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Craftsman Shredder/bagger?

I was at an estate sale yesterday and wound up with an 18" Craftsman "shredder/bagger" that seems to run fine, though its not been fired up for at least 10 yrs or more. (Got quite a number of other goodies as well..but nothing Im having any problems with)

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Question #1 Is a shredder supposed to have sharp blades like a chipper or do they simply bash the vegitation to bits and spit it out? IE: Is this beasty supposed to have sharp blades? Or are they simply beaters?

If so, what angle and method is best to sharpen them?

I ran part of a tree limb through it and it didnt want to shred it very well. Some of the smaller branches kinda sorta got shredded and chuffed out, so Ive got the idea of how its supposed to work...chuckle but I cant find a manual for it so dont know "whats too big" and "how to get gnarly branches to go though the blades" and so forth

Any info would be greatly appreciated, on service, lubrication and so forth. Im currently searching for a manual, but am not having a lot of luck.

Gunner

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Reply to
Gunner Asch
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You're never going to keep them "Scary Sharp" for long, but they should have a little edge to them, just like your lawnmower. Cutting is always going to be more efficient than beating the branches into submission.

I'd get out the 4" angle grinder and just touch up the edges at the same angles it has now. And like a chisel, don't touch the flat side, only the cutting edge.

SOP - If it has bearings, grease them. If a shaft pivots, oil it.

If the branch hopper has a 2" opening, that probably means they don't want you shoving 6" limbs through it.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman (munged human readable)

Gunner Asch on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 02:03:37 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

I'd suspect they are suppose to be sharp. Heck, even reel mowers were sharp.

Hmmm, I wonder how this would do for grinding up chickens - bones and all? I make my own cat food (cheaper than store bought) but grinding them up with a Universal #2 is a tedious task.

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

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Shredders are not chippers as they don't have an anvil for the blade to shear the branch against. My old shredder had problems with anything much bigger in diameter than a pencil. Shredders do a wonderful job at reducing the volume of leaves and chopping up compost and twigs but not much more. Art

Reply to
Artemus

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Yes, I believe shredder/baggers are intended for leaves. And if you have a lot of them forget it.

Reply to
ATP

My old 1 cylinder flywheel (what an engine) Chipper/Shreader had two shoots. One big one for junk like leaves. Thrash them to nothing. The chipper was a shoot on the side - and it was for 3" or less. 1/2" would jam in it and require a thrashing by a good limb in the shoot.

Looks like you have a high speed cutter and two flying blades that inflate the bag to stuff it with junk. Not really cutting but last chance.

Mart> I was at an estate sale yesterday and wound up with an 18" Craftsman

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Reply to
Martin Eastburn

Yes, again. I have that machine with a vertical 5(?)hp gas engine. It does a nice job of shredding leaves (if I'm VERY careful about not letting them jam in the chute). The blades do not need to be sharp for leaves.

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

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