Does this tool exist?

Hi, folks, I know this is more appropriate for the "Gardening Supplies" forum (thank you, Dave and Anita), but well, I know and love you guys ;) so i figured i'd ask here too...
I'm looking for something to shred leaves and maybe even kitchen scraps (plus, in my dream world, grind up small twigs too), but I'd like something manual, not electric or gas-powered. I'm envisioning a kind of bottomless bucket that resembles an old-fashioned ice cream maker, with a corkscrew blade or two inside and a crank handle on the outside. Am I crazy? Anyone seen anything like this? Any engineers or handy types out there want to tell me how to build one?? :)

Not me. But you could try the....
Only joking!
Hey Anita, we must be the enforcers!

Is there a "Call me crazy, but..." forum? I think that's where I'll have to go with this...

why are you set on a manual machine? I would think you would need a lot of muscles!!!! I've been eyeing this one... http://www.gardeners.com/Electric-Garden-Chipper/default/35-272.prd

Environmental and upper-body-workout reasons, mostly... That one looks pretty cool, but out of our price range (I'd rather buy plants this year...)!
Somebody also mentioned the electric leafblowers that also vacuum them, chop 'em up, and spit them into a bag. Too good to be true? Also I've been prejudiced against leaf blowers for the longest time, so it's hard to imagine owning one...

Also, how about sticking the leaves into an old garbage can and weed-whacking them, like a giant immersion blender? Any thoughts?

I've been looking to shred leaves for mulch instead of buying mulch. Everything I read said be wary of anything with a small engine. That would include yours Anita. It also seems like a very small hopper to try & feed a yard of leaves into.
Meg, Both of the methods you describe would tend to work on dry leaves but not on wet. Neither electric blowers/vacuums or electric weed whackers are very strong. Running them over with a lawn mower 2 or 3 times would work better & quicker I think
It really depends on the size of your property too. If you have a 1/4 acre or less, Anita's machine & Meg's methods would be more practical. I have about an acre which is half-bordered by woods and it would take forever & burn out those little engines.

I have just been talking oak leaves and composting with wormboy. Get out your lawnmower. I have a vac and mulch which empties into a trash can. I have to rake leaves into its vicinity in order to vac them up. I also have to rake them out of garden beds in the spring. The vac and mulch is a couple of extra steps as opposed to the lawn mower. Mine has a rear bag and it chops the leaves and then when the bag is full you deposit them where you want them. I prefer the mower for larger flat areas. but it can't go into my garden beds and the vac doesn't work to well with piles of leaves that have been out there all winter so every year, it's a combination of the two machines. but the lawn mower is quicker.

Martha

This message was edited Mar 29, 2006 9:32 PM

This message was edited Mar 29, 2006 9:32 PM

Hmm, maybe we should just get a new push mower with better blades and a bag (or sharpen our blades and get a bag attachment, if that's possible)...sounds like the way to go...

I use a leaf blower/vacum, It sucks the leaves right up and chops them up to a very 'fine' mulch and then I put the mulch on the beds, The only thing you have to be carefull about with this, Is that, Oak leaves are acidic, So they should be used for plants that like acidic soil. I find other leaves work fine for everything else, Same thing with compost if you use mostly oak leaves in your compost you should add some lime to sweeten the acidity. Also, I've had my leaf vacumn for quite some time and it still works good

Iris, Is your blower/vacuum electric?

yes

Someone else recommended that to me; we have a small property (1/8 acre, I think--we're right in New Haven), so it's not like we have a ton of leaves. But I'm very, very wary of getting some noisy thing--I complain so much about them, I don't want to be hypocritical. Iris, how noisy is your vacuum?

Meg, Do you know someone you could borrow one from & try it? I'd let you.
Electric is much quieter than gas engines. But there is that constant sound. I used mine today. I have a lot of twigs (big old trees) which messes up the vacuum function.

Meg, I'd honestly have to say it's a bit noisy, Not as bad as a gas powered one, But still a bit noisy, I'm used to it so it doesn't bother me at all, But for someone who is using one for the first time, It would sound a bit loud. I really do love how it chops up the leaves though, It grounds them right down to a 'fine' mulch. But for you, I don't think it would be much of a benefit seeing as you really don't have much leaves, I have 3 acreas here and it's surrounded by trees so I get a ton of leaves to vacume up. I know what your looking for though and if you ever find one, I want one too!! It would be great to find something that would just chop everything up together, Moist or dry, Mix and match, I think everyone would be getting one. The blower/vac is about the best tool I have for now for doing the dry stuff.

http://www.store.yahoo.com/dolphinope/chip.html

I want one of these

Or these
http://www.store.yahoo.com/dolphinope/leafrecsys.html

Maybe this:
http://www.tools-r-us.biz/b/Blower_Vac/Gas_Blower_and_Vac_6_hp_B0001LF1UC.htm

Wish I knew what worked best.

and the Mega number is.....

Ewww, I want one too!! When/if you find what works best, Let me know! They are kind of pricy and I'd never take a chance on one unless there was really good feedback on it from people I knew who tried it.. I really don't mind the way I do things now, I just vacume and empty the bag in the compost or put it out as mulch, But, I would love to have a machine that would take the veggie extras and leaves together and ground them down to a 'fine' mix ... wouldn't take long at all to have a large compost heaven that way! The other way I look at things is, I can go to rent a center a rent a garden machine of almost any type for the day ( Or however long) it would take and do the brush I have here and it wouldn't cost me a fraction of what buying a new machine would cost, plus I don't have to worry about the wear and tear and storage.... Sorry, I just tend to look at investments from all points, Thanks for posting the links, I'll have to check them out better later on, Did you see a certain one that you really liked?

Poor Meg, Starts a primitive technology type thread and I'm pulling out the engines. I'll refocus.

lol!

Oops. I cross-posted. That is part of my dilemma. I want the chipper/shredder (about $860 for what I'd need) But that vacuum thing that looks like a mower could be a nice alternative to raking or blowing the yard.
Soo.. save money by "raking" the yard myself, save money on mulch... Am I starting to convince myself? My wife?

Now we will get back to things w/o engines.

LOL!! It's easy to convince oneself when there are so many neat yard toys avaiable!! You must have a large yard or a lot of land ??

I only have about an acre but there is almost no woods on it. (though I' have woods around half my yard) Its a lot of raking.

Sometimes I wish I had an acre, I have three surrouned by woods and tons of leaves!! I don't rake much though.. I use 'the machine'

How much lawn do you have???

about an acre of lawn

That's a lot. I'm probably close to that.

A lot of work

Meg, there is such a tool, it's not that impressive but it works. A friend picked one out of the garbage brand new in the box after trying to buy it the day before at an estate sale, they wouldn't lower the price, she didn't budge and ended up getting it for free. I don't know the company name but it was hand operated and grinded like a champ.

someradiantpig, I;m glad she got it for free, Good for her. If you ever get the name, please post it for us.

Dave,

I have been using a MacKissic 12PT-9 for three years and really like it. It has been superseded by the 12PT-10, http://www.westpowertools.com/mackissic/chipper-12p.html which is the same machine, but has a 10hp Briggs & Stratton engine instead of the 9hp B&S that is on my machine. It's a great machine because it has both a 24-hammer hammermill shredder and a big flywheel single-blade chipper that will handle up to 3½" limbs. In my opinion, single-blade chippers are better than double-blade chippers, because they can chip thicker chips for landscaping uses. But the MacKissic is very versatile. By selecting the screen size you can control your chip size. For maximum sized chips, simply remove the screen.

I have several optional screens for the shredder in addition to the 1-inch screen that came standard. I particularly like the fine-textured product that I get using the ¼" screen. It has a lot of surface area and that works well in compost piles.

The only disadvantage, if you could call it that, is that you have to carry leaves to the machine and dump them into the shredder hopper. I have several lightweight containers that I use to carry leaves. I have a couple of leafrakes, each of different designs and suitable for different occasions, that I use to rake leaves into my containers.

This property has about two acres of virgin woods remaining, with deposits of lots of old leaves that have transitioned into leaf mold at the bottom. There's also a lot of deadfall in the form of broken dead limbs, twigs, acorns, pine cones, etc. Deadfall and leafmold, pulverized through the ¼" screen, are very near to compost when they come out of the machine. It's a dark, fluffy material, so soft it feels like it would make a good pillow. And it has a good "earthy" smell.

The woods here are slopey with uneven terrain and it wouldn't be feasible to vacuum them. The heavier material like leaf mold, limbs, etc. wouldn't respond to a vacuum. Manual collection of the material is the most practical here, so the features of my MacKissic shredder-chipper are a very good match for our situation.

I seem to have an almost unlimited amount of material to feed my MacKissic "Mighty Mac." It has produced many compost piles by recycling brush piles, tree prunings, deadfall, new leaf fall, whatever. We have many old brush piles remaining to feed it. Odd materials like pine cones and acorns get pulverized through the ¼" screen into an unrecognizable fine material almost like coffee, which blends well into compost piles. For a situation like mine, the MacKissic current 12PT-10 would be ideal, and well worth the money in the long run.

MM

Maine Man,
THANK YOU!
Part of my dilemma is choosing between the chipper/shredder which I really want for making compost & mulch, vs something to rake the leaves with that helps me compost the leaves.I'm leaning chipper/shredder.

Do you think I need the 12PT-10? I have 1 acre and its 90% lawn. They make slightly smaller ones that you tip over and rake into the hopper. ( Although, I do have adjoining acres that I could "harvest" with your machine.)

oh, boy! it DOES exist! someradiantpig (quite a name, btw), could you possibly find out the name of the brand/company? and ask your friend how it works??? i'm very excited about this (i think i need to get out more...)!

dave, don't worry about 'pulling out the engines'--i'm open to other possibilities. but now that i know something like what i said exists, i might have to really track it down! that said, maybe i should look at the lawn-mower-look-alike vacuum thingy too. or how about YOU buy it and try it out, and let me know how it works (or even borrow it)?? ;) (i am SO funny!)

Maineman, Thanks for the info!
Dave, Hard dicision's sometimes.
Meg , I say 'ditto'!

Someradientpig, I love Charlotte's Web (too?)

Dave,

"Do you think I need the 12PT-10? I have 1 acre and its 90% lawn."

Probably not. You would need a fair number of trees to justify the 12PT-10. Unless you could count on harvesting a fair amount of material from your adjoining acres to justify the purchase.

"They make slightly smaller ones that you tip over and rake into the hopper."

They also make a self-propelled model that vacuums up the leaves from your lawn and shreds them into an onboard bag.

MM

Maine Man,
I know. Do you know anything about the effectiveness of the smaller ones or the lawn vacuum?
Thanks,
Dave

If you are just chopping up small amounts of leaves and things and don't want to get real hi-tec ....
Its not manual
and its noisy
But I use a rubbermaid 55 gal garbage can and my week wacker
Throw the stuff in and have at it

I have a tough time with my chipper shredder with leaves and other plant debris
Clogs up

We do have a chipper, gas, noisy, but it does the job and my DH only uses it twice a year.

We blow (I know about the noise) twice a year and he runs over the leaves with the mower, bags it up and it goes directly into the compost piles (6).

I applaud your willingness to do it by hand cranking. I spent enough time in physical therapy (53 sessions in 8.5 months) from two separate gardening "incidents" and won't be quite as vigorous this year.