Garden Shredders and Chippers: A Buyer’s Guide

When it comes to buying garden shredders and chippers there can be a number of things to consider. Here at GardenLines we have a put together a guide to buying the best garden shredder to meet your needs.

Garden Shredders and Chippers: Why Buy One?

The main use of garden shredders and chippers is to reduce garden waste – whether it is for composting or just for easier disposal.

Having homemade compost (courtesy of your garden shredder) to hand is invaluable to all gardeners – whether you’re a pro or just someone who loves to see their garden flourish.

Types of waste that can go into garden shredders and chippers includes hedge off-cuttings, foliage from plants, leaves and twigs. You could even put kitchen waste like vegetables and fruit into a garden shredder.

Some garden shredders and chippers will also reduce more woody material to chippings which makes for great mulch. You can spread this mulch over bare soil which can help keen the ground moist and keep weeds at bay. As this woody material reduces it will then do further good by adding nutrients back into the ground.

Waste produced by garden shredders and chippers may sometimes need to be stored in a compost bin for a while. This can help the waste either reduce further down to the required level or minimise the risk of any toxins being spread onto the ground. How long it’s stored depends on your needs and the waste type.

Garden Shredders and Chippers: Things to Consider Before Purchasing

What Garden Waste Do You Need to Shred?
Do you need to shred green branches and leafy waste or will you be reducing tougher materials like woody branches?

Will Noise Levels Be An Issue?
Impact garden shredders can be very noisy. Ear defenders should be worn to protect hearing.

What’s The Size of the Waste You Want To Reduce?
Be sure to check the size limitations of the shredder you are considering purchasing. They have limits on the size of waste they are able to reduce.

Garden Shredders and Chippers: Which is Right for Me?

Impact Garden Shredders
Impact garden shredders use a cutting blade that will chop leaves and green branches very finely – perfect for compost heaps. This type of garden shredder is unlikely to be able to cope with larger, woodier branches as well though. Impact garden shredders can be loud when in operation but now there are many quieter models on the market that won’t upset your neighbours. Impact garden shredders will also need a degree of maintenance over the course of their lives. The blades on these garden shredders do wear out but are relatively easy (and cheap) to replace.

Crushing garden shredders/chippers
Crushing garden shredders and chippers tend to be quieter when in operation compared to impact garden shredders. Crushing garden shredders will easily tackle woody branches and reduce them into wood chips. The reduced woody material is larger in size which is not as good when it comes to composting. Impact garden shredders may not do much for any leafy, green material you want to shred; the waste will simply pass through the machine, untouched. An added bonus with crushing garden shredders and chippers is that they typically need less maintenance as there are no blades to go blunt.

Garden Shredders and Chippers with Reverse Action
If any material gets stuck in your garden shredder or chipper you are going to want to be able to put it into reverse action. This feature will allow you to more easily free any debris that is not passing through the shredder. Without a reverse action it is going to be more difficult to free the trapped debris from the garden shredder.

Petrol Garden Shredders or Electric Garden Shredders

Electric Garden Shredders Pros:
• Tend to be cheaper
• Smaller and lighter than petrol counterparts

Electric Garden Shredders Cons:
• The length of the cable can be limiting. Make sure it will reach to where you want to shred
• The quality of the shreddings is sometimes not as good as those produced by petrol garden shredders as they are not as powerful

Petrol Garden Shredders Pros:
• Tend to be more powerful
• Gives you the freedom to shred anywhere

Petrol Garden Shredders Cons:
• Can be more expensive
• Will need more maintenance (and of course re-fuelling with petrol)

View our full range of garden shredders
View our full range of electric garden shredders
View our full range of petrol garden shredders