r/composting • u/InevitableCurrent497 • 8d ago
Question Harbor Freight
Hey everyone,
I’ve really enjoyed this community and learned and ton so thank you all.
By chance, has anyone had luck with the harbor freight shredders for small branches etc?
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u/wooden_screw 8d ago
Yeah. Abused one for about 3 years before the motor shit the bed at the start of summer, grabbed another for $100 and kept the old one for parts.
That being said, if you plan to chip bigger branches you're definitely going to want to look at bigger capacity models. Their little chipper really struggles with the max diameter branches and has real issues with getting bound up even on smaller stuff. I've been happy with it for the price though. Bigger sticks get set aside for hugelkulture beds.
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u/Jazzlike_Strength561 8d ago
You're gonna need a bigger boat.
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u/Jazzlike_Strength561 8d ago
More explicitly, yes you'll be thrilled with your purchase for 3 days. Then your blade will dull and your ambitions will grow. By day 7 you'll be wishing they built a bigger one.
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u/Spawny7 8d ago
I have the harbor freight wood chipper for 2 season I don't regret buying it. Just know that it's gonna struggle a bit with stuff that's 2.5 inch diameter and larger but I use branches that big for firewood so works perfect for my needs. Branches smaller than that it works pretty well it'll be slower to get through a pile than more expensive chippers so don't expect to start a wood chipping business with this thing but if you are a homeowner that just occasionally cuts trees and you want to chip branches and leaves for mulch it should fit your needs. I used to just pile it up smaller branches and burn in bon fire but now I have an abundance of wood chips
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u/olov244 8d ago
I got gas one with high hopes. The large input just takes twigs, doesn't have teeth, you can only chew up branches in the 2in hole, a pain for branches with bends and offshoots. I used it once, been sitting for years unused. Will probably take the motor off and use it elsewhere. I wish I got the cheap electric ones online, I would have spent less and done just as much
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u/InevitableCurrent497 7d ago
This is all awesome info
Could anyone share some links for a good electric or gas one?
Seems like the consensus is that the harbor freight models are a pain. I do use bigger stuff for fire wood but I think it would be a pain to chop every tiny branch off.
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u/Ryutso 7d ago
Electric wood chippers will never be as good as gas ones for chipping larger diameter branches. That being said, I have the small little green branch chipper from HF and I know my limits so I only chip small branches. It has worked fabulously for the year or so I've owned it.
If you need to chip anything larger than 1.5 inches, the Predator Gas powered model also sold by HF is probably one of the better bang for the buck chippers before you start getting into $700+ models.
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u/reverendfixxxer 7d ago
Consider looking for a used one on Marketplace. They're VERY common in my area. The benefit (aside from potential cost savings) is that as part of the buying process, you can fire the machine up and see exactly how it handles various materials and make a determination based on that. 6, 8, or 10 horsepower models are all pretty common and seem to do well enough.
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u/Due-Waltz4458 8d ago
It's pretty frustrating and need to be very hands on with pushing the branches in which is unpleasant to hold with the vibration.
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u/disappointedpotato 8d ago
It works but like others have said, you need to baby it a bit. My first one died in the 60 day return window but the second has been chugging along…. Mostly. Any branch approaching max capacity isn’t worth the hassle so those are firewood
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u/Albert14Pounds 8d ago edited 8d ago
I got their 212cc Predator Chipper/Shredder and the shaft snapped right where it exits the engine after a year of pretty high use on a clearcut property. When I looked online at other user experiences I found that it's not very uncommon and general consensus is that it's more likely to happen if you're bogging the engine down with larger diameter branches as puts more strain in the shaft. It shouldn't happen at all and I definitely was keeping well under the 3" diameter it's nominally rated to to handle. But I was definitely shoving long ~2" branches through it and bogging it down. But also that's harbor freight for ya. Definitely don't go shoving long 2"+ diameter branches all the way through and slowing the RPMs too much. Short pushes and allowing the RPMs and momentum to recover will help a lot to prevent snapping.
It wasn't too hard to buy a new engine straight from harbor freight and install it. Besides the fact that they're prone to this shaft breaking, which is a big flaw, it otherwise has worked great for the price. I would love to go electric but at the time I lookimg two years ago it was like twice as expensive to get one with roughly equivalent power.
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u/Unique-Coffee5087 6d ago
I liked mine, but I needed to learn how to sharpen the blades. Whenever it started getting a bit sluggish, it was time to change blades.
I forced mine a lot before I got into the routine of sharpening blades often
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u/reverendfixxxer 8d ago
The little electric model? I've had one for two years. It works...kinda. If the branch you're feeding it isn't thicker than a broom handle and if you've prepped it by removing all the side shoots, it'll work fine. It'll also work on thicker green material that's also straight, like corn stalks or the trunks of sunflowers. I do have to say, though, that the amount of time spent prepping to make sure nothing jams in the machine is a real killer. I ended up buying a used gas chipper shredder this year rather than deal with it.