Shredder for industrial quantities of holly
Discussion
JimM169 said:
Are there any domestic range shredder\chippers that can handle large amounts of green material? We've got a beast of a holly hedge (approx 250ft long, 12-15ft high and 6-8ft wide) that I need to tame and my little Bosch shredder just doesn't cut it. Not too looking for something that can handle a whole trunk, anything meaty will be chucked in the trailer and taken to the tip, just want to be able to process the material that the hedge trimmer can go through (Stihl petrol rough cut if it makes a difference)
Seen lots of the chipper/shredders in the 5-13hp bracket but these seem to be aimed more at woody material rather than the green springy stuff and waxy leaves that come with holly.
Hiring isn't really going to be practical as the job is going to have to be done in stages as and when I get the time.
Budget wise around £750 either new or second hand depending on what's suggested.
A shredder for hedge does appear to be a real hole in the market, I can only think its somehow hard to do well, because as you say the petrol and electric options are mainly designed narrow chutes to take a 2-3" branch but would take all take to feed a hedge in to. And the larger chute diesel trailable units start at £10 even used!Seen lots of the chipper/shredders in the 5-13hp bracket but these seem to be aimed more at woody material rather than the green springy stuff and waxy leaves that come with holly.
Hiring isn't really going to be practical as the job is going to have to be done in stages as and when I get the time.
Budget wise around £750 either new or second hand depending on what's suggested.
At one point our local village as a kid had a eco co-operative that owned one and could be lent out, presumably to curb burning (the normal in a rural area) but I dont know what happened to it long term.
The norm in rural areas is a flail cutter on a tractor, which shreds stuff and throws it around.
Holly leaves are terrible things even when they've been through a shredder. Hot composting seems to be the only thing that gets rid of them, other than burning.
For £60 a year we get 26 goes at filling a wheelie bin with garden. I try to make sure it's filled with brambles and other awkward stuff.
Also I go sailing on Sunday mornings, so I can conveniently be at the dump before the rush with just a small detour..
Holly doesn't grow that fast so you'd need a lot of hedge for it to be worth owning a petrol shredder.
You still have to get rid of what comes out of the shredder.
Holly leaves are terrible things even when they've been through a shredder. Hot composting seems to be the only thing that gets rid of them, other than burning.
For £60 a year we get 26 goes at filling a wheelie bin with garden. I try to make sure it's filled with brambles and other awkward stuff.
Also I go sailing on Sunday mornings, so I can conveniently be at the dump before the rush with just a small detour..
Holly doesn't grow that fast so you'd need a lot of hedge for it to be worth owning a petrol shredder.
You still have to get rid of what comes out of the shredder.
Hiring a pro chipper might be possible?
The difference between a £5k chipper and a domestic £400 one is huge, and it makes the job a lot less like hard work.
But I'd be inclined to do a big bonfire if possible. Depends on neighbours of course, but hopefully a suitable day will present itself.
The difference between a £5k chipper and a domestic £400 one is huge, and it makes the job a lot less like hard work.
But I'd be inclined to do a big bonfire if possible. Depends on neighbours of course, but hopefully a suitable day will present itself.
OutInTheShed said:
T
Holly leaves are terrible things even when they've been through a shredder. Hot composting seems to be the only thing that gets rid of them, other than burning.
For £60 a year we get 26 goes at filling a wheelie bin with garden. I try to make sure it's filled with brambles and other awkward stuff.
Yeah I guess there is a question of what do you then do with the shredded/mulched material! Holly leaves are terrible things even when they've been through a shredder. Hot composting seems to be the only thing that gets rid of them, other than burning.
For £60 a year we get 26 goes at filling a wheelie bin with garden. I try to make sure it's filled with brambles and other awkward stuff.
We do have a 'garden waste' bin, well two actually, which get emptied 24 times a year (because they stop around christmas/new year for a couple of weeks) and like you, use it for anything hard to compost including the majority of our hedge clippings and a hell of a lot of pine needles. We had some bonfires initially when getting on top of the previous owners neglect, but now we are up to speed even for a reasonable plot size and a good amount of hedges and mature trees, we are self sufficient on just the bins.
Appreciate I will still need to get rid of the shreddings but local tip is 500 yards from work and I'm the only one there at 8am. So although it may be a bit tedious I can fill a builders bag (or equivalent smaller bags) up each evening and dump the following morning. (I did say this was going to take a while!!)
The flail idea may work as access shouldn't be a problem for most of it, local farmer keeps sheep in the neighbouring field so I'll have a chat with him next time I see him. What sort of size branch/trunk will a flail get through? Was planning on chainsawing most of the hedge to reduce the height!
Even with a flail I'll still need to dispose of the waste so some sort of shredder still appeals. Anyone know if something like a Timberwolf 13/75 would handle the material or is that still aimed at woody stuff
The flail idea may work as access shouldn't be a problem for most of it, local farmer keeps sheep in the neighbouring field so I'll have a chat with him next time I see him. What sort of size branch/trunk will a flail get through? Was planning on chainsawing most of the hedge to reduce the height!
Even with a flail I'll still need to dispose of the waste so some sort of shredder still appeals. Anyone know if something like a Timberwolf 13/75 would handle the material or is that still aimed at woody stuff
JimM169 said:
Anyone know if something like a Timberwolf 13/75 would handle the material or is that still aimed at woody stuff
I havn't used one, but expect it would work well enough for the job, its not like your making a career out of it.Once you can get a 'branch' in to the jaws of death, they tend to suck the rest in fairly well, but less good and taking loose scrub.
Often ive seen some loose scrub added and the a branch fed in to draw the whole lot down. But some of the smaller TW machines seem to be 'gravity fed' with a cutting disk rather than chewing gears.
Appears to be a few on ebay and the like for a grand or so, well known brand, so should resell for similar sort of money after the job.
Edited by dhutch on Thursday 18th April 15:14
OutInTheShed said:
For £60 a year we get 26 goes at filling a wheelie bin with garden. I try to make sure it's filled with brambles and other awkward stuff.
Also I go sailing on Sunday mornings, so I can conveniently be at the dump before the rush with just a small detour..
Thought you were going to say you dump stuff overboard into the lake/sea Also I go sailing on Sunday mornings, so I can conveniently be at the dump before the rush with just a small detour..
The Gauge said:
OutInTheShed said:
For £60 a year we get 26 goes at filling a wheelie bin with garden. I try to make sure it's filled with brambles and other awkward stuff.
Also I go sailing on Sunday mornings, so I can conveniently be at the dump before the rush with just a small detour..
Thought you were going to say you dump stuff overboard into the lake/sea Also I go sailing on Sunday mornings, so I can conveniently be at the dump before the rush with just a small detour..
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