Cleaning up the yard requires many things. Yard work is not just leaf-removal, if you live in a forested area or have many trees in your yard, then you must include cut 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 solution for this mess is buying a quality wood shredder.

Wood shredders not only eliminate the mess but it can also give a nice mulch to throw back to the garden. It can even give your yard a clean landscape atmosphere. Wood shredders are also versatile because they can double as leaf shredders, and the leaves can be made 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 residential 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 purchasing a wood shredder, it is necessary to know its features. Durability and performance in terms of power should be a primary consideration. It must be built to grind up all the leaves, limbs, branches, and coarse debris. A quality wood shredder should have at least a 5-horse power engine that chips any branch up to 3 inches in diameter. Youmust realize that the shredder must be sturdy and stable. The bigger the machine, the more it would yield good results.

When handling wood shredders, be sure to be careful. There have been numerous injuries and even fatalities associated with careless handling of wood shredders. Make sure to wear gloves, earplugs, eye protection, thick jackets and pants and other safety device when using a wood shredder.

Finally, the top brands of wood shredders if one is interested to note are Troy Bilt, Echo Bearcat, Craftsman, MTD and Patriot. You can check them out on reviews and forums online.