Atlanta Cracker Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Anyone have suggestions or experience on what works well for shredding leaves? I currently have an Echo blower/shredder but the shredding/vac portion leaves a lot to be desired. Sweetgum balls and small sticks jam it up requiring disassembly. I love the blower and I love the eventual end result of small piles of compost. The blower works awesome so I'm trying to figure out what I should get to go along with it? Things I have looked at or considered: Lawn Vac - but my area of use is about 1/2 acre so that may be a waste plus I'm not sure I'd get the sam 10 or 12 to 1 ratio I get now Shredder/Chipper - I end up with quite a few limbs so this one is kind of appealing yet a bit pricey. If I knew it would be easy to load my piled up leaves into I'd be more interested. Mulching/bagging mower - If there's one out there that will do the trick and also replace my current 20 year old push mower I use on the back yard. I also have a boatload of pine combs that I wouldn't mind doing something productive with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainHook Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Are you wanting to shred it to mulch it back into your yard? To compost it? To throw out in the trash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czarina Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Aren't they pine cones? I've never even heard of shredding leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I also have a boatload of pine combs that I wouldn't mind doing something productive with. Aren't they pine cones? Didn't you hear about AC's failed plan to rid the world of cheap plastic hair utensils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czarina Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 "Hey, these things have hair product built right in!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 Well pardon my French!! What do I do with the damn combs/cones ??? I just want to make the process easy. Last year I spent some hours shred/vacing and have some nice compost now. I want to spend less hours and don't give a rip if I end up with compost or not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelBunz Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 AC....in all honesty.....our first purchase here was a lawn vac with the side shredder some 14 years ago. Eh....never really thrilled with it. Then we inherited a blower vac like you're talking about. I totally agree.....the vac/mulch part leaves ALOT to be desired. Love the blower though for corraling leaves or blowing them out of planting beds. So...we ended up with an old mulching mower with a large bag. Now we don't use anything else. 1st Fall here before any mulching: 98 HUGH 33 gallon trash bags of oak leaves. After the bag mower: About 15-20 lawn/leaf bags. Having said that.....we have a ton of acorns....not pine cones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 AC....in all honesty.....our first purchase here was a lawn vac with the side shredder some 14 years ago. Eh....never really thrilled with it. Then we inherited a blower vac like you're talking about. I totally agree.....the vac/mulch part leaves ALOT to be desired. Love the blower though for corraling leaves or blowing them out of planting beds. So...we ended up with an old mulching mower with a large bag. Now we don't use anything else. 1st Fall here before any mulching: 98 HUGH 33 gallon trash bags of oak leaves. After the bag mower: About 15-20 lawn/leaf bags. Having said that.....we have a ton of acorns....not pine cones. Ok, I went and bought a Toro rear bagging mower and gave it a whirl on the first round of leaves for the year (my current mower is old and has no bagger). Sucked. Didn't shred anything at all and needed dumping way too much. SO, I have decided that in lieu of shelling out these $$ on lawn equipment to be used a couple of times I will instead modify my extra fridge to hold draft beer. Taking the Toro back this week! The leaf collection may take as long as last year, but at least I'll be having fun! If anyone has suggestions on the modification see my post in the F&B forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I just bagged 4 HUGH contractor bags (bigger than normal Heftys) full of leaves tonight. I need a leaf vac BAD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelBunz Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Ok, I went and bought a Toro rear bagging mower and gave it a whirl on the first round of leaves for the year (my current mower is old and has no bagger). Sucked. Didn't shred anything at all and needed dumping way too much. SO, I have decided that in lieu of shelling out these $$ on lawn equipment to be used a couple of times I will instead modify my extra fridge to hold draft beer. Taking the Toro back this week! The leaf collection may take as long as last year, but at least I'll be having fun! If anyone has suggestions on the modification see my post in the F&B forum! Hmmm.....our Toro is about 20 yrs old.....LOL. I bought Mr. Bunz a new bagger mower (not a Toro) 3 yrs ago. He says it's fine for grass but doesn't suck up the leaves in the Fall. So he fires up the POS Toro still every Fall and swears by it. The thing doesn't even have a place in the shed. It sits outside all winter with the wheelbarrow over it....the wheels have been rebolted to the frame....the throttle is stuck wide open and you have to turn it off by grounding it with a screwdriver. But he loves it. Sorry AC....but I'll have a with ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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