A Guide to Electric Garden Shredders and Chippers
In the last millennium we drove our neighbours insane using raucous garden shredders on a Sunday morning. But now we’re firmly in the 21st century, we can get to work shredding and chipping as our friends next door enjoy their lie-ins.
As garden shredders increase in popularity, manufacturers are producing quieter, more efficient machines. Yet purchasing an electric garden shredder offers other advantages aside from maintaining healthy neighbourly relations. Electric garden shredders are perfect for the average sized garden.
The most popular variety of shredders are electric garden shredders which come in two forms.
Firstly, impact shredders. These electric garden shredders offer a simple design which works like a food processor. Material is sliced by spinning oversized razor blades as you feed it through the aperture.
Electric garden shredders are typically lightweight and maneuverable. There is the disadvantage of needing to replace blunt cutting blades. Without sharp blades the cutting efficiency is reduced and the electric gardens shredder may clog.
Replacement blades cost under £20 and how frequently you change them depends on what you cut. Hard wood and wet green material will blunt blades on your electric garden shredder quickly. Remember to be sure not to feed stones into your shredder.
Alternatively, we offer quiet electric shredders, which produce lower decibels and are self-feeding; perfect for branches and twiggy material. Quiet electric shredders use either the cutting drum or spiral cutting mechanism. In the former, a revolving metal cog draws in branches and crushes them against a plate. The spiral cutting system replaces the cog with a screw-type tool slicing and grinding material. Both styles are very efficient and as there are no sharp blades to go blunt and maintenance costs are reduced.
Quiet electric garden shredders are also able cope with softer stringy material, such as shrubs, flower stalks and ivy, and produce a better compostable substance as they not only shred but also crush.
Electric garden shredders are designed with a variety of apertures, such as clover, kidney and key-hole shapes. For safety reasons apertures are limited in size, usually allowing branches up to 40mm in diameter to be shredded. Prevent blockages in your electric garden shredder by trimming branches appropriately and not overfeeding your shredder.
When selecting an impact shredder, look out for models that come with a wide paddle to aid feeding.
View our full range of electric garden shredders.