Comparison AL-KO Easy Crush LH 2810 vs AL-KO Easy Crush LH 2800

Type of materials for which the shredder was originally designed.

— Leaves only. In this case, we mean shredders designed for all types of “soft” and wet garden waste: leaves themselves, thick stems of herbaceous plants, freshly cut branches of small thickness, etc. Typically, these models use a knife or line chopping system (see below). Many units for this purpose can cope with coarser dry waste, but this mode of operation is still not recommended, because. it increases the wear of cutting elements, leading to rapid blunting and failure.

— Branches only. Shredders designed to work with coarse materials — primarily large dry branches with a thickness of several tens of millimetres (for more details, see "Maximum diameter of shredded material"). Usually, roller chopping systems are used for such work (see below). Aggregates of this type without much difficulty "eat" and medium-sized soft debris, however, the quality of its processing is much lower than in specialized models for leaves. Therefore, it hardly makes sense to use this type of shredders for "non-native" material.

— Branches and leaves. Models that process both types of garbage described above with equal efficiency — both soft (leaves, freshly cut thin branches) and hard (dry thick branches). Some models have separate modes of operation for both, while others have separate holes for hard...and soft materials (see Features). Anyway, such shredders are the most versatile, however, their cost is higher than that of specialized ones.

The maximum amount of material that the shredder can process per hour. Note that in this case, the possibilities for perfect conditions are usually indicated: homogeneous garbage fed evenly, no interruptions in work, maximum speed (see “Adjusting the speed of the shredder”), etc. In addition, for universal models (see "Crushing"), the throughput is usually indicated for the most "convenient" material — leaves. Nevertheless, this parameter quite clearly characterizes the performance of the grinder.

It is worth choosing a model for throughput taking into account the volume of the proposed work. At the same time, it does not fit to take a certain margin, but it should not be too large — after all, high performance requires appropriate power, which, in turn, affects the dimensions, weight, price and "voracity" of the unit. Specific recommendations on optimal performance values for different situations can be found in special sources.

The capacity of the garbage collector provided in the design or delivery set of the grinder.

The larger the container, the more recycled material the collector can hold and the less often it will have to be emptied. On the other hand, it is not always convenient to carry a large amount of material, and a large container takes up a lot of space — and if for soft bags (see "Type of collection") the latter is relevant only when fully loaded, then rigid containers are bulky by definition. Therefore, when choosing, you should proceed from the optimal compromise between capacity and convenience.

— Auto feed. Autofeed refers to all systems that somehow ensure the "pulling" of debris into the working mechanism of the unit. Roller chopping systems (see above) by definition have this feature; in other types of shredders, additional mechanisms may be provided specifically for automatic feeding.

— Pusher. The presence of a pusher in the design or delivery set of the unit. The pusher is a device that allows you to manually push the garbage to the working mechanism of the grinder; such devices are specially adapted to the shape and design of the receiving chamber, therefore, when used, they are more efficient and at the same time safer than various improvised means. The pusher can be useful both in the absence of automatic feed and in its presence (see above): it happens that debris gets stuck “on the way” to the tightening mechanism, which requires additional measures from the operator.

— Dual chamber receiver. The presence in the design of the chopper of the receiver, which has two separate chambers. Each of these chambers is designed for its own type of garbage; at the same time, the chopper itself can be both universal and specialized, for branches (see "Chopping"). In the first case, different chambers are designed for different types of debris, in the second — for branches of different thicknesses. Anyway, the dual-chamber receiver simplifies the wo...rk with the universal unit — it reduces the risk of confusing modes for different materials.

— Funnel for foliage. The presence of a special funnel for collecting foliage in the chopper design. Such a funnel usually has the form of a characteristic wide bell, mounted on a swivel mount and laid on the ground during use. In such a socket, as in a scoop, you can sweep the leaves collected with a rake or broom — it's easier and faster than loading them into the chopper with your hands.

— Reverse system. The presence of a reverse function in the chopper design. This function allows you to run the working nozzle in the opposite direction, and its use may vary depending on the chopper model. So, in models with roller shredding systems (see above), the reverse allows you to “spit out” a branch that is too thick or hard and release the jammed mechanism, and in some universal devices (see “Chipping”), by switching the direction, you can choose between modes for different types of debris .

The maximum noise level produced by the grinder during normal operation. The comfort of using the unit primarily depends on this indicator: strong noise can be very unpleasant, and at high volume it may even require the use of protective headphones.

Shredders are a rather “loud” type of modern technology, even in the quietest models the noise level is about 83 – 85 dB — this is comparable to the sound background on a busy city street. Note that the decibel is a non-linear quantity, so it is best to use comparison tables to estimate specific noise levels. Here are some guideline values:

• 90 dB — freight car at a distance of 7 – 10 m;
• 95 dB — subway car (inside), perforator;
• 100 dB — symphony orchestra, demolition hammer;
• 105 dB — home theater at maximum volume;
• 110 dB — indoor rock concert.