Considering buying a small, light chipper / shredder for a new contract where access is difficult, we have a Forst TR 6 which is a 6 inch capacity tracked machine for big stuff but obviousy unsuitable for this job.
We did have an Eliet major which we sold through lack of work for it and another would just be too heavy for what we need although it was utterly reliable and would handle soft waste relatively well being a shredder rather than a chipper.
Price is a factor so have ruled out an Eliet minor and looking for a max weight of 60 kg.
The budget end seems to consist of Chinese machines such as Lumag etc budget is a meagre £1200 and would consider used, so bearing in mind its for softish prunings and light use anyone have any suggestions or are we going to end up with a pile of junk, which is probably the answer.
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I use Forest Masters FM6DD, which is perfect for limited access but not suitable for leafy waste. I can see an FM6DD-MUL on their website which mulches woody waste as well as leafy. Think I paid about £400 brand new last year.
I second the forest master for chipping, to give an example of its benefits and shortcomings. I recently chipped a huge buddleja tree (around 12-14 inch stump) with it and not a single blockage with all the leaves and seed heads etc. However tried to chip a fatsia japonica and the seeds are like berries so it blocked it twice. It's incredibly light, 40kg I think. Would be no good for hedge trimmings unless you've got woody material to send through with it. If you need to shred hedge trimmings use an old lawn mower, mulching mowers work best. Recently took 2 foot of fresh green growth off the top of a buddleja hedge around 50m long and I had no waste to take away after 15 minutes with the mower
I'll second what Jake said about shredding all hedge trimmings and cuttings with a 2nd hand lawn mower... i bought a Honda powered 'hover mower' for next to nothing and it decimates the cuttings. Clearing up is the biggest part of the job for me and the £30 I spent on that old mower has paid divedends and made my work sooo much easier.
Yes we use our Honda HRX's in either collect or mulch mode, yes absolutely destroys shrub / hedge prunings . However we can't use it everywhere hence the question. Having looked at what's available and considering we want to put armfuls of leafy waste through all these small machines have narrow intakes and are suitable only for woody waste so apart from an Eliet major which we used to own and is too heavy for where we want to use there is not anything on the market, so back to bagging.
I have a Stihl GH460, great little machine & comes in at 59Kg so within your weight limits. I used to have an Eliet major which I found to be far too heavy & pretty crap tbh. Maybe it was the blades, or me! But the Sthil is exxellent for my needs, fits in the back of my Renault trafic & stores easily as the chute comes off. Well worth a look to see if it fits in with your needs.
Thanks Neil, surprised about you not liking the Eliet, yes it's weighty and top heavy but we found it handled sappy waste with the coarse screen pretty well or did you only have the fine screen? Anyway what's the Stihl like with sappy green waste? Thanks
Just looked at it, discharge at ground level ! Non starter
Eliet major (old style) dumps on the ground but a bulk bag positioned right sorts that problem.
Anything smaller than the major has a disappointing mouth for posting armfuls of brush/ bramble
The Eliet I had was the old style, dumped on the ground. I just found it far too heavy to get in the van on my own, the trailer was ok. Always blocking, most of my work is smaller sized materials, green. Yes the Stihl does drop, which is a pain but a tonne bag underneath is ok, not as good as a chute though.