IT’S every arborist’s worst nightmare – having to turn down work because your tools are no longer up to the job. 

That’s exactly the spot of bother Stephan Jansen, a Norfolk-based gardener, found himself in towards the end of last year, before GreenMech came to his rescue. 

With his old woodchipper proving a “nightmare to feed”, the owner of Garden Thyme had to say no to several jobs because the machine was taking so long to get through material. Step forward GreenMech’s CS 80, the smallest machine in the Warwickshire firm’s range, and Stephan hasn’t looked back since. 

After taking delivery of the 4” pedestrian unit in November, its simplicity of use and speed of processing has transformed residential tree and hedge maintenance, chipping woody waste faster than his team can prepare it. 

He said: “This CS 80 chips so fast and can handle timber and brash of all awkward shapes and sizes, making it ideal for all garden jobs but particularly hedge work, which can sometimes be difficult to dispose of. 

“Because of the adjustable flap on the discharge chute, we can angle and control the direction of the chip meaning a lot of customers re-use it as mulch for their flower beds, or alternatively, we can dispose of it into a bulk bag or straight into a garden waste bin.” 

At only 760 mm wide, the ability to transport the CS 80 to exactly where it’s required has been another major time-saver for Stephan. 

“We wheel the chipper down pathways and through gates to get it to the centre of the job at hand. Then when the job is complete, we wheel it back and can load it into the van single-handedly using a special winch we had fitted, to take the chipper safely to the next site.”

Forestry Journal: Martin Lucas, left, and Stephan Martin Lucas, left, and Stephan

He added: “Not only is the machine lovely and simple to use, the maintenance of it is also very easy. 

“Everything is accessible with the removal of just a couple of bolts meaning we can keep the machine in tip-top condition, with the back-up support of our local dealer Thurlow Nunn Standen if we need it. 

“We look forward to many years of reliable and trouble-free performance.”