Shredders

Hi, I have a constant supply of cardboards boxes I want to shred for my compost, if I just tear it up it sticks together and makes a lump in my composter. I have watched some shredding machines working on you tube but they are all shredding branches, does anybody use a shredder for greens and cardboard sucessfully.
Cheers

 

I don't but I crumple it up & use it as dry layers in between the green stuff in the compost. The Centre for Alternative Technology did some trials on it. Think there's a link to it somewhere on here.

 

Hi Zigs, I have been doing it by hand but it's hard work at best. This weekend I hired a shredder with a crush and shear wheel in it and made ove 1 cubic mtr of shredded cardboard in 2-3 hours. not bad.

 

Hi Blacksmith,

I'd been looking for the link, then I remembered i'd read it in a gardening mag

Found one now

http://info.cat.org.uk/questions/landuse/what-high-fibre-composting

 

I tried this last year and found corrugated cardboard is nearly waterproof if it gets in thick layers and with on average ten package boxes a week to dispose of it is hard work tearing them up, even then it sticks together again, so I need to shred it properly.

 

Thanks Zigs, at least I know I am not wasting my time and money following this line of thinking. I am looking forward to finding out how much good grade compost this system will produce in a year compared to the cost of producing it. Last year we produced about 1 cubic mtr using horse manure, cardboard and green waste in a wormery. It looked just like fine soil with some added fibre. I am growing some comphrey plants this year to boost the green % and shred lots more cardboard, If I can get the right shredder I hope to mix it in the shredder.

I only hope compost is as good as they make out.

 

No worries Blacksmith, having left a load of cardboard in the pillbox for a few months, I went back last week to find the excessive rain had been getting in and the whole lot had been rotted down by a fungus.

I'm wondering if the cardboard would be also good to add to the leafmold pile as well.

 

Not much "greens" in a leafmould pile but I'm just thinking out loud.

 

I was thinking outloud too Kristen, same fungal process in the leafmold bin as to rot down cardboard.

 

Well it aint going to do any harm that I can see, and leafmould is a, what?, two year rotting process? If the cardboard isn't also "gone" in 2 years I'd be surprised! So nothing wrong with the plan - but on a strictly thinking out loud basis!

 

I hired an electric shredder and produced about a mtr cube of shredded cardboard, I mixed it with some green in the composter and it heated up brilliantly and has decomposed at a very good rate, I have now bought a used petrol shredder and hope to produce lots of good compost, especially when my comphrey plants start to produce some green for me.

Thanks for all your comments.