Author Topic: Earthquake shredder  (Read 2623 times)

gnappi

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Earthquake shredder
« on: April 05, 2015, 09:38:41 AM »
I'm looking to get a shredder, and the Earthquake 14626 has great reviews. Anyone have one, or better ideas in the $400-$500 range?
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   Gary

bsbullie

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2015, 09:45:08 AM »
I'm looking to get a shredder, and the Earthquake 14626 has great reviews. Anyone have one, or better ideas in the $400-$500 range?

I went on their website and dont see that model.
- Rob

zands

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2015, 09:58:19 AM »
Some will say you don't have enough to shred to make the $500 payoff. Better to pay a tree trimmer $10-20///or get free. Get mulch from him.

Dump in driveway. Get the mulch to your trees asap so the HOA does not bother you. Even over mulch your trees to get it off the driveway. Lastly you can lay some blue trap on the ground and let some trimmings rot into compost in the obscure corner of your yard.

Don't let them drop off too much. I had this happen once. After the trimmings fermented over a weekend in his truck there was moisture accumulated at the bottom of the truck bed and when he raised the dump mechanism too much slid out. I ended up banking the excess trimmings-mulch in some dense philodendron vegetation and retrieved it four months later for my fruit trees

IOW the tree trimmers have to be closely monitored when raising the dump bed

Cookie Monster

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2015, 10:45:42 AM »
I would probably look for a used Mackissic (American made) shredder if you want something that's going to be around in 20 years. The Mighty Mac would be good for your size yard. Spend a few weeks scanning ebay and craigs list. You'll eventually find one at or below that price range. The mighty mac has a small profile -- can be easily stored.

I wouldn't expect the chipper to contribute much to your mulching, but it is a quick and easy way to get rid of debris and trimmings.

Keep in mind that many shredders will stall on "wet" or fibrous material (eg, banana stalks, weeds, palm fronds, muntingia branches). I maintain a pile for this stuff and run the woody stuff through the shredder. The pile decomposes within about 6 months.
Jeff  :-)

gnappi

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2015, 01:01:26 PM »
I will be using all of my neighbor's tree cuttings as well as my own, I'd expect a good supply pf raw material.

I don't want to buy used unless a Mackissic  showed up but they go FAST on Craig's list, and all that I've written or texted to haven't written back. There's an older Mighty Mac upstate for sale a long time.
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   Gary

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2015, 01:11:07 PM »
I have a used 12P Mackissic 9hp chipper/shredder.  Works great but I agree with Jeff's point about amount of material.  A four person crew cutting, trimming and chipping acacia shrubs can produce maybe half a yard of mulch in 8 hours.  In my case, there is no other source of woodchips. If you are looking for quantity, a tree service is a great resource and may be more cost effective IMO.   Dave

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2015, 02:07:58 PM »
Best to hold out for a mackissic, even if it takes a few months.

But, buy it for the right reasons. Even if the entire block donates their trimmings to you, it will still be like 1/10 of what a tree trimmer can dump in your driveway in 15 minutes, and you'll have spent an entire day and 5+ gallons of gas to chip it.

I have the top end commercial mackissic (retails for like $4k), and I can chip full cubic yard in maybe 2 or 3 hours? Your typical tree trimmer will carry 10 to 15 yards in a load. The guys with the custom aluminum beds can dump 25+ yards in a load. So, a single load of tree trimmer mulch will save you somewhere around 50 hours of work and 30 gallons of gas. Unless your time is worth less than 10 or 20 cents an hour, I would suggest just calling a tree trimmer once or twice a year. And, trust me, running a chipper for 3 hours is a lot of work. I'm in pretty good shape, and 3 hours of the chipper will have me beat, especially during the summer heat.

If you're going to get a chipper, get it for the following reasons:

 a) You feel bad about chucking biodegradable debris into the refuse stream
 b) You have so much debris after a trim that it's not feasible nor easy to set it out by the curb
Jeff  :-)

gnappi

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2015, 02:33:48 PM »
My yard is filled with tree debris, and it's not going to the landfill for sure, but it's not bushes, more like 2"-3" material. My neighbors have thrown out huge amounts of hardwood and fruit tree cuttings with more to come.

So far my experiences with tree trimmers was not good... tree trimmers suck. The last two loads (of three) I got had palm, bouganvilllia, cactus citrus and other garbage despite my asking them to hold off for pine, hardwood and fruit trees. For what I spent I had a lot of wasted time pulling out palm fronds and wood with thorns.

I'm not worried about the work, nor volume at all.

Regards,

   Gary

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2015, 03:00:13 PM »
I hear you -- palm fronds suck. Even though we've cultivated relationships with trimmers who know we hate palm fronds, we still get some now and again. Once I even got load of brazilian pepper, replete with viable seeds. But, for me it's been the lesser of evils. I just find ways to deal with it, as there's really no other feasible way to maintain the yard mulched.
Jeff  :-)

gnappi

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2015, 04:38:00 PM »
I hear you -- palm fronds suck. Even though we've cultivated relationships with trimmers who know we hate palm fronds, we still get some now and again. Once I even got load of brazilian pepper, replete with viable seeds. But, for me it's been the lesser of evils. I just find ways to deal with it, as there's really no other feasible way to maintain the yard mulched.

So... does that mean you have a shredder / chipper for sale or rent :-)
Regards,

   Gary

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Re: Earthquake shredder
« Reply #10 on: April 05, 2015, 07:56:19 PM »
I had one for sale up until 2 weeks ago :-). Let my old mackissic knock off (grizzly) go for 50 bux.

I hear you -- palm fronds suck. Even though we've cultivated relationships with trimmers who know we hate palm fronds, we still get some now and again. Once I even got load of brazilian pepper, replete with viable seeds. But, for me it's been the lesser of evils. I just find ways to deal with it, as there's really no other feasible way to maintain the yard mulched.

So... does that mean you have a shredder / chipper for sale or rent :-)
Jeff  :-)