Has anyone ever used one of these? Are they worth it? Do they provide enough "mulch" to use throughout the yard. As a board board member for "grass type-k31 mix and sticks" I am thinking about changing boards and need a plan.
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/hsh/2460974061.html

I recently had three large trees taken out (killed by lightning strikes), and all of the stuff that was small enough to run through a (much-larger) commercial chipper is at the back of my yard. It has to be close to 20 yards of stuff.

I can't use it right away - the amount of leaf material in it at first makes it ugly. But that decays quickly. I use it after a few months in the fern/hosta/flower beds, and top it with a bit of store-bought stuff for color.

Any grass that makes you happy is good grass. Don't go anywhere.

Ain' nuthin' wrong with tri-mix. My mom's an occasional lurker and has it. I should take photos.

I've always wanted a chipper but can't justify it here. I only get a fair number of sticks and whatnot about once a year and I'm a klutz anyway. I need all ten fingers, even if the gardens might like the bone meal.

I have one the predecessor model to this:

http://www.bearcatproducts.com/outdoor- ... r/Shredder

In the fall I run all the perennials through it and put them on the lawn, then go over with the mower. It is a lot of work. If I were to do it again I would get a more powerful model where the input is lower to the ground (I'm only 5'5"" and this isn't that comfortable to use). The pieces are kind of big. I recently cut down some large skip laurels and had some 2-3 inch branches. I had to use way too much effort to get the machine to chop them up. Looking at that link, I don't think you'll be al that satisfied with something that small. You can't really put the big stuff in it and the little stuff can be run over a few times with the mower.

jglongisland wrote:(I'm only 5'5"" and this isn't that comfortable to use).

Good point. For women, who average a bit smaller, and shorter men, a low input is always good. I'm a modest five eight and have trouble with some things. Many machines are built for six foot people, it seems, with enough mass to move stuff.

The pieces are kind of big. I recently cut down some large skip laurels and had some 2-3 inch branches. I had to use way too much effort to get the machine to chop them up. Looking at that link, I don't think you'll be al that satisfied with something that small. You can't really put the big stuff in it and the little stuff can be run over a few times with the mower.

This, too. I discard perennials and annuals directly into the lawn, and drop in the compost bin for winter. As I mow in leaves, I tend to chop everything up with them and reduce it all to near-dust.

A rotary mower is an amazingly good chipper-shredder, actually, at least for smaller things that don't have a lot of sticks.

Many machines are built for six foot people

They are certainly not built for people that are 6' 6" either. I have a backache after an afternoon with most similar machines from bending over 500 times to use them.

jglongisland wrote:I have one the predecessor model to this:

http://www.bearcatproducts.com/outdoor- ... r/Shredder

I had to use way too much effort to get the machine to chop them up. Looking at that link, I don't think you'll be al that satisfied with something that small. .

At 5'5'', that means my wife and kids are out I guess?; luckily I'm 6'.
But more importantly, how does the chips come out. Are they more shredded or thumb size chunks? I'm thinking 3" would be the biggest, so did the machine bog down so much that it takes forever to feed a branch through? Do you have to change blades (or sharpen) them often.

We are from the north, but have been in the south for 7 years, and I still don't understand why people "pay" for pine needles as mulch. The last time I bought some pine he said (in a real southern drawl) This is sum realll purdy pine here" My thought is, a shredder might be the way to go.

It depends on the screen size. The majority seems to come out thumb size, but I get some sticks/shreds that are much bigger. Anything more than 1 inch thick requires work and I have to use a 2x4 to mash everything through.