It's been regularly, we have a spare blade which has been useful. It wasn't one of the more expensive shredders either, we paid £ 179. 2 yrs ago the blade was about £25. Well worth the money and has saved us a lot of journeys to the council amenities site. The shreddings are spread around the borders and help keep the weeds down. An extra bonus
Never try to shred phormium. It wraps round the blades in an impact shredder and then clogs it. Takes an ages to free it. The fibres are just too tough.
Well I've returned the McAlister (I wonder if faulty) and have started researching replacements. Blades seem to be in 4 types (thanks for everyone's examples)
1. Turbine cut (e.g. Bosch AXT 25 TC)
2. Impact shredder (e.g. Al-ko, current Bosh 2000 AXT)
3. Auger/spiral type blade (e.g. old Bosh AXT 2000 HP)
4. "cut & crush" e.g. McAlister MSHP2800 & Makita UD2500
I'll make a list of all available models and add them here, by type.
Ooh thanks @hiacedrifter - that will be useful. I've just finished shredding a pile of raspberry canes, buddleia and eleagnus (very early winter cutback to make room for fencework next week) and it got me thinking about buying a new shredder again.
My shredder is an ancient (nearly 30 years old) impact one and every time I go to use it I expect it not to work - but it does. It clogs with green stuff (but easy to unclog) and doesn't much like anything more than about 18mm diameter - but it does shred everything very fine which makes a wonderful addition to the compost heap. Heats up and breaks down super fast and a 1m x 1m x 3 m pile of canes and branches was reduced to 3 garden trugs of shreddings this afternoon.
It's very noisy though and (at that age) I just know it's going to give up when I need it most. I am, therefore, always interested in the shredder threads so I have some research behind me when I need to make that distress purchase.
ATM I'm thinking I'd go for another impact shredder. The fine shreddings are more useful for me than the chunkier ones. The fact they clog with green stuff is also less of a problem. I do most shredding late winter so it's nearly all brown and dry anyway, and I usually 'shred' green stuff by scattering it on the lawn and running the sturdy Honda lawnmower over it.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Well I've returned the McAlister (I wonder if faulty) and have started researching replacements. Blades seem to be in 4 types (thanks for everyone's examples)
1. Turbine cut (e.g. Bosch AXT 25 TC)
2. Impact shredder (e.g. Al-ko, current Bosh 2000 AXT)
3. Auger/spiral type blade (e.g. old Bosh AXT 2000 HP)
4. "cut & crush" e.g. McAlister MSHP2800 & Makita UD2500
I have all of the above Bosch shredders. I recently bought the AXT 25TC to replace my AXT 2000HP which was getting a bit worn out.
Today I did a major prune of some 20 foot Laurels, with branches upto 2 inches in diameter. I initially chose the AXT 25TC to dispose of these branches but it wasn't long before it all ground to a halt cos' it couldn't handle the Laurel leaves. I wheeled out my trusty old AXT 2200 ('Impact' like the 2000) and it whizzed through loads of branches in no time at all - and yielded good compostable material. I finished off the biggest branches, after trimming off most of the leaves, with the AXT 25TC.
So in my opinion the best all-round model from the Bosch armoury is their 2200 model. I've recently replaced the blade and it's like a new machine. But if your budget can stretch to it, and you like to be able to dispose of all your prunings in the smallest volume, you need both a shredder (eg. the AXT 2200) & a chipper (the AXT 25).
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
I've acquired a Bosch AXT2200 shredder on ebay, it's at a relative's house, they're bringing it to me in a couple of weeks. It seems to have water in - does anyone know where the water might be, so I can guide my relative in dismantling/draining? Thanks
Posts
1. Turbine cut (e.g. Bosch AXT 25 TC)
2. Impact shredder (e.g. Al-ko, current Bosh 2000 AXT)
3. Auger/spiral type blade (e.g. old Bosh AXT 2000 HP)
4. "cut & crush" e.g. McAlister MSHP2800 & Makita UD2500
I'll make a list of all available models and add them here, by type.
My shredder is an ancient (nearly 30 years old) impact one and every time I go to use it I expect it not to work - but it does. It clogs with green stuff (but easy to unclog) and doesn't much like anything more than about 18mm diameter - but it does shred everything very fine which makes a wonderful addition to the compost heap. Heats up and breaks down super fast and a 1m x 1m x 3 m pile of canes and branches was reduced to 3 garden trugs of shreddings this afternoon.
It's very noisy though and (at that age) I just know it's going to give up when I need it most. I am, therefore, always interested in the shredder threads so I have some research behind me when I need to make that distress purchase.
ATM I'm thinking I'd go for another impact shredder. The fine shreddings are more useful for me than the chunkier ones. The fact they clog with green stuff is also less of a problem. I do most shredding late winter so it's nearly all brown and dry anyway, and I usually 'shred' green stuff by scattering it on the lawn and running the sturdy Honda lawnmower over it.
I have all of the above Bosch shredders. I recently bought the AXT 25TC to replace my AXT 2000HP which was getting a bit worn out.
Today I did a major prune of some 20 foot Laurels, with branches upto 2 inches in diameter. I initially chose the AXT 25TC to dispose of these branches but it wasn't long before it all ground to a halt cos' it couldn't handle the Laurel leaves. I wheeled out my trusty old AXT 2200 ('Impact' like the 2000) and it whizzed through loads of branches in no time at all - and yielded good compostable material. I finished off the biggest branches, after trimming off most of the leaves, with the AXT 25TC.
So in my opinion the best all-round model from the Bosch armoury is their 2200 model. I've recently replaced the blade and it's like a new machine. But if your budget can stretch to it, and you like to be able to dispose of all your prunings in the smallest volume, you need both a shredder (eg. the AXT 2200) & a chipper (the AXT 25).
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
This is the result from the Bosch AXT 2200. Still one or two big pieces of leaf but most of it is nicely reduced ready for the heap.
Having separated out any stems wider than 3cm, this is the result from the Bosch AXT 25 ready for the green bin.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful