Cleaning up the yard requires many things. It is not just simple leaf-removal, if you live in a forested area or have a lot of trees in your yard, then you must include aching limbs and broken branches to your list of things to remove. If you reside in areas where hurricanes and storms often pass by, chances are your yard will be filled with strewn leaves, branches, and tree limbs. Surely one can use them as firewood, but what about the small debris and brush? The best alternative for this mess is buying a good wood shredder.

Wood shredders not only suited for cleaning the mess but it can also give a nice mulch to throw back to the garden. It can even provide a cleaner and greener atmosphere to your yard. Wood shredders are also useful for multi-tasking because they can double as leaf shredders, and the leaves can be turn to compost faster.

Before purchasing a wood shredder, it is good to determine what is the size requirement and purpose of the shredder. Would it be for personal use only such as cleaning up the yard, or commercial purposes, like trimming trees, or landscape clean up? Small wood shredders typically cost between $700 to $750 while the bigger residential wood shredders would be double the amount. Commercial wood shredders can perform as much as 30 times the amount of the small wood shredders.

When buying a wood shredder, it is important to check its features. Toughness and performance should be a primary consideration. It must be designed to grind up all the leaves, limbs, branches, and coarse debris. A dependable wood shredder should have at least a 5-horse power engine that chips any branch up to 3 inches in diameter. Be certain that the shredder is both sturdy and stable. The bigger the machine, the better they perform.

When handling wood shredders, be sure to be careful. There have been several reported injuries and even fatalities related with careless use of wood shredders Always wear gloves, earplugs, eye protection, thick jackets and pants when operating a wood shredder.

Lastly, the top brands of wood shredders that are commonly bought are Troy Bilt, Echo Bearcat, Craftsman, MTD and Patriot. You can check them out by reading reviews and forums online.