The Heavy-Duty Harbor Freight Tool That's Made For Yard Cleanup

If you have trees in your yard, you'll know that they don't just look after themselves. Apart from the piles of leaves you need to deal with, sometimes there are old, dead branches that fall off, and other times there are those that get damaged by storms. If you want to keep your trees healthy and your yard safe for the people who use it, it helps to know how to prune them properly without calling a pro, but then there's the question of cleanup. Some of the debris might be useful for firewood or kindling, but much of it won't be. If you don't want to pick up the debris by hand, there are tools available that can help with that task. One such tool is the Predator 6.5 Horsepower Chipper Shredder from Harbor Freight.

This tool has a wide hopper designed to make it easy to pile in leaves and twigs, plus a separate feed for branches up to 3 inches in diameter. The powerful 212 cc gas-powered motor drives four dual-action hammers that shred the material before discharging it to the side. Additionally, 12-inch pneumatic tires make it easy to move around, there's a wheel brake to keep it stable while you work, and a low oil pressure sensor protects the engine. At $599.99, the price of the Predator chipper shredder is relatively competitive. However, before you decide whether to add it to the tools you need to clean up your yard in the fall, let's check what owners have to say about this heavy-duty machine.

Over 2,800 buyers have given their opinions of this chipper shredder on the Harbor Freight website, with a resulting rating of a respectable 4.3 stars. The tool is highly rated for reliability, and many users speak about having it for several years without issue. Some assembly is required, but most people found that straightforward. In general, it is considered easy to use and as powerful as expected. Though 90% of users would recommend it, a significant number of buyers experienced issues with the machine breaking down after just a few uses. A common complaint from buyers details how the feeder is too small, meaning that feeding leaves into it is "painfully slow." One customer even commented that bagging leaves by hand would be quicker.

As pointed out in the reviews, the Predator 6.5-horsepower chipper shredder is designed for homeowner use and is not a commercial-grade machine. Users comment that it's great for shredding twigs and shrub trimmings, but its ability to handle branches with a 3-inch diameter, as advertised, seems overly optimistic. Many users found that the machine stops or becomes jammed when fed 3-inch branches, while others experienced success as long as the branches were cut into shorter lengths (around 8 inches) before being fed into the chipper. If you've been wondering whether it's better to rent or buy a wood chipper for yard projects, it's worth thinking about the size of branches you'll need to deal with and whether it's a one-off task (a fallen tree, for example) or something you would do fairly regularly.