Yardworks 15 A Electric Garden Shredder
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Save your $$$$
Had this item for a week
kept jamming up even with the smallest sticks!
Hopper is too small, and I'm afraid there just isn't enough power behind this machine to do an effective job.
May 12, 2013
Hard Worker
This yardworks garden shredder worked great! I had a hedge that was 22'L x 7' H x 7'W and is now 20'L x 3'H x 30'' W as well as thinned it out to only so many scafoldings for next years growth. This shredder took it all, and saved me at least 2 trips to the dump. Once the bucket #which comes with it# was full I took the chips over to my front/back planters, the bases of my trees and of course to the base of the hedge. Not only food for the organizims in the soil but gave the planters etc... a clean look!
I found with the bigger#1"+# branches, if you take your time feeding and don't overwelm the shredder
you should have no problem shredding them as well. DON'T just feed the larger branches in and leave it up to the shredder as at first I did, and the ends, end-up bouncing around in the hull, not only loud but damaging to the unit and dangerous.
I would recommed this unit...
October 10, 2012
Effective Sometimes
I purchased this item on sale. It works reasonably well on straight woody branches. However, it has a tendency to clog the exhaust chute when feeding fine pine needle branches. Moreover, California Lilac branches require use of the plunger to feed these through. On a more
October 8, 2012
Effective Sometimes
I purchased this item on sale. It works reasonably well on straight woody branches. However, it has a tendency to clog the exhaust chute when feeding fine pine needle branches. Moreover, California Lilac branches require use of the plunger to feed these through. On a more positive note, it does a marvelous job when feeding cedar & cypress branches.
October 8, 2012
Good but slow for branches, not so for leaves
Bought this several years ago at $199, when it didn't have the hopper at the top. As another reviewer stated, I had hopes of making short work of shredding most all garden debris such as branches, sticks and twigs and of course leaves. This unit works for some, but not all of the above.
It works best with straight dry branches from about 1/4" to 1 1/4". Anything larger will stop the machine and risk jamming it if you don't go slow and "pulse" your large branches so you don't stop the blade. The opening is quite small, maybe 2" in diameter so you have to feed each branch through one at a time. A far cry longer than I thought. With the small hole any branches that are not straight or have offshoots are a bit of a chore to push through.
Branches smaller than 1/4" like fine long twigs as well as leaves or 'non-dry greenery' tend to also jam the machine. They tend to pile up in the exit chute which is wide but very narrow vertically, and end up slowing the blade to a point it stops. Unscrewing the unit to get to the blade to clear it out is a chore as the screw has numerous threads. I've had to do this more times than I had cared to.
All in all, if you don't mind only using it for larger dry branches at a medium to slow pace then you'll be happy with this machine. Just don't expect it to handle everything in your garden and be prepared to open it up to unjam it every once in awhile. I like to compost so I've generated a few nice boxes of small chips with this machine. Also, use heavy gloves as the vibration of the branches as you push them through can be rough on the hands. This isn't worth anything over $100 though, in my opinion.
October 8, 2012
Good as a chipper, Leaf shredder, not so much
I bought this primarily for shedding leaves and for that purpose, it does not do as I would have expected. The opening through which you have to push the leaves is so small that it is a very slow process. A good portable leaf blower/shredder does a much better and faster job, plus you would have the advantage of the shredded leaves being collected in a bag for dumping into the composter. You can put a box or crate under the discharge chute to catch the leaves, but the force of air is so great that they blow everywhere.
For shedding and chipping woody stems, and small branches, this machine is great. I have tripped the breaker a couple of times with branches at the upper size limit - my fault - but after a 5 minute, wait the shredder can be restarted.
At $150 or less, I think this is worth it. I would not be happy if I had paid full price. I would recommend this to a friend that had a lot of chipping, but not to anyone whose primary use would be shedding leaves.
October 5, 2012
Great for the Price
Ran the shredder for an hour, no problems. From leaves to 1 1/2 inch branches this unit had no problems chewing through this stuff. Anything above the 1" slows the motor a bit. Green leaves are chopped into +- 1" pieces. The chips from branches are small, perfect for composting. Also tried Fir cones and old rotted wood chunks and it did a great job on them.
Be careful though, when removing the Green section to access the blades, keep fingers away from the blades as they are double sided (flip over when other side is dull) and extremely sharp, I found out the hard way!
How long this unit will last..... it has a 2 year warranty so we'll see.
May 6, 2012
