They have a design life of a few hundred hours and then are worn
out. Most parts are made of soft, easily-machined aluminum,
reinforced with small amounts of steel in vital places.
There are two genuinely superior American companies--Kohler and
Wisconsin-that make very durable, long-lasting gas engines commonly
found on small industrial equipment. With proper maintenance their
machines are designed to endure thousands of hours of continuous
use. I believe small gas engines made by Yamaha, Kawasaki, and
especially Honda, are of equal or greater quality to anything made
in America. I suggest you could do worse than to judge how long the
maker expects their shredder/chipper to last by the motor it
selects.
Gasoline-powered shredder/chippers cost from $700 to $1,300. Back in
the early 1970s I wore one pretty well out in only one year of
making fast compost for a half-acre Biodynamic French intensive
market garden. When I amortized the cost of the machine into the
value of both the compost and the vegetables I grew with the
compost, and considered the amount of time I spent running the
grinder against the extra energy it takes to turn ordinary slow
compost heaps I decided I would be better off allowing my heaps to
take more time to mature.
Sheet Composting
Decomposition happens rapidly in a hot compost heap with the main
agents of decay being heat-loving microorganisms.
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