Press Reviews

Shredder Chipper press review

A survey of shredder chippers in Britain’s national newspaper The Daily Telegraph recently featured our shredder chippers and said

“How many jobs do you want your shredder to do? Do you want to put autumn leaves through it as well as prunings? Try it with a smaller shredder and you could be at it until it snows … Anything less than a top-of-the-range chipper/shredder, such as Globe Organic’s Garden Master, is based on a technological compromise … Operating Globe Organic’s Garden Master was an experience of a higher order. For the cost of a sit-on mower, it does two or three more jobs than shredders a quarter of its price and produces vast quantities of fine, compostable material, efficiently and out of everything … a Globe has as much, if not more, cachet as a Bentley. It even comes in British racing green … Was impossible to clog if you followed the instructions … Finely shredded everything from an old Christmas tree to seasoned rose prunings … Six minutes a barrowload.

Value for money: excellent, given it is a near-professional machine that will do everything well and is built for life. “

Britain’s leading magazine for horse-owners, Horse and Hound, in its regular “Tried and Tested” feature on 18th January 2001, had this to say about the Smart Cart:

You’ve heard of the Smart Car, well now we’ve got Smart Carts, imported from America and bringing a new sophistication to wheelbarrows. Ultra-lightweight, but tough and durable, thanks to a high-density linear polyethylene barrow element which snaps into place on a beautifully balanced aluminium frame, it makes mucking out child’s play.

The aluminium frame is aircraft-quality tubular alloy, satin-etched and anodised, enabling the Smart Cart we tested to weigh in at a mere 51lb. Versatility is the keynote of this modern wheelbarrow, which because no bolts or fixings are needed to fix the barrow to the frame, means that it is absolutely watertight, rendering it useful for soaking haynets and transporting them around the yard.

We tried the 12 cubic foot (340 litre) Smart Cart with 4in wide pneumatic wheels, which the makers claim can carry up to 600 lb (270kg). We mucked out two stables and piled the cart high, but the load was so evenly balanced that moving it was extremely easy.

The trailer tips well and can simply be snapped out of (and back into) its frame, should this be necessary. Obviously, for running a two-wheel cart on to a muckheap you need a carefully built, safe ramp, but the lightweight design makes getting to the top possible.

There is also a 2in wide pneumatic wheel option, but this might be more suitable for work in the garden, and the manufacturers advise that it is better for use on hard surfaces.

In a large, multi-horse yard, the Smart Cart could also be used as a feed wagon and there is a standard seven cubic foot (200 litre) barrow element that will snap into place just as easily as the smaller version. You could have the large barrow mucking out and the smaller one for carrying feed or soaking hay.

Other options include a conversion kit to allow your Smart Cart to be towed behind an all-terrain vehicle or garden tractor. The container can be tipped from the driving seat and goes back automatically into the towing position when lifted up after emptying.

With the exception of tyres, the Smart Cart carries a manufacturer’s warranty against failure of any part when used in reasonable manner within the specified limits of load during the lifetime of the original purchaser.

Verdict

The Smart Cart really is a major step forward to design and materials for the humble stable wheelbarrow and it is a joy to use. Costwise, it is at the higher end of the range, but its versatility makes it a sound investment.