5 questions about shredders

1. How important is it to pair a shredder with the application?

It’s critical. Shredders act in different ways, applying force, tearing and ripping in different ways. At the same time, materials you’ll shred react in a wide range of ways to those forces. Investing the time upfront to understand those dynamics and planning for them is essential. Oftentimes, shredding or size reduction is the first step in a process, so getting it right impacts everything you want to happen downstream of the shredder.

2. What types of shredders are available?

The range is extensive. There are single-shaft, dual-shaft and four-shaft configurations. There are low-speed and high-speed shredders. The rotors and cutters also vary dramatically. Where applicable, anvil and screen configurations are also variable. There are also different types of drives. It really comes down to what you need to shred and what you need to do with that shredded material.

3. How do you ensure you select the proper shredder?

Investing the time upfront to understand the output requirements is important. Production requirements also need to be considered. Shredding to liberate material for sorting is different than shredding for volume or size reduction. Exploring these issues and ensuring you’ve thought through your specifications is an essential first step. Given Shred-Tech’s more than 6,000 installations worldwide and the enormous range of materials our customers process, we’re able to help customers through this process.

4. Should you test your application before purchasing a shredder?

It very much depends upon what you are doing. Complex materials like electronics or metal-bearing scrap likely warrant testing. Straightforward applications like document destruction don’t likely warrant testing. We maintain a testing facility and can sometimes batch test materials at a customer’s facility for you. When testing is warranted, it’s important to do. Pairing the correct shredder with your need is critically important.

5. What maintenance requirements do shredders have?

There is a lot of wear and tear in most shredding processes, so maintaining your rotors, cutting surfaces and screens is very important. Hydraulic system maintenance is also vital. We work with many of our customers to establish maintenance benchmarks and schedules to ensure their shredder enjoys a long and productive life.