After reading the reviews for all of the electrically powered chippers, I chose this one and am very happy with it. I wanted one that was electric because I hate dealing with small gas engines that (like me) get harder to start as they age. I am only going to be using it in my yard and already have a long heavy duty extension cord to use with hedge trimmers, leaf blower, etc. Assembly is simple. All you must do is attach the wheels to the legs and attach the legs to the shredder. They supply a 1/2 inch wrench, but you will need pliers or another wrench to hold the nut on the other end of the axle as you tighten. A phillips screw driver is needed for the 2 screws that secure the legs to the body. I took me 5 minutes, including reading the directions afterwards to make sure I didn't miss something. I am amazed that the this little beast chews up almost anything I feed it, and it cost less to buy that I would have likely spent to rent a large chipper. It is slower and takes a bit longer than large chippers, but I didn't feel rushed to work feverishly to get finished so I can return a rental to avoid being charged for another day. Shreds green twigs with leaves well : If you want to shred up leaves raked from your lawn in the fall, this is not the device for the job. Get one of the shredders that is just for leaves and looks like a bucket on legs. That said, I had a huge pile of prunings from overgrown boxwoods, privet, holly, etc. The feed opening on this shredder has a large hole that narrows to a slot on one side. This allowed me to insert a big handful of prunings in the large hole, and it would then pull the leafy twigged end through the narrower slot. It shredded about half of the leaves to tiny bits as it chewed up the twigs, and almost all the green leaves where stripped from the twigs and chewed up somewhat. It did a great job of chewing up the small green twigs, which is a job that large rented shredders I have used before failed to do nearly as well. Larger hardwood sticks and branches: In addition to the shrubbery prunings of 1 to 2 feet in length, I had an even larger pile of limbs cut from some hardwood trees where I had cut off many low hanging branches. It quickly chewed through green or dead limbs from ash, hickory, maple, and oak trees. I had read reviews where others noted that all of these electrical chippers have difficulty with large knots or forks. With small limbs that were flexible, the forks got through without any problems, but with larger dry limbs that were forked, I had 2 jams before I got a feel for what would go through and what I needed to break into first. That said, I was amazed at how easy it was to clear the jams, which only took a moment before I was back at work. Many of the limbs I had were from Osange Orange (aka Hedge Apples) trees. The wood from these trees is one of the most dense and tough of any tree in North America. It is harder than Hickory or Mesquite for example. The only limbs that the chipper had any difficulty with were these Osange Orange trees. If the limbs were an inch or less in diameter, it chewed them up without a problem. Between 1 inch and its max of 1.5 inches, it had some difficulty if the limb was dry and hard. Fresh limbs or ones that were old enough they were brittle would get chipped up if fit through the 1.5 inch feed opening. The hardest dry limbs were a bit harder for it to chip up. For most bare limbs and twigs, the chipper and gravity pulled the limb down and through the device, but with the really hardest ones, I had to hold the limb tightly and push it through, which was tiring since they vibrated and shook with some force. Almost everything that was too large for the chipper, I had already cut into 1 foot lengths and stacked to save for my patio firepit when cool weather returns. My only complaint with the device is a minor one. Because of the shape and position of the legs and discharge shoot, there is not quite enough room to fit a large plastic tote (like RubberMaid or similar). I was able to tilt one and get it to fit under the discharge somewhat, but I had to empty the tote when it got about half full. I considered ways that I might cut slots in the tote container so it would fit, but I couldn't think of a way that wouldn't leave the container too floppy to carry when full. Since these sized plastic totes are so common, it was silly that they didn't make the legs a few inches longer so one of these would fit under the discharge. I have a pile of limbs nearly as big as my house and only got a quarter way through it today. When I go back to finish, I'm going to skip the tote container and spread out a tarp under the chipper instead, so that I can scoop up the chips more easily afterwards. In just a short while after it was delivered, I had reduced a pile that was larger than 2 SUVs down to fill my new "Soil Machine PRO Compost Bin". Since I had a mix of leafy green twigs and heavier wooden limbs, the mixture was a perfect blend for compost. The texture and size of the particles output varies depending upon the limb's density. The hardest dry limbs produced small sawdust like bits,while softer green limbs produce thin slices. I'm a long time composter, and I could not have ask for a more perfect blend of particle sizes. I prefer a mix that is a bit "chunky' rather than all of the wood being too finely ground up into dust. The particles sizes are about the same as is sold in bags as "soil amendments".
