I don't have any information on the shredders you have, but it sounds like your knives, blades, whatever is in there that does the work, may need sharpening. Compare this to a chain saw that has been run and dulled until it won't cut a marshmallow. When it is sharp, the chain cuts out chips from the wood and it doesn't take much pressure for it to work. When it is dull, it takes a lot more pressure to force it through the wood, and the material it removes will be finer, more toward dust.

Another thought may be to make sure the material you're running through there isn't totally powder dry. Running the stuff through there after a heavy rain or early in the morning when it is still damp with dew may help with the dust problem.

I have a large chipper for my tractor, and dust from using it isn't a problem.

Another point, since you have a large motor and you are running it with an extension cord, you need to use the largest gauge you can get, usually that's a #12 wire. If the wire is not heavy enough, or is too long of a run, say 100 or 200 feet, the voltage needed by the motor is too low, and that will cause a slow running motor. When a load is being chipped, is will slow down too much to be effective, causing the electrical problems you mentioned.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

GG

Beverly,

I agree with GG that you need a heavier cord. I got a 10-gauge extension cord at Home Depot. They had it in either 50-foot lengths or 100-foot. Both were three-wire for outdoor duty. I got the 100 foot because I need to use electric tools at some distance from the house.

The 10-gauge, like a shotgun, is significantly heavier duty than 12 gauge, but costs more. However, I think with a large motor you need the heaviest extension cord you can get.

MM

Beverly,

Since your face mask is leaving deep lines in your face, it must be too tight. Those one-size-fits-all face masks with rubber bands tend to do that. You might try to find face masks with adjustable bands. On the farm, when we were kids pitching hay (a very dusty job), we just tied hankerchiefs over our faces, sort of like bandits did in the days of the Old West. They worked pretty well, certainly lots better than nothing.

We also live on a hillside, but over the last three years I have created an increasingly level area for the garden that adjoins the back yard on the west. It isn't as big as yours, but it gets a bit bigger each year.

This property has about 3.5 acres, the majority of which is still wooded. I have our compost piles in the woods down the hill to the south of the back yard, and to the southeast of the garden itself. I have had as many as six compost piles going at once in that area, and I keep my shredder-chipper back there under a weatherproof nylon cover cabled to a tree to keep it from "wandering off." It's convenient to have the shredder-chipper near the compost piles because it processes the material that goes into the piles and occasionaly I will run a pile back through the shredder-chipper to improve its consistency.

I used to have an electric powered WW Grinder shredder-chipper but it was very heavy and, like your Baker unit, the parent company went out of business. We sold it rather than pay the considerable expense to move it.

Like you, I preferred electric powered over gas powered because it would be ready at the flick of a switch, whereas back then my two-cycle gas-powered lawnmower always seemed to need a lot of frustrating pulling before it would finally start.

I don't recall the exact horsepower of the WW's electric motor, but it was probably about 2 and certainly less than 3 horsepower. I kept the WW Grinder under a protective cover that came as an accessory, but the motor was supposed to be weatherproof.

Despite its size and weight, the WW Grinder was distinctly underpowered and was limited to chipping limbs about one-inch or less in thickness. It did do a great job on cornstalks, but they are made of pretty flimsy material. Even though it had interchangeable screens, it wasn't a true hammermill because it didn't have pivoted swinging hammers, but used fixed L-shaped blades that came close to the screens. For that reason the machine was susceptible to choking, jamming, and had a rather slow throughput.

When we came here to Maine to live with my daughter and son-in-law, I realized that we needed a good shredder chipper to take advantage of the abundance of organic matter, brush piles, tree trimmings, and leaves that existed here. I did some research and settled on a gas powered MacKissic shredder-chipper. I am very pleased with that choice. Gas engines have improved a lot over the years and my "Mighty Mac" starts on the first or second pull.

MM

Thanks for all the great information. My machine is at the shop and may or may not be repairable. I'm thinking about the McKissic machine and maybe that's what I'll buy one of these days (although for that money I could buy a laptop computer). MaineMan makes me homesick for New England; I grew up in northeastern Mass. and live in Ca. There is a very different sensibility that people from your area have, being more deliberate, more serious (but not somber). I like that.
Beverly

We have a gas ww Shredder. The curved screen is out of shape now. Is there a way to re-shape it? Other suggestions?

Sharon,

A welding shop or machine shop might be able to reshape the curved screen. You might be able to hammer it back in shape, yourself.

Just out of curiosity, how did it get out of shape? My WW Grinder screens held their shape nicely for several years of heavy usage, and were still in good shape when I sold the machine.

You might want to consider replacing your old WW Grinder machine with one of the newer MacKissics. The MacKissic hammermills work much better than the WW Grinder shredder arrangement, and they have interchangeable screens to let you control the texture of your "product".

MM