UK’s best garden shredders: Bosch, Makita, Einhell, Hyundai rated for power and price

When I first reviewed the Bosch Shredder AXT Rapid 2200 a couple of years ago it was the best for your average home use – nothing too heavy but reliable enough. Nothing has changed, it’s still the best. The only unit that’s popped up which is now second as a budget pick in my mind is the Einhell 3430330 Electric Shredder. Before we get into the review let’s actually have a look at the unit in operation – with no Bosch commercial video bias:

If you took a couple of minutes to watch the video, it’s easy to see why the Bosch shredder AXT Rapid 2200 is a best seller on Amazon and it’s easy to see why, for the money it’s a pretty decent allrounder capable of branches, leaves, and pretty thick material too. Bosch make so many lovely garden shredders I did a dedicated review of them to comparein case you’re interested. 
It is fitted with a high speed 2200 Watt ‘powerdrive’ motor that produces 12nm of torque and allows you to pop material through it at a high speed. 
This motor, along with the laser cut precision blades spinning at 3650rpm and a cutting capacity of 40mm, can manage a material throughput of 90kg per hour. At only 12 kilograms, this impact shredder should cause you no bother when you want to move it around. All you have to do is tilt it back on its wheels and away you go.
 The light weight of this Bosch garden shredder makes you question will it have the grunt to get through these branches, but, remarkably it does! This Bosch garden shredder comes with a wide, practical plunger to help you push the materials through the cutters to speed up the process without getting your hands too close to the large capacity hopper.

This machine has a simple design and is very easy to set up and begin using, although hanging up a bag on the provided hooks to collect the shredding was a bit fiddly.
 Because the exit chute of the machine is at the bottom and quite close to the floor, the collecting bag needed to be shaken every now and then so the material would drop down and not build up inside channel but not a deal breaker by any means. 
Clearing the build up is easy though and only takes a couple of seconds. Simply lift up the top and remove the material and go again.

Although the Bosch Shredder is extremely light and compact, I found that 30mm branches were pretty easy and the optimal was around 20-25mm.
 For an entry level garden shredder that’s not to be overlooked. Once you get used to how much you should be putting through the machine at a time, you will be shredding to your hearts content. 
Like any piece of equipment the blades will need sharpening occasionally, overall this is a great little garden shredder for the price

Pros:

• Cheap price
• Fast ‘powerdrive’ motor
• Material throughput of 90kg per hour
• Easy to set up and use
• Lightweight and manoeuvrable
• Runs fairly quiet
• Cuts up to 40mm like the specs say
• Build quality as expected from Bosch

Cons:

• Wouldn’t try anything over 40mm – it is stated at its limit for sure

The Bosch shredder AXT rapid 2200 is an entry level budget machine that does a pretty good job and will workout well in most gardens. All in all, it is a nice bit of kit if used correctly and is the best choice for a cheap garden shredder – if you think you’ll work harder than this take a look at the AXT 25 TC.

Makita are best known for no frills, well built, reliable products and the Makita UD2500 is no exception.It uses a powerful 2500 watt electric motor like the Bosch AXT 25TC that drives the cut and crush system at 40rpm, effectively shredding branches up to 45mm in diameter.

This cut and crush system also helps to reduce the volume of waste material. The motor runs quietly when unloaded and isn’t annoyingly loud when it’s crushing its way through whatever you throw at it. This electric shredder destroys wooden waste very efficiently and is massively powerful for its £299.89 asking price tag.

The 67 litre collection box sits at the bottom of the garden shredder and has cut outs so you can easily monitor how full it is getting while you work which makes this a really nice touch and better than most competitor garden shredders.

There is a reverse function that will clear the blockage effectively by just pressing a button but like the Bosch ATX25.

The Makita’s dimensions are 59 x 42 x 52.5 cm and it weighs 32 kilograms, so it’s too big and heavy to be carried around easily by one person despite having dual handles. Not to worry though, Makita has fitted the UD2500 with decent rubber coated wheels to get about on, and given it a 10 metre long power cable to make it suitable for small to medium gardens. With size comes performance.

The overall build quality of this electric garden shredder is good and as already stated, Makita are well known for their durable products and after sales service.

Some people have complained that the unit came without the 10 metre power cable, but if that happens, contact Makita and they will send one free of charge and if that’s the worst thing about this garden shredder then it’s a big win right? It’s been given some poor feedback but for the price this is a cracking piece of equipment and the reviews for missing parts that have been replaced immediately seem overly critical to me. Makita have a long history of quality tools and looking after their customers…

Pros:

• Powerful. Can shred wood easily.
• Large collection box.
• Cut and crush system reduces waste.
• Reverse function to clear jams
• 10 metre power cable
• Heavy and extremely powerful for the price.
• Big collection box and cut outs to see the level
• Makita after sales service is second to none

Cons:

• Can block if forced over 45mm

To sum up, this particular Makita garden shredder is very effective when it comes to shredding wood and reducing waste and will require two people to move it easily or one big strong individual.

The Einhell 3430330 Electric Shredder in my opinion has literally been built to compete with the Bosch Shredder AXT Rapid 2200 and taken a bit of a swipe at the AXT 25 TC. Firstly it aims at the same diameter branches (40mm) and is powered by a 2500 Watt engine – this generates 4500 RPM which is essence makes it more powerful that the mini Bosch but for considerably less money. But the big question – did they pull it off, does it actually work?

That’s a resounding yes. For less money they are giving you similar cut power to the Rapid 2200 and it’s easy to see why this unit is selling so much more quickly than all other units at the moment. Einhell are a decent brand but it’s very rare I’m fighting their corner over Makita and Bosch, in fact, this is literally the only tool I have recommended them ahead of Makita or Bosch – and to say that, I probably still prefer the Bosch but that’s a bias – strip the brands, look at the performance and longevity of each, you probably pick this.

They are smart to manage expectations as well – letting people know overloading will cause a cut out engages the noggin to proactively not overload it 🙂

As with all shredders you’re going to find complaints ranging from seizing, giving up, to the blades not being up to the job – I would say realistically at this price, it’s fair to expect some decent work out of it but you’re not paying for a mechanical monster – for steady work it’s super and definitely my pick for the best budget garden shredder.

The AXT 25TC runs on a 2500 Watt electric motor that has been designed to produce a lot of torque- a staggering 650nm. This torque and the cutting blade speed of 41rpm (rpm rates are lower for non-rotary cutters) makes shredding branches a walk in the park.

At only 82 decibels it is one of the quieter models out there and won’t leave you or the neighbours with a headache.This impact garden shredder was specially made to be multi-purpose and can deal with both hard and soft materials, the complete all rounder, pretty much the same use as the ATX 2200 but it just does everything that much better as you would expect from a more expensive piece of equipment and if you have the money, it’s worth it.

Its turbine cutting system differs from our budget reviews which are both rotary types. The turbine system is highly efficient and can shred everything from soft greenery, to bushes, and even hardwood branches up to 45mm in diameter with ease.

With this cutting prowess and Bosch’s self-feed system, you should be able to get through 230 kg of material per hour which is two and a half times the ability of the budget garden shredders.

That’s not the fastest available, but what this machine does is cut steadily and consistently so as to reduce the risk of blocking and, ultimately, save time. At the base of this model, there is an integrated collection box that can hold up to 53 litres of waste and has a built in safety feature where the shredder won’t operate if the box isn’t connected which means you just can’t make a mess! Always keep on top of the amount of chippings you’re collecting and you’ll have no problems at all with this cracking bit of kit.

Even with its cutting power, blockages are inevitable with a garden shredder from time to time but rather than shy away from a problem, Bosch have met it head on, and fixed it! Bosch has anticipated and fitted a control pad that makes it easy to unblock by reversing the cutters. There’s no need to remove the hopper and this speeds up operating time a lot and not to mention much safer and less aggro making it worth the asking price over the budget models easily.

The only complaints I have for this particular garden shredder are the wheels are smaller than they could be, moving over uneven ground can feel a little unsteady, especially when folded up for easy storage but once you’re in situ, it’s all go with this piece of kit.

Like all garden shredders, keep the blades nice and sharp, you’ll find yourself very very happy with the results of this machine.

Features

• Powerful with high torque
• Turbine cutting system works well
• Doesn’t block often
• Easy to reverse to clear blockages
• Quiet motor
• Cuts up to 45mm in diameter
• Self-feeding
• 53 litre collection box
• Plenty of spare parts available

The Bosch ATX25 does exactly what it claims and has some nice features that set it above others  and it’s reasonably affordable for a home garden enthusiast. It would certainly do well for a small commercial landscaper or similar.

There’s two things I really like about this model from Forest Master. The first is that you have direct drive so no messing about with belt tension, far less aggro, more time working. The other great thing is for the size, this is a brilliant chipper of 2 inch material and it doesn’t matter if it’s a new cut, it’ll handle the moisture no problem – their electric log splitters are just as good as this and a real compliment together if you’re disposing of trees.

Having twin reversible blades is a bit of a bonus, you’ll just turn them around once you feel them being too dull and material starting to pull or jamb on you. At only 38kg it is very handleable for one person on wheels and for weight to power ratio, it’s a real performer. The chute and hopper remove easily which is a real bonus if you do get clogged. They are basically on a bracket system, so you can lift them on and off the hinge with ease.

If I had one improvement, I would like to see a larger platform to support this chipper. The wheels are fine but the metal brace across the bottom would really benefit from extending. That said, the machine is pretty low vibration and certainly does not feel like it’ll tip over. In fact, it’s probably one of the more sturdy garden shredders around at the moment. It’s pretty noisy, expect that from any powerful wood chipper though. It’s 4 stroke, so you’ll want a bottle of oil too. Being 4 Stroke, it’s a durable and quality engine that’ll keep going for years to come.

If you have never bought a petrol powered garden shredder then you’re in for a shock. Not just the noise, but how easily it’ll handle two inch material. You’ll watch a big bag fill with wood chips in minutes. This is the ideal piece of kit if you’re clearing a large garden area. Here’s a look at that power:

Titan Pro’s entry level garden chipper/shredder is another viable option for customers with a tighter budget.The engine powering the petrol shredder is a 7 horsepower, 196cc, 4 stroke motor capable of 5.4 kilowatts.

The flywheel cutting blade rotates at 2000rpm and the efficient chipping speed of this garden shredder is 26m3/h. This is helped by the safety covered, large brush hopper situated on top of the machine that can handle branches up to 100mm in diameter and also leaves.

For larger branches, up to 50mm, there is a side chute to feed them into.The overall feel of this petrol powered garden shredder is one of a good, hard wearing standard and the manufacturers are confident in its durability too. They have offered a full UK warranty and a spares back up service just in case.

The majority of its construction is from strong steel and the wheels are large and well-built enough to move this 70 kilogram garden shredder around the garden.The Titan Pro garden chipper/shredder comes with a free toolbox for assembling the product and also free safety goggles and ear protectors.

It runs quite loudly but you should be ok with the free ear protectors if you’re using it for prolonged periods, not sure about the neighbours though :-). Jokes aside, it’s definitely a piece of equipment to be using at the right time of day, an absolute beast and to coin a phrase, ‘like a carving knife through butter’ comes to mind!

Pros

• Strong steel build
• Cuts larger branches well
• Dual feeding positions
• Large brush hopper
• Free accessories
• Demolisher of timber
• Big collection box
• Massive 7HP engine
• Cuts 10cm branches with ease

The Titan Pro Garden Chipper/Shredder is a well-built machine that offers good chipping speed. This is a lovely bit of kit and certain to make life that much easier.

So, what do you get for the extra money over the Forest Master? Well the first thing is a much larger and more powerful engine, huge cutting power, effortlessly tears down wood, just what you’d expect from commercial grade equipment. The T-Mech petrol wood chipper gets its power courtesy of a 420cc, 4 stroke, 15 horsepower engine and there is no doubt that it is designed for large gardens and commercial use.

This powerful engine helps to rotate the sharp cutting blades at up to 3600rpm, and the machine can deal with branches up to a massive 102mm in diameter. With this garden shredder, you’ll have a nice clear garden in no time.

Not that there’d be any rush to finish. The T-mech has a 6.5 litre fuel tank and 1.1 litre oil tank to keep the machine running for a fair old while before you need to top up either of them.

The dimensions of the T-mech petrol garden shredder are 88cm (H) x 64cm (W) x 134cm (D) and it feels sturdy when it is free standing and in operation.It’s wheels feel much better than the other model above and shouldn’t give you any hassle moving over uneven ground.

There are two places to feed your branches into the machine. One on the top and also a secondary chute lower down on the side of the shredder. A good thing for when you have heavy branches to dispose of as you don’t need to lift them as high.

This petrol garden shredder comes with a free tool kit to help you with assembly (which is a two man job if you want to get it done quickly) and also to be used for maintenance. Also included are free safety ear protectors that you will need as the T-mech runs quite loud as you’d expect of a mammoth 420cc engine, it’s half of the smallest car engines!

The main flaw of the T-mech is that the chippings drop out of the bottom and you need to be on top of clearing them away but really with wood chippings flying everywhere from shredding, it’s a very minor detail in an otherwise faultless and solid piece of commercial grade equipment that’s affordable for home use.

Features

• Can deal with branches 102mm in diameter
• Top and side feeding chutes
• Good sized petrol tank of 6.5 litres
• Good shredding power
• Good wheels
• Free tool kit
• Free safety gear
• Incredible power tearing down branches
• Clearly the best built so far in this review

With a powerful engine, good maximum cutting width, free accessories and double feeding chutes, this petrol garden chipper/shredder is worth investing in and is practically faultless and no doubt why it is 5 star feedback all around the internet for anyone willing to shell out £849.99.

The Hyundai HYCH1500E-2 costs a fair few quid. Is it worth it? Well, read on and I’ll give you the facts and you can make up your own mind but first take a look at this video – I’ve started it in the action:

Let’s start with the engine. Coming from a well-known car manufacturer, you know that you can trust in this engine to do the job.

It’s a 420cc, 14 horsepower, 4 stroke device that is designed to provide a lot of chipping power and also to last a long time doing so. This product comes with a 3 year warranty and full spare parts service. By far and away the biggest vote of confidence in a petrol garden shredder I’ve seen so far.

This Hyundai petrol garden shredder is started via an electric key start powered by a 12 volt battery to ensure that it starts up first time every time. Cheaper models tend to use a pull start system that can sometimes be problematic and there’s no way you’ll hand crank 420cc easily!

The cutting system is an excellent 2 blade drum mechanism that draws in branches up to 85mm and turns them into wood chips like it’s a walk in the park.

The chippings are ejected from the 180 degrees rotating chute, so you can spread them in multiple directions or load them straight onto the back of a truck to be taken away.

Although this garden shredder is on the heavy side at 180 kilograms, the dual handles and very large and wide pneumatic wheels make it manoeuvrable enough. It is also fitted with a tow bar so you can pull it along with an ATV or ride-on lawnmower.

This is an easy to use machine, with user friendly features such as the easy twin v-belt tensioning, removable tow bar, toolbox and bearings that are easily lubricated.

It comes with a free toolbox and there is built-in storage for it on the main unit.

I really don’t have much in the way to say about this in a negative light, if I was to be super picky I would say you need a good jerry can as fueling can be a little awkward but that’s going into serious detail to find a problem with this behemoth.

Pros

• Dual blade drum is very effective at chipping wood
• Electric key start
• Reliable Hyundai engine
• 180 degree rotating chute
• Great build quality
• Easy to use
• Free toolbox
• Incredible cutting power
• Extremely fast chipper
• Feels very commercial and solid

Possessing attributes such as a durable engine, powerful cutting prowess, great build quality and some other nice features, the Hyundai HYCH1500E-2 is perfectly suited to large gardens and commercial use.

The Dirty Pro Tools™ Garden Shredder impact garden shredder is amongst the cheapest out there. Don’t be fooled by the low price however, as this model has some good features. Power comes from a 2500 Watt, electric motor that runs off 230 volts. This motor powers the cutting blade that spins at 6500 rpm without a load and a still impressive 4500rpm when under load.

Just like the Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 it will deal with 30mm branches pretty easily and the optimal was around 20-25mm. The Dirty Pro Tools™ Garden Shredder can handle leaves but a word of warning, go steady with them so the machine can manage a constant mulch and it will be fine. If you do get a block don’t worry, it does happen, we are not talking about commercial grade equipment costing thousands of pound after all! Just like the Bosch garden shredder, it’s easy to clear.

Also like the Bosch AXT Rapid 2200, the Dirty Tools garden shredder can let small be moved around pretty easily.

A nice feature of this budget garden shredder is the 50 litre collection box that is integrated into the design so there’s no need to fit bags that can be fiddly to fit and easily torn. The box can be easily opened to check how full it is getting at any time.

This model comes attached with a 6 metre long power cable which comes in really handy and should negate the need for an extension lead unless you have a large garden.

The great thing about this machine is that you can always use spare parts from other machines, it seems to be very standard and that’s a huge plus.

Features

• Very cheap
• Large integrated collection box
• Powerful motor
• 6 metre long power cable is handy
• Big collection box
• Parts easy to get hold of as a result of being generic

In conclusion, this offering from Dirty Pro Tools isn’t a bad choice if you’re using it for light garden work and you have time on your hands. I like both of these models but if I was forced to pick, in the £200 range I like the Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 slightly more based on performance and manoeuvrability but if you factor the Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 price and the Dirty Pro Tools™ Garden Shredder is much less, and you want a cheap useable garden shredder, then I’d go for the Dirty Pro Tools™ Garden Shredder without question, it’s a bargain pound for pound.

Titan Pro’s Beaver petrol Garden Shredder is a big ripper. Like the Hyundai HYCH, it is intended for heavy home use or commercial gardening: heres a look at that cut power first then lets get into the review:

The Titan 420cc, 15 horsepower, OHV 4 stroke engine gives this garden shredder its heavy-duty performance. Power is transferred by heavy duty twin belts that help to prevent shock loadings to the crankshaft.

The engine can be started one of two ways. There is a traditional recoil system and now also a new electric key start option. That’s a nice feature because if, for whatever reason, one of the starting methods breaks, you can still use the other.

The twin, hardened steel, 30cm reversible cutting blades and revolving drum mechanism make light work of hardwood branches and it has a maximum chipping capacity of 100mm. Incredible cutting power and faultless operation:

Unlike a lot of chipper/shredders, the Titan Pro Beaver doesn’t get clogged up with sappy leaves or Leylandii and instead shreds and mulches them in bulk creating nice compost. It’s pretty much unstoppable and as you would expect for the price tag.

At 160 kilograms, this is no lightweight machine but with that extra weight comes the durability of hard-wearing materials. Also the Beaver garden shredder is fitted with a sturdy axel and large bearing pneumatic tyres which work well to handle the weight. The Titan Pro Beaver petrol garden shredder also comes with a tow bar. If you exceed 100mm you might want to consider a petrol log splitter to assist in breaking down material first.

Chippings and shredding can be spread around to fertilise the garden wherever you choose, or just loaded straight into a tipper truck, wheel barrow or other container thanks to a rotatable chute, just like the Hyundai model above.

There’s nothing to fault about the Titan Pro Beaver Petrol Garden Chipper. If you can afford it, buy it. That simple, you won’t be let down.

Pros

• Amazing cutting performance
• No problem with sappy leaves
• Recoil or electric start
• Rotatable chute
• Chipping capacity of 100mm
• Twin belts prevent shocking the crankshaft
• Well built
• Tow bar
• Excellent warranty
• Commercial grade

If you’ve got deep pockets and a lot of garden debris to shift in a hurry, the Titan Pro Beaver chipper/shredder might be for you. It really does perform well on all kinds of waste. From hardwood branches through twigs and sappy leaves, this garden shredder will handle it all.