skidder39, The screens don't need to be sharpened or maintained in any way, other than keep them reasonably clean. In normal use they are self cleaning. They are just strong curved metal plates with lots of holes punched in them. They serve to keep the material in the hammermill chamber until the swinging hammers bash them into pieces small enough to escape through the holes. The hammers are just lengths of steel bar stock with a pivot hole punched in each end. I leave my MacKissic parked at my working place in the nearby woods with the wheels chocked and cabled to a tree with a bicycle lock to keep it from "wandering off." I have hollowed out a place under it so I don't have to shovel stuff out from under it so often. I keep it under the optional cover, which seems to protect it from the weather nicely. That way it doesn't take up space in the garage and it is always ready to use at the work site. In our sloping rocky terrain it is easier to bring material to the machine than to drag the machine to the material. I drag branches to the machine and bring some stuff in a wheelbarrow. There is a pile of branches at my machine right now. There is also a cluster of compost piles conveniently located in the area near the machine. I once ran out of gas and my machine came to a stop with a full shredder chamber. I decided to "call it a day" and buy more gas before my next shredding session. I guess it was a week or two before I returned with a full gas can. When I started it, the V-belt started to smoke so I quickly killed the engine. The stuff in the chamber had fermented into a solid mass, which wouldn't let the hammer assembly turn. I dropped the screen and gouged the stuff out with a long screwdriver. The screen was gunked up so I put it on the lawn and blasted it with my garden hose nozzle and used a stiff brush to help clean off the residue of rotten stuff. That is the only time I had to clean a screen. Incidentally, the V-belt was still serviceable and I used it for a couple more years. During those two years I "smoked" it a couple more times. So it had three bad places on it when I replaced it. The V-belt stretches a little in time with heavy use and if you forget to readjust the tension, it will "smoke" if the clutch engages when the tension is too loose. Just remember not to leave the machine stopped for a long period with a full hammermill chamber, and check your belt tension from time to time and you can avoid having to clean a screen or replace the V-belt. I purchased my MacKissic shredder-chipper in January of 2004. It was the 12PT9 model then, the same as the current 12PT10 except it has a 9hp Briggs & Stratton engine. I think this old "X-ray view" is of my 12PT9 model. I haven't done anything to the hammers yet, but this Summer I plan to "rotate" the hammers. The leading outer corner of each of my hammers is now somewhat rounded from wear. MacKissic's simple design for the hammers allows them to me mounted in four different ways, so that all four corners of the hammers can be used. That increases their working life by a factor of four. So unless something unusual happens, it looks like I will get as much as 16 years of use out of my hammers before I need to buy replacement hammers. Actually, my hammers still work fine with rounded corners. It just takes them somewhat longer to bash the material when they have rounded corners. MM

I owned a sears unit,and it was a joke!!besides vibrating too much,it clogged so easily,everytime I used it I got so frustrated,and aggravated,I just stopped using it,and ordered a mackissic..................then it was like a whole new world...............I had it for 2 yrs. now and I will say it's a well designed AND built machine!! the hose clogs once in a while,(because a big 1 inch stick gets hooked into the hose)and when it does a few taps on the side of the hose frees it right up;I didn't have a problem with anything puncturing the hose though. And chips real decent too.....anything about the size of 1 inch gets shredded with about 1/4 throttle ,and the machine coasts right through it........when you get to 3 inches it takes about1/2 throttle to do the job,and if you want to get the job done fast,put it on full speed and go;but on higher speeds,the branches vibrate as there being shredded,and I recomend thick gloves,(wich come with the machine,along with safety glasses,and ear muffs)because the vibration will sting your fingers,as your feeding them...................I have the newer model that has a felt bag,so there's hardly any dust,and I don't think it's loud at all.............the hose is decent,but I think it should be clear,instead of a solid color.......................,the machine is top notch for versatility................no other machine can do all this machine does.....................and the tecumseh engine runs perfect ;very easy starting,well designed governor,great design...........................If you want to move leaves around,by all means get a blower,but if you want to get rid of them,get a mackissic

I have an old Craftsman vacuum with a 3 1/2 HP Tecumseh engine that has about a bushel bag. It picks up and shreds a bag in about 3 minutes if the leaves are dry. I wish it had a larger bag. A lot of times i just leave the bag off and just shred the leaves. If i need the leaves for mulch then i bag them and empty the bag into my garden cart towed behind my gt.

I love my chipper/shredder that I bought at Home Depot a couple years ago. It is gas powered and can only handle branches about 3 inches wide. I use it frequently for my property and now it seems to travel and we help others with their yard waste. The best thing of all is we get to keep the wood chips - which I love. How about if you put an ad (free) on Craigslist or Freecycle giving away the wood to someone who can use it? In my neighborhood there is a guy with a huge chipper for commercial jobs. I've even asked him if I can have the 'waste' that he pays to take to the dump. He is happy to give it to me. It saves him time and money and saves me money from buying mulch. If you don't have room to compost - you could do a sort of 'horizontal' compost where you have something like leaves and wood chips scattered on the ground. It will decompose and improve your soil. Just a thought.