Bosch AXT 25D Quiet Shredder

The Bosch AXT 25D is the second most reviewed garden shredder on Amazon. It has not been around as long as the most popular shredder – its stable mate the AXT Rapid 2200 – but still receives 24 reviews and an average 4 star rating.

As with all quiet shredders it uses a cut and crush system.  The few negative reviews concern just 2 issues – the initial setting up of the cutter, and, the collection bin.  More on both later.

Let’s take a look at the good and the bad – but first, the technical details.

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Technical Details

• 2500 Watt induction motor with a “Cut & Crush” quiet drum cutting system
• Patented detachable hopper for fast, convenient feeding and compact storage
• 53 litre collection box with patented interlock mechanism
• Up to 40mm cutting diameter and touch pad control panel with “pulse” reverse
• 2 years parts and labour guarantee
• 190kg/h throughput
• Weight: 31.3kg
• 4m cable length

The touch pad control panel prevents blocking via its “pulse” reverse mechanism, making the shredder easier to operate and control.

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The Good

This is the most powerful shredder we have seen.  The 25D refers to the 2,500W motor power – and it shows.  This shredder copes with anything you throw at it without slowing down and without appreciable difference in noise level.  Just look at the throughput figure above – 190kg per hour.  That is more than twice the amount the AXT2200 rapid can manage.  Truly amazing for an electric shredder though it is doubtful you can physically feed that much material in through the hopper.

The AXT 25D loves the work that make most impact shredders cringe.  Hard woody waste right up to the maximum rated size is chipped effortlessly.  Smaller branches are an absolute breeze.

The self feeding action works flawlessly.  There is no need to trip all the smaller branches of larger branches.  If the main branch fits into the hopper it will be pulled in side branches, leaves and all.  It really does look like a tree growing backwards.  Just watch out for the leaves being stripped off as the branches are dragged through the hopper and forming a leafy, green wedge that can jam the mechanism.

Even very hard, dry wood is chipped brilliantly.

There are mixed feelings about the collection box.  On the one hand, a built in 53litres of storage is quite convenient.  On the other hand, crushed waste tends to come out of the shredder almost like a continuous pillar.  If it isn’t manually distributed around the container it pretty quickly backs up and causes the shredder to cut out.  More on the collection box later.

If blockages do occur the ‘pulse reverse mechanism’ is pretty effective on shifting the green wedges that crusher shredders have so much difficult shifting.  Just watch out for any bigger knots in any branches.  As mentioned, the self feed mechanism is pretty effective and will pull knots into the hopper pretty firmly.  When this happens it can be a bit difficult to clear.

The AXT 25D majors quite strongly on safety.  There is no room for little fingers to get inside when it is operating.  It won’t operate at all without the collection box in place which, while it can cause problems with keeping your shredding going, is a major step forward in garden shredder safety.

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The not so good

The biggest grumble about this shredder centres on the collection box.  As we have mentioned, the collection box is part of the shredder’s safety features and cannot be operated if it is not securely in-place.  Unfortunately, crushed shreddings don’t tend to ‘flow’ to fill the container without some manual intervention.  This means they can build up quickly and cause the machine to stop.  You only need to remove the collector box and distribute the waste more evenly to carry on shredding but remembering to do this can be a bit of a chore.

One or two users also report having difficulty positioning the collection box correctly.  As the shredder won’t operate unless the box is properly attached this can be a problem.

As with the Ryobi there are also the occasional reports of the cutter/striking plate mechanism not being properly set up for first use.  Adjusting the mechanism is pretty easy when you know how but who reads the instructions first up anyway?

At 32kg this is a pretty heavy machine.  You really don’t want to be moving it up and down steps too frequently either so you need to think about where it will be stored.  It is a bit top heavy too and a bit unstable when being moved (it’s rock solid when being used for shredding) so it is probably not suited to anyone who isn’t that strong.

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Should you buy it?

I confess to a little bias here.  I own and regularly use the AXT 25D’s predecessor which works brilliantly.  If I needed to change my current shredder I would buy the Bosch AXT 25D Quiet Shredder.

Is it right for you though?

Well if your requirement is to shred predominantly woody waste right up to the 40mm maximum diameter then this is an absolutely brilliant choice.

If your requirement is to shred predominantly green, leafy waste this is not the model for you.  You should look at the http://gardenshredderreview.co.uk/the-reviews/bosch-axt-rapid-2200-electric-shredder/

Buy the Bosch AXT 25D at Amazon Now