In recent years, garden shredders have become increasingly popular among gardeners in our country, which help to significantly reduce the amount of garbage that results from working in the garden. This technique is not yet very common, so choosing the best model can be difficult. Today in specialized stores you can buy almost any garden shredders, reviews of which we will now discuss.
How necessary are they for daily work?
Almost all gardeners agree that such an installation is necessary in every household. After all, with its help, you can chop the branches of fruit trees and stiff stems of weeds. Reviews indicate that ground garbage not only occupies a smaller volume, but can also be used as mulch or as compost filler. Therefore, in this article we will consider the main features of this kind of technology, and also talk about its real prospects.
Types of working system
To date, grinders are available in two versions: with a disk and a milling mechanism. Each of them has its positive and negative sides, which we will discuss now.
In the first case, the disk on which the knives are welded or riveted acts as a working body. The speed of work largely depends on the type of raw material being processed. Gardeners say that thin branches, bark and fresh weeds are ground almost instantly. Experienced owners do not advise sticking dry branches into disk garden shredders: reviews suggest that the knives are dull very quickly.
The positive aspects of such devices are maintainability and low cost of troubleshooting. Users say that knives can be bought in almost every specialized agricultural store, and their cost is low. However, such shredders themselves are much cheaper than the variety that will be described below.
Milling Systems
In this case, the mill grinds the plant residues, made in the form of a kind of gear from hard alloys. This system is much more reliable, as it easily processes even completely dry branches, the diameter of which reaches 40-45 mm. Buyers say that even an old willow tree easily turns into a whole pile of dust, which can then be used as a wonderful mulch.
But our gardeners value much more another property, due to which it is these garden shredders that are most often bought. The reviews say that the cutter can independently tighten branches and other rubbish loaded into the receiving funnel: you do not have to risk the tool and hands, constantly pushing waste (as in the case of disk systems).
The disadvantage of the cutter is that it is poorly adapted for grinding leaves and fresh grass. Gardeners indicate that the result is porridge, and a large amount of juice and dirt mixed with grated plant residues contributes to the rapid abrasion of the mechanism.
engine's type
There are two schemes for producing garden shredders. The reviews are extremely controversial: someone fiercely advocates an electric engine, while someone prefers gasoline models. As in many other cases, the truth is somewhere in between.
Characteristics of Electric Varieties
Consider the features that each garden electric shredder has. Reviews about him are very versatile. Unlike gasoline variations, models of this category exist in an amateur and professional version. One of their important differences from competitors is the impossibility of continuous operation. It is this (the duration of the possible work) that professional and domestic varieties of them differ from each other. Unlike gasoline models, this duration in any case is calculated in minutes.
Gardeners say that even electric milling shredders, if they load medium-sized dry branches in them, will overheat very much after 20-30 minutes of continuous operation. After this, the mechanism has to be urgently stopped and cooled.
If you want to buy a power tool, we recommend paying attention to Bosch products. The garden shredder, released in the vastness of Germany, will certainly please you with its reliability even in very difficult operating conditions.
Buyers say that with the help of such shredders, they cleared entire gardens, and the tool remained operational. This Bosch chopper compares favorably with its competitors.
What does power consumption depend on?
There are three typical mill step sizes: 0.325 dm, 0.375 dm and 0.404 dm. The larger the step, the more powerful the engine, the faster you can cut dry and thick branches. However, a smaller step is a less powerful motor, the load of which can be sustained by the wiring of an ordinary country house. Of course, the larger size of the knives also suggests a more powerful and revolving engine, which also leads to a considerable load on the wiring. And in most of the country houses she is not in perfect condition.
Owners of powerful shredders recognize that in most cases it is necessary to completely replace it with copper. If the house is large, the costs may be commensurate with the cost of another unit that does not have such disadvantages. Just note that the price of the most affordable models starts at 6.5 thousand rubles.
Why can I use such a garden electric chopper? Testimonials indicate that its processing mechanism copes with maximum hard weeds. Due to the extremely weak engine and short knives, there is no need to talk about something more serious.
A bit about engine performance
A conventional electric garden
shredder can reach up to 2.5 kW. The engine is most often located along the central axis of the device. It should be noted that for the processing of really large volumes of branches, you should choose only a longitudinal arrangement. In this case, complex gearboxes are not used, which significantly increases the operational life of both the engine itself and the entire device as a whole.
If such a disadvantage is not so important for chopping grass and hard weed stalks, then this garden equipment may well cause a fire when disposing of the remains of fruit trees.
For an electric saw, it’s vital to properly adjust the cutter or knife (depending on the model). If the fastening of the knives is loose, they will simply scroll, without contributing to the shredding of the vegetation. If special fuses are broken or deliberately removed, the device will try to work even if too hard wood or a piece of metal gets on the knives. As a result, the engine simply burns out, and the negligent owner can safely buy a new chopper, because under the guarantee no one will repair the old one.
What do customers say?
In general, almost all buyers pay little attention to such subtleties: garden equipment with the ability to grind large branches is not sold so often, and simple shredders designed for the disposal of grass and leaves, successfully work out their entire operational life, without the need for complicated settings and adjustments.
There are models in which this tension can only be changed with a wrench and a screwdriver, and there are those that are equipped with manual adjustments. However, experts say that the use of the latter does not justify itself, since they not only tend to fail, but the mechanism of such a device is very moody.
Simple summer residents agree with this: it’s better to tinker with a wrench once, than to give a chopper with a “flying” knife adjustment mechanism for repair. Oddly enough, the Bosch garden shredder is sometimes distinguished by such capricious behavior, which in other respects is just perfect.
Thus, the advantages of electric tools for grinding vegetable waste are as follows:
- It is enough to connect the tool to the network, after which the electric choppers can be operated.
- There is no need to reconcile the ratio of fuel to oil.
- No need to buy candles and other supplies.
But especially users of electric grinders appreciate the noiseless operation of such units, as well as the lack of smell of gasoline exhaust. As for the negative reviews, many do not like extension cables, which are constantly tangled underfoot.
User reviews for gasoline tools
Accordingly, there is a group of gardeners who prefer a garden gasoline shredder. As arguments, they cite the complete freedom of this type of tool from outlets, the possibility of its use even in recently founded cottage villages, which had not yet been supplied with electricity at the construction stage.
Especially good (according to reviews) was the Viking garden shredder. According to satisfied customers, this unit easily grinds thick branches, tree roots and bark, while spending surprisingly little fuel.
True, many buyers admit that a gasoline tool requires constant and thorough care, since in the absence of one it quickly fails. A considerable part of angry complaints is related to the fact that users simply do not even have a clue about the correct lubrication of the equipment they operate.
The right choice of oil is the key to saving your money!
Lubrication of the tool is one of the most painful and topical issues that will inevitably arise for any user of a gasoline shredder, which is equipped with a two-stroke engine. At first it may seem that there is no real problem here, since it is rarely possible to meet a manufacturer who would not be involved in the production of a huge assortment of specialized lubricants for his tool.
But there is nowhere to buy them, and far from all potential buyers can afford to pay a couple of thousand for a bottle of oil. As a result, there are often situations when a garden gasoline chopper is tormented by pouring the first motor oil that comes across. Often after this, the tool fails, and such a case is not a guarantee.
Naturally, you can only recommend strict adherence to the instructions of the manufacturer. First, the recommended lubricants are ideal for your chopper, and you will definitely not be able to get a denial of service due to improper use.
However, if the nearest service center is far from you, and you do not plan to use its services, you should not pour any oil into the oil tank. In particular, domestic models will fully tolerate the standard M8 grease, which can be found at any gas station. But it is better to use transmission varieties that are characterized by increased viscosity.
Many summer residents who for several consecutive years operated a gasoline two-stroke garden grass grinder with the cheapest lubricants did not notice a special deterioration in its working properties.
Other comments
But there are those users who still find reasons for criticism. The fact is that gearboxes and other moving parts of gasoline shredders need high-quality and regular lubrication. As a rule, for this, again, its cheapest varieties are used, for which they then pay. Such frugal owners often complain about the unpleasant "smell of the tank farm" in their garden.
To avoid such unpleasant consequences, you still have to spare no money by purchasing biodegradable oil for lubrication. Yes, it costs more, but it doesn’t smell. In addition, you don’t have to think about the environment, as this kind of oil for a short time breaks up into its constituent elements without harming your garden, kitchen garden or forest.
Negative reviews
You can find a lot of angry reviews from buyers of environmentally friendly oils. They complain that their tools were covered with rust after winter storage, which was not observed with conventional lubricants.
It makes sense to warn that before laying the tool for long-term storage, it is necessary to fill in it with ordinary transmission or motor synthetic oil. After this, you need to “drive” the mechanism a little in idle mode. The fact is that environmentally friendly lubrication will continue to decompose during storage, as a result of which the internal parts of the mechanism can quickly become unusable.
Do not forget that not only a knife or a mill needs lubrication, but also a drive sprocket. It can be lubricated with ordinary solidol or lithol, but this should only be done as a last resort. It is better to use specialized varieties of greases for this purpose. Those gardeners who regularly look after their chopper do not complain about any problems with it.
Proper storage is the key to health!
Since we “hinted” about storage above, we’ll talk a little about this topic as well. As a rule, a power tool is more often used for seasonal work, and for the whole winter it is pulled out a couple of times by force. As we already said, before laying the chopper “in a long box”, it must be lubricated without sparing oil.
Many of our fellow citizens are not too scrupulous about this process, as a result of which there are a lot of complaints that are devoted to the "disgusting quality" of garden shredders. We must say right away that in most cases grief gardeners are to blame, who did not even think about preserving the tool for the winter period.
To do this, remove the protective cover, remove all sawdust and dirt. Remove the knife, and for storage it is advisable to lower it into the engine oil. Of course, you can only dip it in grease and proudly hang it on the wall, but proper preservation is preferable: the metal remains perfectly clean and completely protected from corrosion. Experienced gardeners say that the spare knives for the shredder, which they stored, were in perfect condition even three years after the purchase.
Wipe all work surfaces with a soft rag, removing any dirt from the parts. Lubricate all structural components that require it (by looking at their location in the instructions). After that, you can wrap the tool in a canvas cover and put it somewhere in the corner before the start of the new season.
Some notes on storing electric choppers
All categories of power tools can only be stored in sufficiently warm, ventilated rooms. It is unacceptable to keep such devices on the street where, due to differences in daily temperatures, condensation forms inside them, eventually leading to a short circuit and damage to the tool.
But you don’t need to get involved: storage at temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius will not lead to anything good. True, we do not live in Africa, so you definitely should not worry about this. If you purchased a battery shredder, we do not advise you to store its batteries at temperatures below 10 and above 35 degrees Celsius, as this will very quickly lead to their failure. Given their cost, this loss will be unpleasant.
By the way, how much does a garden shredder cost? The price of simple electric models starts from 6-7 thousand, but gasoline varieties can be bought for at least 15-17 thousand rubles.