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The Tucson Gardener |
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Chip, Chip, Chip, Shred - It was nice not to have to haul numerous bundles of tree trimmings to the local landfill in the back of a truck. Instead, I placed the end result around several of my mesquite trees to act as a mulch and the shredded clippings from a lemon tree went into the compost bin. I'll have to wait a few months to see how well the mulch works and to get an idea how quickly it'll break down. The rabbits have nibbled on the greener bits and the ground squirrels have hauled some of the shredded pieces away for nesting material. Certainly The Beast, as I call it, isn't for every Tucson garden. It's noisy, takes up considerable storage space, isn't all that easy to move and can be down right dangerous if you're not careful. For the majority of Tucson's gardeners with average size yards and only a few trees to prune it's probably more economical to pay a tree trimming service when necessary. For avid gardeners with lots of trees and shrubs a good chipper/shredder might be a worthwhile investment. My machine came with protective gloves, eye protection and a noise suppression headset. It's all heavy metal, unlike some of the partially plastic chipper/shredders you might find at some of the local big box stores. Plastic and pointy sticks traveling at high speed as they get chipped or shredded don't go together in my mind. The 10 hp motor gives the beast plenty of power to chip or shred most materials if the operator doesn't try to feed the hoppers too quickly. It's supposed to chip branches up to three and a half inches in diameter and the wide shredding hopper takes material up to one inch in width. My first chipper/shredder was given to me and I had to buy a new 5 hp motor for the thing before it ran. And it wasn't really a chipper shredder but more of a grinder that pulverized what was fed through the thing. It had a tendency to clog or stop all together. It rolled on four wheels and on occasion it would fall over because it seemed top heavy. Eventually the bearings seized and I couldn't find replacements. The manufacture had gone out of business and I was no longer enamored with the idea of owning a machine that didn't do what I wanted. I sold the motor and junked most of the machine. All in all, the "gift" was far more trouble than it was worth.
Over the years I saved my pennies, dimes and quarters until they could be exchanged for dollars and eventually began a search for a new chipper/shredder. The one I thought I wanted was sold locally but the dealer didn't keep any in stock and the price quoted seemed a bit high for a 5 hp model. Thank goodness for the internet. I found what I wanted from an internet dealer in Pennsylvania and the price included shipping. I bought a protective cover and two different metal screens that control the size of the material coming out of the shredder. A little over a week after I placed my order I had the machine delivered to my carport and all I had to do was take it out of the box, read the instructions, add a few parts, add oil and gas to the engine and it was ready to go to work.
The engine started after two or three pulls and roared to life. The centrifugal clutch engaged when the engine reached shredding speed. Man could that hopper eat branches once I learned the best way to feed the thing. I learned to throw branches down the hopper where they'd catch in the shredding hammers and get sucked through and spit out the bottom. Larger branches were fed through the side chute where a single chipping blade whacked away at the branch. Bits and pieces of the plant material seemed to fly everywhere so I was grateful to be wearing safety glasses and a long-sleeved shirt. I bought a two wheeled model that gets pushed around like a wheelbarrow because I still had memories of the first machine I owned falling over and getting stuck in the gravel of my driveway. This one is no light weight and the first couple of times I moved it my groin muscle suffered. (Nothing a heating pad, a good dose of pain killer and a lot of moaning couldn't cure.) Before I started chipping and shredding in earnest I purchased an inexpensive small plastic tarp to put on the ground to catch the chipped and shredded material as it hurled from the beast. The tarp made for simpler clean up. I usually brought the trimmings to the chipper/shredder's location and on one occasion I wheeled the chipper/shredder to the branches. Eventually I'll have to change the beast's oil, sharpen the chipping blade and reverse the 24 shredding hammers. All maintenance I'm not looking forward to performing but a necessary evil if I want to maintain the machine. The beast is certainly not for every Tucson gardener. It's an expensive gardening tool for a specific purpose but if you have lots of trees that need routine pruning and a compost bin that needs to be fed then a good, reliable chipper/shredder may be for you. There were only two chipper/shredder manufacturers I considered: Bearcat and MacKissic Might Mac. I purchased the one that I thought would come closest to fulfilling my gardening needs and almost fit into my budget. It's noisy, difficult to move, storage space hogging, and even a bit dangerous. (Instead of safety goggles I suggest a full plastic face guard to be on the safe side.) But boy can it do the job it was designed to do. Maybe I'll go out and oil the bearings and put on a coat of wax to soothe my garden's new beast. It's almost like owning a new car, but without the muffler.(2005) |
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