Sun Joe Leaf Shredder

Anyone else have one of these? or if not what do you use? I just got this last week and it has worked great so far. Used it for many hours over the weekend. I shredded all the leaves and tilled them into the soil in the garden. Been doing this for a few years with super results, but I got tired of stooping over for hrs to feed the vacuum tube of the leaf blower and getting mediocre results.

Reviews online are dismal. Person after person said they used theirs 1-2 times for just a few hours before the machines motor died. because of this I bought mine at a local store in case I needed to go exchange it but so far I've already run this thing longer and harder than they did and it seems just fine.

mass_burner said:

I had a comparable model and it was a waste of time , especially when the leaves weren't completely dry, which is never.

I use my lawn tractor with a mulching blade, then spread them over my planting beds. A neighbor just gave me a great old school chipper, gonna try that this year, can never have enough mulch.

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Which old school chipper is it? I have one of those too. Its an old Kemp (Mighty Mac) which worked great at this task, in addition to chipping 3" branches however now it is suffering severe metal fatigue from the 40 years of vibrations. The chute fell off, the bearings for the hammer mill are shot (but it still kinda works) and the wheel rims disintegrated.

I don't think the sun joe is a total waste of time, it is def. getting the job done. Its not as fast as it could be but the leaves came out nice and fine. I do have concerns about the longetivity given the reviews. I'd be happy if mine kept working for a few years.

maverick06 said:

I had one, quickly realized it was huge amount sof work just picking up the leaved and tossing them in. Mine also used effectively trimmer line, so if a stick fell in it would usually snap the line. I sold mine and now just drive the lawn tractor around. infinitely easier. If you have a small yard/don't own a mower, maybe it makes sense. regardless, you used it and liked it, so go for it!

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It seems to be working reliably still. almost done with the leaves for this year. looks like this weekend should be the last run. I've love to be able to drive over them with the mower, but that leaves them all over the lawn, not where I want them, which is in the garden. I till them into the soil, add a little blood meal along with some grass clippings and our kitchen veggie peels, coffee, eggshells and in the spring have the richest soil I've ever seen. since I started doing this 2 years ago my tomato plants hit 12 feet high.

maverick06 said:

if it works, go for it! See I am on the flip side, too much to know what to do with, so mulch them as I go is the answer.

How did you support your tomato plants that tall? Mine just flop over the top of the cages.

Have I seen you on tsp talk?

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I haven't been on tsp talk. tomato support is a problem. I started off with those run of the mill cages but they quickly outgrew them. as this happened It got to be a giant mad science project complete with wooden poles duct taped to more wooden poles. Next spring I will implement this idea I found online. you plant 2 4x4's into opposite ends of the garden and string wire or twine all around them. plant the tomatoes in the middle of them and as they grow, just weave them in between the twine for support. I plan on getting 4 4x4x12's and I figure when sunk in i'll have a support system for 10 feet (at least 2 feet in the ground)

my garden has been an ongoing project since we got the house 10 years ago. always trying new things and seeing what works and what doesn't. This year the size got more than doubled, large gate got added that fits the tractor and cart (so I can back cartloads of stuff in) and the leaf shredder - which worked out quite well. it still runs find and has shredded every leaf on mine and all the ones from my neighbors property they gave me.

Next spring i'll do the support system and I want to run weeping hose all around for watering and have it on a timer. I already have the timer. And last i plan to buy a real rear tine self propelled tiller. My Ryobi attachment worked great for many years but its not going to handle the new garden size. Should be good. just have to get through a few months of this eternally dark frozen tundra I call NY. at least theres some bonding time with the pellet stove.

I don't mind messing with them. Nobody bothers me in the garden. No ringing cell phone. No small talk, beeps, buzzing etc. Just birds tweeting and whatever odd wildlife shows up.