Kitchen Garden Forum

This is my first post so hope someone can help me. I work at a secondary school with students with behaviour/learning difficulties. Over the last 3years I have set up 2 greenhouses, 4 raised veg plots and 3 homemade compost bins. We also have a wildlife area. With the amount of waste me make that cant be composted I have been told I can purchase a shredder (whichever one I think) the problem is I havnt a clue! Can anyone recommend one that wont break after a few months?

Electric are wimpy, petrol are bloody dangerous.

Take your pick.

Seriously the electric ones are not capable of much being fed in, the petrol (domestic as opposed to professional) are capable of having decent amounts fed in, but do not like stones and you really need a stout thumbstick used the wrong way round to ensure the feed reaches the blades.

What are you producing that won't cut up enough to compost? I do use a 2500W Alko electric shredder but process very little from the veg plot through it, it is used to make wood and herbaceous material from the rest of the garden into compost. Two exceptions are Sweet Corn (great fun through a shredder) and the mixture of pea sticks and the finished pea plants. I guess funds are tight and other equipment might be a better investment particularly as your users might find it a bit tricky. I'll post the model of the shredder if you want it, I like it but it does not have feed rollers so somebody might suggest an easier to operate model.
I hope you compost shredded paper from the school.

Hello Toolips
I have a small electric shredder which is fine for woody-type prunings and some veg garden stuff like old broadbean and sweetcorn plants, brussels stems that have been dried off but green leafy stuff is a problem. Soft green material will clog up the machine unless fed in with a mix of woody stuff.
As Geoff says what is all this stuff from your veg patch that can't go straight on the heap? What I do with masses of green stuff is to spread it out and run my old rotary mower over it. Then rake it up to go on the heap.

John

Hi Toolips,
I have a Bosch AXT2200 and find it to be excellent. It's relatively quiet and takes good size branches.
It works best with freshly pruned branches and should it get blocked there is a reverse on it. Also good for kale stems etc. I got it from Amazon. I got it in 2005 and it's still going strong. It also has feed rollers so crushes as well as chops.
Regards, Gerry.

I have had an electric ALKO for some years now and it has been excellent, though I only use it occasionally. My tip for pushing stuff down onto the blades is to use a piece of bamboo cane, which shreds and doesn't damage the blades if it touches them.
John N

Mine came with a plastic plunger that doesn't quite reach the blades and works fine.

Thanks guys, very helpful.
We have alot of living willow which I am encouraging the students to use as supports for the veg plots. I am keen for the students to learn how to weave using the willow but have a mountain left over and the pile in the wildlife area is increasing year on year. We also have alot of trees that need pruning so a shredder would be helpful. Most of the veg plot goes in the compost bins. I'm off to look at Bosch! Thanks again.

i inherited one from fatherinlaw, used it once on some leylandi trimmings, found it damn slow, a bonfire is quicker , if you havnt used one before i would suggest borrowing or hiring one to see if it does what you want in a reasonable timescale.

Hello Richard
I had the same problem with leylandii clippings - the resin in them seems to slow things right down. Ordinary woody stuff though goes through very quickly.
Leylandii does does make a really super bonfire - seems a shame to shred it!!

John

Hi Toolips,
I, too, can vouch for the Bosch. We have had one at home for about 2-3 years now and it copes very well with shrub prunings. It's not happy with branches getting on for 1 inch diameter & above, but if it doesn't like something it has a reverse mode that is useful. It is a lot quieter than the ones that have a rotating blade, since it has two 'munchers' instead. Spot the technical term.
Best wishes,
Vivien