Customer Reviews

McCulloch 15-AMP Electric Chipper/Shredder MCS2003

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I was so excited for this item to arrive. I had oodles of tree and shrub clippings to shred. My excitement lasted up to the point of putting the chipper together. Assembly was a challenge. There were two sets of directions and neither enhanced the other - both were vague and conflicted each other and the illustrations were smeared so parts were not clearly viewed. I figured out the wheels and attaching the legs part and thought the hopper part would be a snap. Wrong. The collar of the hopper did not nest down on to the top of shredder and required much shoe horning with multiple screwdrivers. Then a nut that was nestled inside the hopper lining popped out and required much maneuvering with the help of my daughter's tiny hand to get it back in place. I drafted many unhappy notes to McCullough in my head while wrestling with seating and securing that hopper. Okay - now to get to what I was looking forward to - shredding. Another huge disappointment. Many of the clippings I put through came out looking the same except with minor peeling or chomping. It was suggested I stuff the hopper and chute and then use other branches to push down and force the material into the blade - that sort of worked, but caused considerable jamming. I'm really disappointed and am probably going to end up sending this back and investing in something that may cost more, but gets the job done... I'm open for suggestions!

I was able to assemble this item without much fanfare. I did one little pile of brush/leaves yesterday. Today when I went to do another little pile, the blades were so dull, the twigs just whirled around in the hopper, even pushing hard wouldn't cut it. I switched the blades around to use the other side and was able to get the 2nd pile done. Now I have a bunch of teeny piles that need to be done, however, the blades are so dull, the chipper is useless. I tried sharpening the blades like you do the lawn mower -- no luck. Be prepared to purchase lots of blades!

I found this machine to be unsatisfactory for shredding leaves and garden waste. The hopper has two slots for material, one for leaves that is too small, and another for twigs and branches. I had to force the leaves through the slot with a stick to get them into the hopper which was time consuming and allowed only a half a bucket of leaves at one time. Small leaves such as elm might flow through on their own. The twigs and flower stalks were hard to jam through the slots and they balled up inside the machine, again needing a stick to force them through to the cutter blades (definitely a safety concern). The blades dulled quickly. MTD (parent company of McCulloch) tech service was unresponsive.

I read some reviews saying this was hard to assemble. I didn't have any problem putting it together. matter of fact it was one of the quickest assemblies I have done. The dirsections were clear and there is only a few steps. I put it together, all by my little ol' self, in about 10 minutes. Only problem I have had it a lot of my brush is viney and it is hard to get the twisty branches in the hole. For straight branches it works great.

I had a bad feeling when I saw the "made in China" sticker. I finally got the thing put together by throwing away the illegible, typo-and-error-ridden directions and looking at the picture on the box (fedder? What's a fedder?) Then I realized that the hopper was damaged. The people at McCullough suggested I leave it in the sun to help it straighten out! I was willing to try, but when I turned the unit on to test it, nothing happened. Nothing! So I returned it. Amazon immediately sent me a new one--which also had a damaged hopper, and incredibly, was also completely dead. I returned that one as well. Amazon refunded my money and reimbursed me for the shipping. My advice is to find a chipper that did not have to come to the U.S. in a shipping container.

This product is just about what you'd expect for under $300. It is poorly engineered and was quite the hassle to assemble. It is, however, electric, which is why I bought it.

It didn't take me long to dull the blades with older, dry clippings, so I soon learned only to put fresh clippings through and to burn the dry ones. I bought replacement blades for it once, and now that I need more, I haven't been able to locate my manual or a McCullough Website where I might order more.

It is easily jammed, and the knobs to remove the cover to clear away jammed material are about as difficult to turn as any knob I've seen. Once the jam is cleared away, the heavy cover assembly must be aligned just right with the blades in order to go back on.

Once you get it back on, and the knobs are laboriously tightened down, the cover must successfully depress a safety button for it to resume functioning. The rubbery cover on the safety button will soon wear away, and you will have to duct tape something like a piece of cardboard over it if you want the cover to depress it properly.

Moving the unit is also challenging. While not as heavy as a gasoline powered shredder, it could have been designed so that a small amount of leverage would make it easy to roll around. Instead, you must grip your fingers under the rim of the top part (where you could easily break a finger if the weight of the machine gets out of control), then rock it back and forth to get it moving (unless you have a paved yard - which you probably don't if you are using a chipper/shredder).

All these complaints notwithstanding, it is electric, which is good, since I don't like hauling gasoline up the stairs and don't like the exhaust or noise of a gas powered shredder. And if you stay on top of your trimming and only toss fresh cuttings into it, you can get some mileage out of a set of blades. I guess I'll have to try to find someone to sharpen my blades if I can't find anyone who sells replacements, since I still like it enough to keep using it as long as I can.

This equipment works well enough. It does have limitations but keeping those in consideration, it does a pretty fair job. This is NOT a powerhouse unit, but then the price is not a powerhouse price either. I believe it is advertised to handle limbs up to 1". That would be pushing it. We try to keep ours to about half that. Also, we have found that the moisture content of the material being chipped is very important. Limbs that are too green (wet) tend to jam up in the unit, especially the bark. It is easy to open the unit and clear the clog but annoying after the 8th or 10th time. Drier material chips better and is cleared from the unit better. It is also important to keep the chipping blades sharp and they will dull sooner than you think. If you have a lot of chipping to do, and will have larger limbs you should opt for a more powerful unit. We have several small (dwarf) fruit trees and for our limited backyard use this machine does an acceptable job. Considering the price factor it does well.

I knew what I was getting myself into when I bought this chipper and I still rate it a 3.
Do you have branches that have lots of "V's" or other branches coming off of it? If you do, you better have a pair of hand clippers with you while you chip.
You see the only way the machine work "well" is for you to feed it a nice straight branch. Yes, it can take a 1 inch limb, but if that limb is crooked and has knots on it, well then you will be in for a rough time.
Lots of leaves on those branches? Well now you are into another problem. The small slit on the top of the unit makes it hard to shove the leafy portion of the branch into the hopper.

I'd say, its almost a wash in my time I'd take to simply lop up the branches and put them into a bag, or lop them up and feed them through the chipper.
If you have smaller branches and don't mind "prepping" them so that you can chip them, then you'll be okay with this chipper.

As a note. I'd say that it takes up roughly 1/2 the floor space that a gas unit would take up on the garage floor.

I waited patiently for this chipper to arrive. It came quickly, but wouldn't start. I tried plugging it into different outlets thinking that it couldn't come broken! Low and behold it started up, jammed then would not start again. Don't waste your money on this machine.

To my surprise, shipping and delivery were quick, but I did have some trouble with assembly, instructions weren't useful. Biggest complaint is that it is truly designed for small branches and doesn't clear itself while in use. Frequently have to shut off and remove cover to clear mulch that built up inside. After thought is that price is too high for what it can accomplish.