The shredder Works

15 years ago

I have available a lot of old, bad alfalfa hay in square bales that I peel off and use flakes for mulch, but they were too large to get really up close around existing plants. I bought a Troy-Bilt Shredder a couple of years ago and wondered if it would work and it did. I had to pull the flakes apart to fill the feeder, but no problem...here is the results:

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I have it about 6-8 inches deep and we just got a nice shower that washed it off the plants. I am very happy with it.

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Comments (8)

ceresone
15 years ago
I also have one in the garage, We hardly ever use it, because its a pull-start-and I guess our "pull" has gotten tired.
I want, oh, how I want, The DR mower vac, elec start, would make my life easier.
Nice flower beds!
gldno1
Original Author
15 years ago
Mine is pull start but so far starts on the second pull; hope that keeps up.

Those are just some annuals I put around the foundation after to took out the overgrown Yews.

Thank goodness, my riding mower is electric start.
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sweetwm007
15 years ago
you are fortunate in more then one way. closest alfalfa i have seen to us is about 90 miles away. around osage creek, west of harrison. no row crops here at all.

william
helenh
15 years ago
Alfafa hay, lucky you, I am happy to buy straw, but you earned it if you were a dairy farmer. That is a hard, demanding risky job, so you deserve every bale.
gldno1
Original Author
15 years ago
Well, this alfalfa is not local and it represents an early lesson when we started dairying. You can't trust a lot of people you deal with! We bought an entire semi-load of this hay and it was so bad the cows wouldn't eat it....the man would not stand behind it......so it has been laying in the loft of the barn for lots of years. I hope it will last as long as I do!
jspeachyn5
15 years ago
That is sad to hear about you alfalfa.
Years ago we had the same thing happen to us. we had purchased a truck load of round bales. When you opened them up they were full of trash. We ended up putting them in a "wash" area of the field that was low. Would have water standing if rained too much. Left to rot. Helped, but sure was a n expensive fix.
Your beds look great. I'm sure your flowers are loving the mulch.
I'm with you, I love my electric start mower.
Bonnie
bunny6
15 years ago
Your garden looks wonderful! I like the redish flowers. A shredder is on my wish list. If you use straw as a mulch, do you get a lot of weeds like hay? I have never used straw before as a mulch. I have so many oak trees that I just use leaves; I use the lawn mower to cut the leaves into little pieces. I am behind the times, huh?
Ann
helenh
15 years ago
Straw will grow wheat which I like. I am sure there are weed seeds too but I already have plenty of weeds. The straw is very useful, but it might not work for people in town. You can put newspapers down and flakes of straw over to make a path or smother weeds. When you plant tomatoes or something big you and can put straw around if you don't stake them. Your cat can sit on straw bails and attack your other cat using the straw as a hiding place. When it partly rots it makes a nice brown mulch.