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| I have a chipper shredder that works well for leaves and small branches. Do any of you put cardboard thru your shredder? Of course it would have to be cut or torn first. I do shred small, thin cardboard in my paper shredder. Also I do use cardboard for lasagna gardening. I really like the shredded stuff for smothering grass, mixing with other more traditional organic mulch, and to mix in compost pile. Any words of wisdom or experience? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Don't know but I would definitely remove any tape, twine and large staples prior to shredding. It would probably be best to remove labels also. What kind of shredder is it? What is its capacity in terms of diameter of twigs, etc.? |
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- Posted by louisianagal z7bMS (My Page) on Tue, Jan 8, 08 at 19:18
| Oh, yes, I would definitely remove tape and staples, I do that anyway when I'm taking down a box. I'll have to check the specs of the shredder/chipper. It takes what I would call twigs, pine cones, roots, but it has a chute for larger branches, which I would not use for cardboard. |
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| I don't have a chipper/shredder. But I can tell you absolutely that my paper shredder does not handle cardboard, even the skinny kind like a cereal box. This is the voice of experience speaking. It would take a much heavier-duty one than mine to shred in a paper shredder. Karen |
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- Posted by joepyeweed 5b IL (My Page) on Wed, Jan 9, 08 at 11:15
| I have a chipper/shredder but I've never tried to shred cardboard in it. And I have a paper shredder than can handle thin cardboard, like kleenex boxes and paper plates. We have a local cardboard recycling drop off station. And most of my thick cardboard boxes go there, because I am too lazy to shred them. I save some boxes for smothering, but it seems like my husband gets a collection of boxes that is more than I could ever use... |
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| All 3 shredder/chippers that I have used have had a hard time shredding cardboard and paper. Even the 8 HP shredder I use now does not shred cardboard very well and it can easily clog if fed too fast. |
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| My experience has been that entire cardboard boxes decompose rather quickly in a compost pile. What I don't use for smothering in the border, if its a box, I just fill it with grass clippings and stuff and throw it in, or if its big, flat pieces, I just throw them in as is. Once they get wet, they fall apart quickly. |
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- Posted by louisianagal z7bMS (My Page) on Wed, Jan 9, 08 at 22:17
| Thanks for all the good responses. The general consensus seems to be DO NOT SHRED cardboard boxes in chipper/shredder due to chance of clogging. I will, therefore, continue to use for smothering and in compost pile. Luckily, I do have a (Walmart) paper shredder which I am very happy with, and it does shred thin cardboard like Kleenex boxes, paper towel rolls, even small boxes. I do not see the name of the product anywhere on it, it is black about 18 inches high and takes 1 credit card or 6 sheets max. It works very well. |
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| I had shredded thin cardboard in my paper shredder in the past with no ill effects. But one day I fed it a Bud Lite box (thin, like a cereal box) and jammed the thing horribly. I don't use it for cardboard anymore. But even thick, corrugated cardboard is easy to tear with your hands if you soak it with water first. Karen |
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| I wouldn't bother pre-shredding cardboard. When you get right down to it , it's already shredded. (it's also pressed flat and dried) all you really need to do is wet it and fluff it and (imho) if you mix it with other stuff, it will just melt away (provided you fluff it at regular intervals) IALBTC |
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| Hello everyone, I know this thread has atrophied, but this is a subject that I am very interested in and hopefully some one else out there, also. I have a tiny space in town and cannot very well be building a land fill in my back yard - but I do not want to give my cardboard away - I figure I paid for it and I want any carbon value that it contains. I feed it (some of it) to my worms and any that I would put in my compost pile would - could not look like trash - there for it needs to be shredded. I have tried the OfficeMart shredder and destroyed it; of course it is built not to be fixed but there are others, costlier, but less than machines advertised as cardboard shredders, that will shred stacks of papers. Has anyone tried and succeeded in finding a way to shred cardboard, without spending $3,000+ on a machine? |
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- Posted by adirondackgardener Western Maine (My Page) on Mon, Dec 19, 11 at 23:51
| Reviving this old thread (again.) Like the previous poster that revived it last year, I am interested in knowing of anyone successfully shredding large amounts of cardboard with only a reasonable investment in equipment. I'm certainly aware that I can recycle cardboard, that I could perhaps even sell it. I know I can lay it on the ground as mulch or sheet compost it. I know I can use it to start the fire in the wood stove. I know of the people that have used (and ruined) office paper shredders. I know I can rip it by hand or cut it with a box cutter. (I do that now for my kitchen worm bin.) What I need to do is shred large amounts, enough cardboard to use as vermiculture bedding in deep windrows perhaps 20' long or more. Small-scale to start with, with no promised income, hence the need for low cost. If chippers are unsatisfactory, has anyone tried using or adapting a lawn mower? I thought of experimenting with the idea last weekend but the mower was uncooperative and refused to start. (Can't blame it. Seems mowers go on winter vacation in late August here in Maine.) I'm thinking of a design involving feeding cardboard vertically from below the blades of the mower. (With more than the appropriate safeguards, of course. I am an engineer, very safety-conscious and believe that I need all of my body parts.) Anyone actually done it yet? Wayne |
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| I looked at a couple of cardboard 'shredders' but only recall one video that was interesting. It created cardboard packing material by punching the The purpose was to create cardboard to reuse for packing material. The result was a soft almost fluffy Someone mentioned, as an engineer, making a shredder. I thought about it but didn't think of a That style has two or more interlocking rotating 'rollers' I should think that cardboard needs a different method. The typical cut off table for steel sheeting would cut Whirling blades at it doesn't seem the most efficient If you've seen some designs mention them. A repurposing of an already designed bit of equipment Thanks and do reply with whatever you have. i'm watching the replies and will keep an interest in this. |
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