I would like to purchase a chipper/shredder to create mulch from the brush on my property. Can anyone recommend a good, reliable brand that is available in Canada?

This isn't really what you asked, but here is my two cents worth. We did way too much clearing of brush and now we have an erosion problem we are trying to correct. If you have good soil and fairly level land you may be OK. Otherwise be careful how much brush you cut. Who knew that loppers could cause so much damage.

Maybe someone else can chime in with good recommendations for shredders. After the lopper fiasco, I now thin the medium size trees and use them for firewood. More light gets in and I get better growth on the ground and less erosion. I leave the old snags for habitat for cavity nesting birds and animals. The "brush" is the next generation of firewood and woodpecker trees, and provides habitat for quail and rabbits, which in turn feeds the owls. The small limbs (that get cut off the firewood logs) get left in the woods or used for kindling.

Thanks. I only want to chip the small branches that have fallen, of which there are many. The larger branches I cut and burn in my woodstove. I need mulch, so I figured that I could tidy up the grounds by grinding the brush and leaves for compost.

I don’t know what chipper/shredders are available up in Canada but I wanted to say welcome to the OG forums redtrillium. I have an electric shredder I love that works great for the smaller branches and it was a lot less costly then a gas powered chipper/shredder and is quieter to use as well.

thanks, but I have 10 acres and either I get a very long extension cord or I have to haul all the brush to the house.

I have an 8-hp Simplicity that I bought new three years ago. I use it mostly through the fall and winter each year when we spend time managing the brush and wooded parts of our land. It works well, handles up to 3" branches.

The original hopper base split open on us and the dealer replaced it with a heavier-duty cast metal base at no charge. The newer models are already fitted with the heavier base.

Last fall I had to take down a small scrub apple tree that had heaved over a stone wall from one of its roots. I put the small branches, complete with apples (too bitter to eat) through the chipper and mixed the chips with goat manure, garden waste, grass clippings, green sand, and rock phosphate. We had the nicest compost ever this past spring.

I've been thinking about selling the chipper and replacing it with an 3-point hitch attachment to our small Kubota tractor. But, instead, this year I got lazy and had a friend of ours, who is a tree surgeon, dump a load of chips from a job he did. Now I'm building two more compost bins to work the material over the winter.

Major, what ele. chipper/shredder did you buy? I'm looking into buying one and perfer the ele. over gas. Also, how small can it shred? I'm looking to shred pretty small if I can. The smaller the better.

Mine is so old the label fell off so I don’t know what brand it is. Sorry.

It does a good job on small limbs up to an inch thick if they are still green. It isn’t very good for aged wood however. The slower you feed the branches the thinner it chops them. It also has a hopper for leaves on top and I can pick up the chopped pile and drop it in the hopper if I want the pieces smaller.

The good thing about it is that even though it is over 25 years old it always starts.

I live where electricity comes from hydropower so it is cheap and a clean source of energy. But I can’t always get the shredder to the wood because it would take too long of a cord. Then I have to take the wood to the shredder. For those times a gas powered one would be nice and they also have more power for bigger branches or the wood that has dried and is therefore tougher.

I like the idea of an electric shredder, since all our electric comes from wind energy (one area where Pennsylvania does well). Can you tell me the name of the one you like (and about how much it costs)?

quote:

Originally posted by Major:
I don’t know what chipper/shredders are available up in Canada but I wanted to say welcome to the OG forums redtrillium. I have an electric shredder I love that works great for the smaller branches and it was a lot less costly then a gas powered chipper/shredder and is quieter to use as well.

[quote]redtrillium[/quote
redtrillium
--MTD sells in Canada. I have a 5hp gas shredder. it will take up to a 3 inch limb and has a hopper for small stuff and the back of the hopper comes down to let you sweep in leaves and chaf. It has a set of wheels to get it around. Works very good. I would certainly reccomend it.,

I believe the best chipper/shredder on the market are made by TroyBilt. WWW.troybilt.com They have two models; a 6.5 hp with 2" cap. and an 8 hp with 3" cap. When I purchased mine there were three different size screens available as well as a hitch so it could be pulled with a tractor. I used it to make compost, shred leaves and chip the trimmings from 23 fruit trees. Mine is the 8 hp. I am sure they are available in Canada as I have seen there tillers in canada. Incindently the 8 hp has a tendency to pull the limbs into the machine so you don't have to force the material in and I never had it to choke down.