g'day hy,

from my experiences the greenfield piecemaker is about the best on the market and i might add it's about the best all round machine in my opinion damn fine machinery i had the hp b&s model but if you ahve lots of work go the bigger engines with the electric start might sound expensive but i'd be very surprised if didn't last you for you gardening life.

you could always hire one see jsut how good they are, also as with these common garden type shredders they are shredders primarily with a chipping capability. and for the main material being shredded should be green not dead and seasoned.

they aren't cheap but then nothing good is cheap hey you will get very many years of trouble free use from it.

len

mail len

lens garden page

"but I've received varying reports as to their suitability when it comes to palm fronds. "

what was the information you heard hei yu? it may be that the people you heard from were trying to put the fronds through whole, but the problem with stringy type of vegetation is that it tends to wrap itself around the blades jamming them up. an easy way around that problem is to cut things like that into sections before feeding them through. I cant really see any other reason for fronds causing problems in a shredder.

I have had different species of palms and... the date palm fronds shred well, no problem, baglow and kentia are better when the fronds are dry, the same goes for washingtonias. The biggest bother are cocos palms, the are very stringy, I cut them to peices with secateurs and leave them at the pottom of the compost heap. I have a B&S 5 hp Granberg shredder. It nearly died 6 months ago but we managed to resuscitate it :-).

We have the GMC SS2400 and find it wonderful.
We do the palm fronds but cut off the wide bit at the end and then just put it though, dry.
It takes most of our garden cuttings, but likes it on the dry side rather than fresh green.
It chopped it;s way through the seed pods of the Poincianas.
Marion

Thanks Len, trancegemini, meggs and Marion,

Looks like I've got a bit of homework to do !

transgemini
Re "but I've received varying reports as to their suitability when it comes to palm fronds. " My info is based on internet reports, local retailers and a local gardener

The Greenfield piecemaker sounds great, Len, I just have difficulty laying out that much cash on something I haven't tried. Hiring first makes sense and that will be my next move.

Thanks again everybody.

Regards/HY

I don't bother shredding golden cane or any other small fronds. I cut off the collar and lay them flat on the garden. They make good mulch as they are. If you don't like the look of the fronds spread a light coat say 25 - 30mm of your favourite mulch over them. I find this is more than adequate and water penetration is much better.

The same can be said for a lot of other garden waste. The finer you cut the waste the quicker it rots down and the more you have to do it.
The best part of this is it is cheaper than a $1200 plus mulcher and often quicker.

Doug.

Thanks Doug,
Good idea. I cut up a load a couple of days ago and it wasn't as big a job as I had anticipated. I think I will stick to a good pair of loppers and use the cuttings as mulch.
Thanks for your advice.
Regards/PjjK