What is the problem with the present machine? The motor or switch should be easy and cheap to replace. Not much else to them.

I am sorry if this thread is old, but the people who are putting down electric shredders as being weak are clueless. An electric shredder of appropriate horsepower rating equal to a gasoline one WILL shred better than then gasoline one. What you need to look for is the TYPE of single phase electric motor used. This is VERY important as there different types of single phase motor configurations having vastly different torque characteristics which is suited for a particular application. For a shredder I recommend using a capacitor start/capacitor run motor or a capacitor start/induction run motor; both are very torquey. Usually the motors are called "compressor duty" or "farm duty". To give you an example of a farm duty rated single motor's torque ability have a look at this Leeson catalog number 131543 by copying and pasting it into the catalog form at http://www.leeson.com/findaproduct/index.html#1 and pressing search. You will find a farm duty rated motor. This baby has a starting torque of 43.5 ft*lbs at zero and a breakdown torque of 35.5 ft*lbs which means when the motor is at full speed it requires a load that will cause it to go to its breakdown point of 35.5 ft*lbs before the motor will stall. Now you all tell me if there is a 5 hp Briggs, Honda, or Tecumseh gasoline engine that makes 35.5 ft*lbs of torque!! They don't exist folks for that horsepower range. Sorry electric wins this one. Oh yeah btw, the 240 volt circuit is used for single phase motors up to 10 horsepower so, no you do not need a higher voltage circuit. Your only advantage for gas is weight savings.

I'm a weed queen, too, and I'm enjoying this thread. Chicory is really pretty right now, and I'm collecting field poppy seeds to scatter about. The mulleins are tall and extremely handsome--there is no more stately herbaceous plant--and spreading in the propagation bed and getting ready to seed are rose campion, cornflower, more mullein, and the weedy but not native clary sage and invasive silvery artemisia, and coneflower. Oh, and another nice native is anthemis, silver foliage and flowers like little golden suns. DH and I have been pulling obnoxious weeds out of the newer beds, and I think lots of seeds from the above named plants scattered on the disturbed ground would make a beautiful riot among the roses. Several years have gone into experimentation, but I'm not sure that the evidence supports my idea that by weeding out bad plants and leaving in good ones, eventually I'll get a crop of herbaceous plants I like. The Johnson grass is sprouting now: now THERE'S a weed. Dock is nothing to it. I can almost be fond of dock. Melissa P.S. It's like Kim says. I've gotten to the point that I look at weeds and think, mulch! Nettles in particular. Much of the garden is nourished by what sprouts in it, after the initial digging and planting.

I have an electric rover mulcher and it works pretty good, Ive put entire trees through it (when I say that, I mean everything but the thick branches) and that bigger stuff can then go out for the council collection. Ive found that the thing that jams mine up is too much soft stuff, e.g. long soft growth like strelitzia stalks so I cut them in half before putting them through so they dont wrap around the blades. If it stops working properly, it usually just needs the top taken off and a clean out, and every now and then just a quick sharpen of the blades to get it back into service. Im just curious too about some of the other mulchers mentioned here, mine has a small spout on the side for thicker branches that are too thick or woody to go through the top, maybe a few people have one on their mulcher and never noticed it. If you think theyll save you time, then I would say, no they wont, but youll be able to use up a lot of garden waste that would normally go in the bin or out for collection, but you do need to be fairly dedicated or you wont use it.