Chippers and Shredders
My wife and I have an attached greenhouse on our home. We grow all types of plants and some vegetables. Being not all that large of a growing space we were able to chop up our waste for composting by hand.
Then we added ferns, banana plants and those that produced some very large leaves. To break these down for composting we purchased a 2 hp electric shredder. Works great on small plant material but not very good for high fiber materials as it binds the shredder.
Then we purchased a larger green house growing corn, vegetables and other plants in large quantities.
Along with 4 very large trees that produce huge amounts of leaves in the fall we were faced with how to decrease the plant/leaves size for easy composting.
I started researching what product or products were on the market that would shred all type of garden materials as well as large volumes of leaves without binding up due to high fiber content. I already knew that an electric shredder would not work so I went to the local rental shop to see what they had, thinking that others have had this same need.
What I found is that rental shops have large to very large chippers but not shredders. Why not use this method as large horsepower should handle any fiber material and not bind up? Great idea but wrong solution. Chippers pull in the soft garden material and throw it out without reducing size. Chippers work well on solid materials such as tree limbs, branches, corn stalks etc.
Further research pointed me to machines that would primarily shred with a secondary use for chipping.
Chipping uses one or two 4 inch cutting blades on a fly wheel that spins very fast and when a tree branch or limb is inserted is basically cut into small pieces and thrown out.
Shredding uses 36 to 48 free-swinging hammers on a drum rotating very fast. When a soft material such as leaves or garden materials are placed in the hopper or side shoot, they are reduced to very small particles. Fiber in leaves, vines, etc are not a problem when using a shredder compared to a chipper.
Most companies sell machines called chipper/shredders which can be purchased at most garden store departments. Look closely at these machines if you are in need of shredding over chipping. They will have a large hopper on top for light branches and a side shoot for larger limbs from 2 to 6 inches. When you look into the machine from the top you will see the flywheel with one to two, 4 inch knives, this fly wheel is the same cutting edge used in the side shoot for larger limbs, just feeds from a different angle. I don稚 know why they call this a shredder as it will not do garden refuse or leaves you can use in compost.
The shredder machine on the other hand has a very large hopper on top that you can put large amounts of garden refuse or leaves in. The side shoot is used for small limbs up to 3 inches. When looking inside the large hopper on top you will see a drum with 36 to 48 free-swinging hammers. When looking inside the side shoot you will see a fly wheel with one to two 4 inch cutting blades. The top is for garden refuse and leaves whereby the side shoot is for limbs, corn stalks up to 3 inches. Shredders incorporate both the flywheel cutting blade and 36 to 48 free-swinging hammer blades for shredding.
Horsepower is important in all types of chippers or shredders including electric machines. If you can afford the larger horsepower then go for it. In my case I elected for the mid range horsepower (12) as it gave me the best of each, shredding and chipping power at the price I could afford.
Paul Joubert
My wife and I have an attached greenhouse on our home. We grow all types of plants and some vegetables. Being not all that large of a growing space we were able to chop up our waste for composting by hand.
Then we added ferns, banana plants and those that produced some very large leaves. To break these down for composting we purchased a 2 hp electric shredder. Works great on small plant material but not very good for high fiber materials as it binds the shredder.
Then we purchased a larger green house growing corn, vegetables and other plants in large quantities.
Along with 4 very large trees that produce huge amounts of leaves in the fall we were faced with how to decrease the plant/leaves size for easy composting.
I started researching what product or products were on the market that would shred all type of garden materials as well as large volumes of leaves without binding up due to high fiber content. I already knew that an electric shredder would not work so I went to the local rental shop to see what they had, thinking that others have had this same need.
What I found is that rental shops have large to very large chippers but not shredders. Why not use this method as large horsepower should handle any fiber material and not bind up? Great idea but wrong solution. Chippers pull in the soft garden material and throw it out without reducing size. Chippers work well on solid materials such as tree limbs, branches, corn stalks etc.
Further research pointed me to machines that would primarily shred with a secondary use for chipping.
Chipping uses one or two 4 inch cutting blades on a fly wheel that spins very fast and when a tree branch or limb is inserted is basically cut into small pieces and thrown out.
Shredding uses 36 to 48 free-swinging hammers on a drum rotating very fast. When a soft material such as leaves or garden materials are placed in the hopper or side shoot, they are reduced to very small particles. Fiber in leaves, vines, etc are not a problem when using a shredder compared to a chipper.
Most companies sell machines called chipper/shredders which can be purchased at most garden store departments. Look closely at these machines if you are in need of shredding over chipping. They will have a large hopper on top for light branches and a side shoot for larger limbs from 2 to 6 inches. When you look into the machine from the top you will see the flywheel with one to two, 4 inch knives, this fly wheel is the same cutting edge used in the side shoot for larger limbs, just feeds from a different angle. I don稚 know why they call this a shredder as it will not do garden refuse or leaves you can use in compost.
The shredder machine on the other hand has a very large hopper on top that you can put large amounts of garden refuse or leaves in. The side shoot is used for small limbs up to 3 inches. When looking inside the large hopper on top you will see a drum with 36 to 48 free-swinging hammers. When looking inside the side shoot you will see a fly wheel with one to two 4 inch cutting blades. The top is for garden refuse and leaves whereby the side shoot is for limbs, corn stalks up to 3 inches. Shredders incorporate both the flywheel cutting blade and 36 to 48 free-swinging hammer blades for shredding.
Horsepower is important in all types of chippers or shredders including electric machines. If you can afford the larger horsepower then go for it. In my case I elected for the mid range horsepower (12) as it gave me the best of each, shredding and chipping power at the price I could afford.
Paul Joubert