is important. When choosing a unit for cleaning a garden area, you need to look carefully at:
Many gardeners make their own garden shredders. For those who are well versed in technology, this is not difficult. We offer a look at such homemade devices.
Video:
The proposed material talked about the best electric and gasoline garden shredders. The article also talked about garden shredders for a walk-behind tractor and the rules for choosing a shredder. Be guided by the above information, correctly select the best option for your garden plot.