Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Chipper/Leave Shredder

I need some advise on whether to get a chipper/leave shredder to convert leaves to mulch. I have a lot of large oak and maple trees on my lawn (50+) and consequently have a lot of branches and leaves, and I am considering to turn it into mulch to put under the trees and/or in flower beds. My question is first, can I use those leave mulch for this purpose, and second, should I get a shredder? I did some reading on the web and some people actually said a gas shredder is more troublesome to use than a push mower. I have both lawn tractor and push mower. Third, what brand or size of shredder to buy? I probably will rule out the electric type unless people on this forum really recommend it.

Any advise is helpful. Thanks a lot!

i have a chipper shredder and when it works it is great, unfortantly bought a cheep model and have had a lot of problems, used two different models of cub cadet for work and they worked very well and were very trouble free. i would get a quality 10 horse chipper/shredder and pay attention to the maint with that many trees.

life begins when the kids leave home and the dog dies

I don't have a lot of experience with shredders/mulchers. I just don't see many. My brother bought a troy-bilt shredder and it broke within probably the first hour of use. He took it to the warranty center, they fixed it and it broke again as soon as he tried to use it. I don't like the design of it and wouldn't recommend an MTD/troybilt shredder.

If you wnat to shred the branches, spend a little extra$$$ for a good shredder. Also, measure the branches and get one that will do branches that big. I also reccomend getting at least a 10HP and buying it from a local dealer that sells a full line of outdoor power equipment.

leaf mulch is one of THE best things to compost and then put in your garden. With more than 50 trees, you have a gold mine for a garden. As for using it for mulch, it will work great, just check the soil PH as the leaves uncomposted will tend to lower it. What model will work best? Depends on the size of branches you want to chip and/or shred. Most shredders will handle twigs and branches up to 1/2' dia, some will do 3/4" stuff. If you want to shred stuff larger than say 1" you will be looking at combination units called chipper/shredders. They are biger, stronger, have a separate chipping chute from the shredding chute, and cost more. Please keep in mind that these are inherently dangerous machines, so who will the operators be? Will they be safe with such a machine? Will they understand that you NEVER EVER EVER clear jams or hung up branches with your hands! Will they understand that hearing and eye protection and gloves are a MUST! And will they take a break when tired? as operating one of these while distracted by back pain or thirsty, etc is a bad thing! I have a 3" capacity chipper shredder from pre MTD Troy-Bilt that's over 25 years old. I do not let my wife near it, because she doesn't understand machinery. I have never had any accidents, the machine does alll I could ever ask of it, and I never operate it more than an hour at a time, because the noise, the concentration level required and the physical work of loading it tire me out after an hour, so I take a 15-20 minute break. I just wanted to point out that there are several things to think about while shopping, especially safety.