Garden shredder - what is it? In fact, this is a device with small knives that grind garbage. These knives are driven by an engine. Garden shredders came to us from Western countries. There they are called in the English manner chippers or shredders.
How does a garden shredder work? Everything is simple here - there is an engine (gasoline or electric), it rotates a shaft with tips, tips can be a system of knives or a milling cutter, garbage is poured into the compartment with direct access to the tips (branches, sticks, leaves, hay, grass and other garden debris), the tip system grinds them, after which it either collects them in a special block/reservoir for garbage, or simply throws them away next to device. The crushed garbage is collected and thrown into the compost pit.
Why do you need a garden shredder? Well, to deal with the garbage in the garden, obviously. Yes, but let's get it right. What are the ways to clean up organic garden waste? Organic garden waste refers to branches, sticks, leaves, stems, bushes/root crops, grass.
Let's together - burn, take out, collect in a compost pit and... that's it. There are three ways to get rid of organic waste - burn it, take it out and decompose it in a compost pit. But taking out organic garbage, especially if it is a suburban area, is generally pointless and even stupid. So it remains to burn and decompose. But if you burn something on the ground, then a black spot is formed, on which nothing will grow for a long time. In addition, not all garbage will burn, a huge amount of CO2 will also be released into the atmosphere, and smoke adversely affects living organisms - other plants, animals, people.
That is, it is best to collect garbage in a compost pit and wait until it decomposes? Yes. It's safer, healthier and faster. Additionally, after decomposition, you will receive a bunch of fertilizer for plants.
And what about the space it takes? Here. Here we come to the topic of garden shredders. Firstly, branches, sticks, stems decompose for a long time. Secondly, in the standard form, they take up a lot of space. Garden shredders or chippers, garden shredders come to the rescue. Small knives in them crush all the garbage that got inside. As a result, you will have a pile of garbage that takes up 4-10 times less space and decomposes faster.
Faster decomposition is explained by the fact that it is easier for microorganisms to work with small pieces.
A garden shredder is needed to shred and dispose of organic waste from the garden faster.
How to choose a garden shredder. Types of garden shredders
Before choosing a chipper, answer yourself three questions:
- How big is my garden?
- Is there a lot of garbage on it?
- How far is the nearest socket from the garden?
After answering them, you will be able to decide: how much power do you need a shredder, whether it needs a waste tank or how much waste tank is needed, it will be an electric or gasoline model.
And now let's look at what you should pay attention to when choosing a shredder for the garden.
Electric or gasoline - the eternal question for agricultural machinery. Petrol autonomous, mobile, can be moved anywhere, they are more powerful than electric ones (they can grind branches with a diameter greater than 4 centimeters), but they are more difficult to maintain, they are more expensive, they consume more, more often break down. Electric ones are tied to a place - an outlet, the middle class grinds branches of 2-3 cm, the most powerful 4-5 cm, but they are cheaper, consume less, and are more affordable.
If you have a large area with large debris (branches with a diameter of more than 4-5 cm), then buy a gasoline model. If not, electric. According to statistics, among the users of garden shredders in Russia, only 11% use gasoline models, 89% are electric.
Housing made of plastic or metal. Only professional / specialized models are equipped with a metal case - they are designed for daily use, heavy loads, harder debris, so wear resistance should be more. Plastic is used in household models. It's not brittle plastic - it won't break from your trash, it's designed for that, it just has less wear resistance - not suitable for constant daily loads, large branches, sticks, etc. Further.
A large area with large debris that needs to be shredded daily - models with a metal case.
A small garden / country estate or cottage - household garden shredder.
Milling cutters or knives. The questions are different, but the answers are the same. The milling system is designed for coarse debris and finer shredding. It is put most often in gasoline models with a metal case. Rarely found in electrical. The knife system will cope with simple everyday tasks - branches up to 2-4 cm thick, leaves, grass, small sticks.
Because of this, models with a milling system are more expensive than knife ones. If there is no need for a large cutting capacity, take models with a knife system.
Garbage tank. Everyone understands that the garbage tank in the garden shredder is a big plus. No need to writhe, collect everything yourself. There is a tank in which everything rolls itself. So choose models with a built-in trash can.
Power, weight, thickness of branches. By power, there are three types of garden shredders:
- Low-power - up to 1.5 kilowatts - weigh 20 or less kilograms, can cut a branch up to 2 cm thick, are used in small gardens.
- Shredders of medium power - 1.5-3 kW - their weight can reach up to 50 kilograms, while they can cut branches up to 5 cm thick.
- High-power - 3-9 kilowatts - the weight of such devices can exceed 100 kg, but they can even cut the trunk of a small tree.
