Subject: Re: Chipper-shredder?

From: [email-masked] (Steven M. Begley)
Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 15:23:16 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] writes:
>From: [email-masked]
>Subject: Chipper-shredder?
>Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 15:51:41 GMT

>I'm new to rec.gardens. Would appreciate opinions on good value in a chipper/sh
>redder.
> 
>Jim ([email-masked])
> 
Jim-
	I got a shreader last year for the first time. It's a joy to have around. 
Mine came from Home Depot it's 5 hp with chipper head of 16 flail tines. It 
also has a side opening for branches up to 3".
	I have run into two basic types of shreaders: I'll call them 1. Fan 
type & 2. Chipper type. There is a third type: I'll call: String type;  but 
these appear to be useful for little else than shreading leaves in the fall.
	Fan type shreaders have a set of fan type blades, similare to the inpeller on 
a Giant Vac. They will do a good job on most herbacious material and brittle 
things like fallen leaves and small twigs. The "fan" type inpeller moves a lot 
of air so feeding the raw material to them is relitively easy 
because of the vacuum effect.
	Chipper type shreaders are much more difficult to feed because the material 
must be fed into a hopper and then forced into the blades (potencially 
daqngerous). The advantage is that chippers will "eat" much heavier meterial. 
Mine gets all my trimmings including oak branches.
	The instructions say not to feed anything over 1/2" into the hopper, but to 
use chipper feed instead. I was using a piece of 2x4 to force some taxus 
trimmings through the hopper, I pushed the 2x4 to far into the chipper tines, 
adn they simply ate the 2x4 as well! So much for the instructions!
	Your choice of type depends on what you plan to use it for.
	Steven