[Closed] What garden chipper?!

What do you want to do with the stuff afterwards? You can get the types with the high speed spinning blades that'll chop wood down suitable for using as mulch, or the type that just chop and munch which makes it ideal for composting. We've had one of the first type (alko, noisy and prone to jamming) and now have a bosch turbine something or other which is the second type and is quiet and ruthlessly efficient.

got a bosh one. Its rubbish.

got a bosh one. Its rubbish.

That's what you get when you buy cheap Chinese copies.

I have one of these. It's brilliant. It eats trees and shrubs but struggles with a lot of green foliage.

You need a spinny choppy one for that, rather than a rolly, grindy one.

Bosch Turbine Cut. Will get clogged with lots of green material, but just munches through everything else. Effortless compared to the spinning blade type shredders which are useless in my experience.

Our garden was massively overgrown when we moved in, we took down some big stands of laurel, rhodedendron and other stuff and had a massive pile to get rid of. We hired a cage trailer, 6'x10'x5', and took 10 or so trips to the tip.

We did try a shredder, my brother brought one over to try. A bit like the Titan one above. You have to prep what goes in, and you have to spend considerable about of time feeding it. And it took more time to reduce the volume of waste than it saved by reducing the number of trips to the tip. And ours isn't close - 20 mins drive, 20 mins turnaround, 20 mins back.

I reckon it's worth having one if you're going to compost/ mulch and you need/want all that compost/mulch, or if the volume reduction means you save a trip to the tip completely because the shredder makes it possible to fit your normal quantities of waste in the brown bin. And even then, it might be cheaper, and certainly quicker, to get a second brown bin from the council.

I think ours is the MacAlister branded version of PP's. Had a Bosch spinny blade one before that that was slow, useless and eventually burnt out. If you put a 40mm branch in there it would just mash the end and then sit there tickling it. The Titan/MacAlister one just chops anything you feed it into chunks. Id actually suggest that 200kg/hr figure might even be conservative, it'll turn a couple of fills of our 8ftx4ft trailer full of tree prunings into a wheelie bin full in no time.

Doesnt need much prepping beyond making sure you only feed it stuff that fits into the hopper (~45mm and relatively straight). So much better for things like tree prunings than getting rid of shrubs.

Thanks all - a mate suggested that Screwfix one too (cheapest option by sounds of it) but they don’t seem to sell them anymore. Maybe I’ll have to splash out on the turbine

We've got a McAllister one from Screwfix.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-lsb2505k-2500w-80kg-hr-cutting-shredder-220-240v/354fg

It's fine on straight-ish branches and will chop them up pretty well. The issue comes with really twiddly branches that have loads of leaves on. We've got a twisted hazel in the garden & it cuts it OK, but it's hard to feed anything in as it won't pass through the top aperture very easily.
It's a pretty extreme case - google Twisted Hazel and have a look at what the branches look like.

For mainly straight-ish stuff if really rips through it & you can get a shitload in a green bin compared to just ramming it in, or even cutting it up into small bits which is what I used to do but took hours.

Bosch Turbine works for me.

Been through several electric shredders over the years and got fed up replacing them so bought a secondhand Bearcat off eBay and swapped the knackered petrol engine for new one. It’s so much more powerful than electric but they are ridiculously expensive new. There’s a bit of a skill feeding it but it will get through mountains of bushes, tree branches in minutes. I use a petrol mower to shred hedge clippings.

Bosch Turbine tx25 or something? Locked away in my shed! Unassuming, takes most of the foliage you put in, doesn’t like knuckles or forks in branches, does clog up with too much green, however, pop some brown in like an old cane and it clears. It munches through an amazing amount of stuff and is quiet and relaxing to use, kick the box every now and then to keep the mulch pyramid level. Had mine over 10 years with no problem, 1/2 acre garden/woodland and even lent it to my hamfisted mate!

Thanks all – a mate suggested that Screwfix one too (cheapest option by sounds of it) but they don’t seem to sell them anymore. Maybe I’ll have to splash out on the turbine

This is the one we have. I'd bet it's the same as the titan one as titan and MacAlister are both parts of the same company.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-mshp2800d-2-2800w-100kg-hr-shredder-220-240v/727fg

I'd avoid the more 'upright' ones like this with a spinning disk, we had what was probably an older model and it just took forever and constantly jammed.

For those with the spinning disc upright ones - they do benefit considerably from removing and sharpening the blades. Still requires a fair bit of prep and takes a fair bit of time, but it does make a difference having sharp blades in them..

I have the Qualcast version of the Titan and Macalister ones (from homebase).. It's awesome. Feed in branch - nom nom nom.. sorted. Will struggle with lots of fine green stuff.. but keep throwing something bigger through to clear it and it's great.

Mine seems to be going for £149 at the moment, but sure i didn't pay anything like that.

Jeff