For any gardener, the issue of getting rid of organic debris in the form of sawn branches, cut tops, fallen leaves and other things is always urgent. As a rule, they use the simplest method - incineration. However, modern technologies make it possible to solve this problem in a more environmentally friendly way, plus obtain excellent organic fertilizers. For these purposes, garden shredders have been created.

What is a chopper for?

In the autumn, a hot season sets in on the garden plot: after the pre-winter pruning, dry branches of trees and shrubs remain, lawns are mowed, the grass is mown, fallen leaves are constantly collected. It is expensive to export them, but it is not safe to burn them. Here a shredder comes to the aid of gardeners, making autumn work an order of magnitude easier.

 

Gasoline shredder

The garden shredder is a technical tool that facilitates the operation of crushing cut branches, rhizomes, bark and other solid wood residues. Another name for the device is Schroeder. Such devices are great helpers both in a personal garden plot and for utilities, farmers and forestry. Mulch is obtained at the exit from the grinder, it is used to repair pits and potholes, as well as to obtain a wonderful environmentally friendly fertilizer - compost.

Additional Information. The resulting wood dust can also be used to heat a house, and sawdust from fruit trees can be used to make barbecue. Waste can be shredded to a variety of sizes: from medium-sized bars to sawdust. It is easiest for the device to work with soft materials, these are: foliage, grass, stems, flowers.

Garden shredders are compact, often equipped with wheels, so they can be moved around the site to the desired location. Garden waste passed through a shredder decomposes much faster than untreated waste. The devices are very economical, but at the same time they have high efficiency.

These machines differ primarily in the type of working drive:

  • Gasoline (power up to 20 kilowatts) - machines capable of crushing even thick branches, a gasoline chopper of branches works with the help of a 2 or 4-stroke engine; it can be used anywhere in the garden or farm, however, fuel costs (you need to monitor its quality!) and regular motor inspections should be added to the high cost of the device;
  • Electric motors (ranging from 1.6 to 2.6 kilowatts) are less powerful and mobile than gasoline units, but cheaper, more economical, quiet and easy to operate.

They also have different types of the main working part - knives:

  • Disc - a disc with several (2-3) horizontally installed knives is located on the shaft, such for dead wood and large stems are not suitable, because the knives quickly cease to be sharp, however, in some complex models of knives there are more, and they are also located vertically;
  • Milling - the cylindrical cutting mechanism is made in one piece, there are many knives on it, which increases reliability and allows you to cut thick branches with a diameter of 0.6-15 (professional tools) centimeters.

Internal organization

Do-it-yourself grass and branch chopper

A gasoline garden grinder works like a giant meat grinder: large plant debris is placed in the inlet, inside a large crusher with powerful knives rotating on the working gear, crushes it, at the outlet the end product of processing is obtained - mulch or sawdust.

The motor and chopping system are housed in a robust plastic or iron hopper housing. It performs an accumulative and protective function, accepting biowaste and protecting the working cutting mechanisms from foreign objects. Garbage is placed in a funnel with a width of different diameters, depending on the type of raw material placed (branches go into a narrow entrance, leaves, grass and stems into a wide one). A container container for mulch and other shredded products may be present in the structure - then it is either a plastic tank or a soft bag, it may not be there.

Each shredder is equipped with a device that allows you to increase or decrease the speed of shredding garden debris. An indispensable element of shredders, both using gasoline and electricity, is the so-called. reverse, which removes particles of raw material adhering to the knives. Almost all models are equipped with ergonomic handles, many with wheels. Powerful and large machines have a parking brake. Fuel is poured into a special tank through a separate tight-fitting hole.

 

The garden gasoline chopper works like a giant meat grinder

Garden gasoline shredders are available in various classes: amateur, medium (for individual use on the site) and professional (for processing the most solid and dimensional raw materials) - they are the most powerful and expensive, therefore they are not suitable for personal gardens.

Note! There are types of shredders that independently (like vacuum cleaners) draw fallen leaves and cut grass into the working bunker.

Famous manufacturers and brands

Garden shredder "Bosch"

The huge range of garden shredders makes choosing the right model quite difficult. For a better orientation in this market, it is possible to compile a kind of rating of the best models applicable to the garden gasoline branch chipper, taking into account the price-quality ratio, the service life of the device, and operational characteristics. There are a lot of reliable manufacturers of this type of garden equipment: Wolf-Garten, Cayman, Champion, Laski, Works, Bosch, Kraftsman, mtd, Stig, Echo, Patriot, Makia, Ryobi, Elitech and others.

CHAMPION

This brand with a "Russian face" produces high quality gardening equipment at factories in China. For example, one of the most affordable is the champion SC2818 gasoline garden shredder, it weighs only 16 kg. It is used for both thin branches and shoots and leaves. There is a container for collecting mulch and a starter for manual starting.

Patriot

The trade mark of the American firm Garden Traiding produces a wide range of garden equipment, the main production of which has been moved to China to reduce the cost. The line of gasoline shredders is represented by one of the best models - PT SB 100E. The power of this unit is more than 13 horsepower, 16 knives will chop any branch and plant debris. It is characterized by a long service life. However, the device weighs and costs a lot.

Mtd

This American company, founded in 1932 by German immigrants, has been delighting gardeners for a long time with various technical accessories for gardening, which are produced under the mtd WOLF-Garten brands. An example is the TMD rover 464 Q gasoline shredder, adapted to perform a whole range of works on clearing foliage and other biowaste from the garden. It is equipped with a 4-stroke engine with a knife assembly and a powerful wheelset for moving around the site. Containers for receiving raw materials are located in front (for branches up to 7.5 cm) and behind the device (for small debris such as grass and fallen leaves).

The rear hopper can be positioned horizontally and the foliage can be scooped up with a broom.Unfortunately, it is quite expensive, therefore it is used mainly for large areas.

Viking

 

Viking

The Austrian company, founded by Heinrich Lechner in 1981, operates under the motto "For the love of lawns" and is constantly improving its garden shredders and other equipment. Gardeners are very fond of the Viking GB 370.2 gasoline chopper. It is equipped with an inclined funnel and is used to grind grass, small branches and leaves into finely chopped fractions. Their further use is to improve the fertility of the land on the site. The unit has an easy start "Redi Start" system and a 4.5 horsepower engine.

Caiman

This French brand is one of the youngest on the market, the most modern garden machines, for their creation, the company's specialists use advanced techniques. All equipment is equipped with motors of the Japanese company Subaru. For example, the 9 horsepower BIO 400R has a 4-stroke engine, manual start and a combined type of working tool (cutting disc plus knives). This professional shredder is specially designed for continuous use, with a permissible diameter of trunks and branches up to 6.5 cm. It handles plant debris that gets wet in the rain. There is additional equipment - a trolley, it can be transported on a tractor or walk-behind tractor.

How to choose a gasoline chopper

Garden shredder

In any store of agricultural equipment, there are a lot of garden shredders, you need to choose according to the size of the area to be cultivated and a number of basic criteria:

  • The cutting element must be of the highest quality possible, there must be spare copies in the kit;
  • To what extent the raw materials are crushed - the best are those shredders that crush garbage to sawdust;
  • Operational safety - it is desirable to have protective devices and auxiliary tools (blades) for loading raw materials, as well as the possibility of automatic shutdown of the engine in case of malfunctions;
  • Noise during operation - the least noisy electric models, however, there are also almost silent gasoline ones;
  • The ability and ease of movement around the site is the main problem for gasoline grinders, therefore, the availability and quality of wheels and comfortable push handles is important;
  • Possibility of adjusting the speed of the cutting unit.

So, a gasoline-powered garden shredder of branches is a very necessary equipment for a garden, farm or forest park economy. It allows you to recycle unnecessary bio-waste into valuable fertilizer. Such units are powerful, however, a little noisy due to the operation of the gasoline engine.