Our small ALKO shredder isn't really up to the job any more and is very noisy, SWMBO has decided that we need a new one - and it's her birthday soon ;-) Machine mart have a B&D GS2200 for £260, Screwfix have a Bosch 2200 for £340 (ouch!). Does anyone have any experience of these or others?
Dave S
I am no expert in these things but I would never do that to any woman in my life. I think you are being very silly indeed.
Women are very quirky you know.
Mind you, if you keep her plied with flowers.....
Well she sort off suggested that it could solve the annual "what to buy" problem (I got a biscuit jointer for Christmas!). I've just seen the Bosch AXT 2000HB in both sheds for £240 - any good?
Dave S
My parents used to have an Alko machine. It was noisy and ineffective and frequently jammed requiring to be disassembled to fix. Generally the area around the shear plate would get clogged. It was consigned to the skip.
I bought a Bosch 2200 about 3 years ago and it has been superb. The principle of operation is completely different. It has a screw mechanism driven by the induction motor and is very quiet indeed. It seldom jams, and on the odd occasion that it has, there is a revers switch. Operating that and then forward always clears it.
I don;t think I paid more than about £250 for it so there may be better deals around, but even at £340, if you want something that does the job, will run continuously and is quiet then it is well worth it.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
I have the Bosch whisper-quiet AXT 1600 shredder, and having also had a very noisy Alco, this Bosch tool is absolute heaven to use. It has a screw-type "cutter", so that the branches get pulled in automatically. I trimmed three conifers the other day and had a huge pile of branches on the lawn. The whole lot shreded down to 3 sackfuls. For around 200 quid it is one of the best buys I ever made. The Alco, by the way, was not only incredibly noisy, but also twigs tended to get catapulted back out of the chute. Quite a dangerous beast, in my opinion. I sold it for forty quid and breathed a sigh of relief that I was shot of it at last.
Bosch do heavier-duty ones as well, if 1.6 hp isn't enough. It's more than enough for what I need. And being a Bosch brand, it is built to last.
MM
So you get all the toys?
That's not fair.
Mary
I agree, my Bosch 1600 is fantastic, and it's amazes me that it can take such thick branches. The only time it jams is when I've been too optimistic, but reverse always clears it.
Peter.
I wish this thread had been a bit earlier, it's Spouse's birthday on Monday. I've already bought him a tablet weaving book so he'll have to play with his old toy for another year ...
Mary
Then again, if the above poster does decide on this course of action, make sure you don't buy one big enough for you to fit in the chute.
If you do dont buy a Power Devil there cheap s**te and break after the first usuage. Treat her to a nice Bosch quality tools.
Jon.
"Michael Mcneil" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mygate.mailgate.org:
I have to agree. And I doubt you'll find any manufacturer would warrant their product for such usage.
Although... it would make disposal easier if one was so inclined. Anyone recommend a product up to the job? ... purely out of academic interest, obviously.
Someone at work told me Power Devil are a company that Bosch make stuff for. I find that had to believe.
We bought an Atika 2000W /40mm Quiet shredder a few years at Focus (sold as Champion, their own brand). It was about £250 and, according to a Which? report, was better than the equivalent Bosch model - probably the £340 one you've seen.
It's been great. Wish we'd bought it sooner. Would've saved loads of trips to the dump.
Not sure if they still do them at Focus, but they're probably still around under the BioLine name.
Have you looked in B&Q? They've just started stocking a Mountfiled
2200W/40mm Quiet shredder at £170 which looks perfectly serviceable. I reckon the Bosch prices seemed cheaper than usual when I walked past 'em today too.Atika website is:
HTH,
Mike
the blades need sharpening after a bit. Makes all the difference.
Regards, NT
How do you go about sharpening the blades on the bosch ones?
(noticed that mine is not quite as good as it once was after feeding five confiers worth of branches though it, and getting enough shreddings to fill a four yard skip!)
I too got the Bosch 1600...the screw feed is brilliant. Don't bother with cheaper models that just have a rotating blade, they foul up really easily. I was told to lubricate the screw feed with a bit of chainsaw oil, but I don't know if you can sharpen the blades...it would need a full stripdown for that.
I see B&Q now do updated versions of the older Bosch 1600/2000, don't know if they're better or worse.
The only problem I have with the Bosch is if you're doing really oily leaves it can squelch up to form a kind of poultice that doesn't go through...you need a few branches to keep it all going through.
Over the years she's become used to a quality tool so I'll take the advice. :-)
Dave S
I find it is best with the more woody stuff as you say. Stuff with lots of lush leaves on are best left in a pile for a couple of days to dry out first - then they feed much better.
I've also got one and I find that greenery in general makes it clog up.
Like you, I use a woody material to flush it through, but it can get rather tiresome.
However the machine is certainly a very good one and will gobble up surprisingly large branches.
Power Devil are an Alba brand. Alba buy in stuff from everywhere and badge it with their label. So it's feasible that everywhere could include Bosch, but more likely that it includes some far eastern manufacturer that you've never heard of.
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