Bosch AXT Rapid 2200 Blade Shredder (40 mm Cutting Capacity)

This is an excellent shredder. The machine is so much better than the others I have owned.

I claim to be an experienced shredder user - I have had several machines over a good number of years. For me the problems to overcome are blockages when feeding material through (my last shredder, an Alko New Tec 2500R, was dreadful for this), wear on the blades reducing performance, and noise.

In selecting this shredder I took in to account that it was given the thumbs up by Which? in November 2007, and had a very positive write-up on the "fredshed" website, a first-rate source of independent advice. I must endorse what Fred says about keeping the blade sharp:
"Take care with what you put in the shredder and especially do not get ANY soil in it. With the high speed even a small amount of soil acts like an abrasive and quickly blunts the blade."

The machine is the best one I have had. It is well designed and constructed and also very powerful. The blade wears well (if you follow the advice above and also make sure no stones find their way in to the machine) and is a bit cheaper than most brands to replace. It is the quietest machine I have used.....but probably could still annoy the neighbours if run at unsociable hours. The best thing for me is that it is not prone to blocking. If used sensibly, with the help of the wide prodder, you can easily go whole sessions without a blockage.

The collection bag offered as an accessory is not really necessary. A large plastic crate/storage box does just as well in getting the shreddings to the compost heap.

To appreciate this machine you need to have tried some of the others. I recommend it to anyone considering buying a shredder to help control their garden waste.

We bought this following a Which? review saying it was the most efficient garden shredder they had tested - we have not been disappointed. In use it has shredded everything we put into it. Branches up to 4cm were sliced into 1mm chips; leaves were chopped into small pieces. With some smaller branches, particularly green ones, the shredder removed the leaves and left a few twigs about 10cm long, although most were chopped into tiny pieces.

It's not particularly noisy when switched on, but with harder and bigger pieces of wood it was noisier, especially when a bit of wood would rattle around inside the machine before it could be shredded. I didn't feel it would be necessary to wear ear defenders for temporary usage, nor loud enough to feel that the neighbours would complain about the noise. Given that it's almost half the price of Bosch's quiet shredder the HP, this machine is very good value. I would recommend wearing thick gardening gloves as it could snatch branches.

Assembling it took about 5 minutes. This was a matter of attaching the wheels and their frame and working out where the supplied allen key is supposed to be stored.

We also bought the partnering storage bag from Amazon. It's a bit like the blue storage bags Ikea sell at their checkout desks, except this one's a lot more expensive but of a similar quality and maybe a bit bigger.

I bought this model to replace an old and inefficient shredder.

It runs well and has coped with a lot of shredding, both freshly cut perennials as well as garden waste cut a few months back. Old buddleia stems, ivy, berberis, leylandii branches, brambles and philadelphus branches were all tackled without problems. I was shredding for two hours and only had one blockage. Easy to assemble in 5 minutes. Easy to lift in and out of car. It produces beautifully small clippings which should compost well.

Tips:

* Wear goggles and ear defenders
* You don't need the bag that can be bought separately, a box, garden bucket, etc will do
* Don't include soil or stones as the blade will blunt, if you pull out brambles, cut off the roots and only shred the topgrowth
- Replacement blades can also be bought at Screwfix, they are original Bosch parts

Don't believe the reviewer that said it would only cope with soft clippings, it takes small branches up to 40mm as advertised. It does not suck them in, you have to help them along and gently push in but it is effortless to use.

Edited October 2011:
I have been extremely happy with my shredder. Over the last few weeks though I noticed that the main switch was becoming temperamental. I contacted Amazon who refered me to Bosch. After contacting Bosch I was advised that my purchase was still under warranty (2 years) and they collected the shredder free of charge. Have rung today for an update and been advised that they will replace the item and a new shredder will be on its way. Fabulous customer service.