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How to Pick the Right Leaf Mulcher?

Last Updated on June 18, 2020 by MakeThingsReal

The lawn care business has been churning out machines for making lives easy and making the lawns impeccably clean. However, when confronted with the numerous choices, lawn owners, gardeners and lawn care enthusiasts tend to get confused on how to find the best one for their lawn. Choosing the improper leaf mulcher will give you more headache rather than easing it, so it should be appropriate. Here the different leaf mulcher machines that can easily capture our patronage. First is the stand alone leaf mulcher and this is usually has a start – stop systems in operation.   Most of these machines need plastic bags or paper bags to catch the leaves.  The next type of mulchers are vacuum/mulchers which convenient sucks in the leaves and shreds them. There are already lawn mowers that were turned into mulch mowers that when you mow the lawn, the blades on the mulching mower rotate at a high – speed shredding the grass and distributing the mulch. Handheld leaf mulchers come as a combination in leaf vacuums which take the function of blowing and mulching leaves.


How to select which one is adequate for your need?  The first thing to consider is your need as a customer and this is the foremost consideration in the selection process. The information to establish this data relies on the lawn that you have – how big it is, what are the plants or trees in it and how many. You also need to determine the volume of the leaves that will have to be processed by the machine as well as the type of brush you are trying to shred. Another data that has been considered is to the time or that you will use the mulcher as different mulchers work well during spring but not very efficient in the winter time. There are machines that are made for shredding wet materials. The frequency of the use of the machine will have to be looked at. You need to determine if you need the mulcher several times each year or if this will be only used in fall. A lighter duty model goes well with infrequent use. However, if there is a massive need for the mulcher coupled with the enormous lawn job that is required, a heavy duty model will be needed. Whatever type of mulcher you have in mind, selecting the best mulcher should be based on these basic criteria:

Power

The average threshold for an acceptable mulcher is 10 amp. Buying a mulcher below this specification will not give you the required mulching.  Some mulchers claim to be of higher motor power which is more desirable. Mulcher is only effective for green foliage and small twigs. They do not have the power of the wood chipper to tackle the branches of trees. If a yard has several trees to manage, then a one might have to purchase a wood chipper. The wood chipper will allow you to process twigs, small branches and leaves so this machine is more useful but the downside is the price.

Part of the power that the machine has to exhibit is its reduction ratio. The reduction ratio is the ability of the machine to reduce the leaf’s original volume as it is processed in its blade. This is reported in ratio and the acceptable ratio is 16:1 up to 18:1. The higher the ratio is, the stronger is the power of the machine.

Speed

As most mulchers have a vacuum function, it is also desirable that the speed can vary as there is a need to change the speed of the vacuuming power. For example in the garden, the vacuum/mulcher must change its speed to low so that the nearby plants will not be damaged. In areas, where the volume of the fallen leaves is thick, then high or full speed is most welcome. When the   machine can be adjusted to different levels of speed, then it is

Size

As a general a recommendation, the best move is to buy a large machine whenever possible as this will be sufficient to meet the mulching needs of your lawn and avoid overloading the engine. The smaller versions of this machine might be suitable for light tasks such as those in the greenhouse or small – sized gardens. Mulchers that are smaller, however, are safer to operate but slower to use.Vacuum mulchers are typically better for small yards but owners of large yards like the mulch mowers. Stand-alone mulchers are great for lawns of all sizes.

Design

Mulchers come in different sizes. Some would come with screens that determine the fineness of the material mulched. Thus, this is a good feature in a mulcher. Some mulchers also come with wheels and this is ideal for the wet climate. The presence of the collection bag is also notable. There are models that come with a bag or a basket that collects the mulched leaves. These bags are carried on the shoulder or pushed and pull with the mulcher with the wheels. There are also mulchers without the bags and are cheaper but it is best to provide for bags as to collect all the residues thus, disposal bags are also purchased separately. The design of the machine should be facilitating easy assembly and disassembly. It should also fit the storage areas. The weight of the mulchers should be considered

Safety

While brochures can describe how to operate the machines well, review from users is reliable in establishing the safe usage of the machine and even its safety issues. It also helps that an actual test will be done prior to the final selection and purchase.

Convenience

Stationary mulchers require you to bag the lawn wastes from the different areas that you will be cleaning.  However, they have bigger capacities to contain the mulch. The more convenient one will be the wheeled leaf mulchers. With this, you will be able to bring the mulcher along the sections in the year where you can collect and mulch. It can reduce the time for cleaning and mulching.

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