Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Sun Joe and I are a team. We have a common enemy: The Unrelenting Jungle. We also have an understanding. It is as follows: - Branches bigger than 1.5" are called firewood, not mulch. - Branches will be made as straight as reasonably possible prior to mulching - Green, sappy, gunky, viny or otherwise chewy items are followed up with dry, tasty, seasoned wood prior to the day's end - The human operator will wear safety glasses, gloves, and earplugs - Sun Joe will chip the Unrelenting Jungle into manageable mulch With these things in mind, Sun Joe and I have been cooperating happily for two years now. The Unrelenting Jungle is slowly becoming tamed into something that could be called a 'yard.' Yes, sometimes Sun Joe clogs, but it's easy to unclog - unplug it & unscrew the big red knob. The clog is right in there & accessible. Usually it only clogs when I get overly ambitious and put something unwieldy in there. Yes, many of its components are plastic, but that means that it is light enough that I (an average woman) am able to haul Sun Joe around my entire yard (which, for the record, is largely located on a rather steep slope). It has wheels, but that doesn't really help a lot on steps. Or when you're hauling it in/out of your elevated garden shed storage area with a low ceiling (really, who designed that?). Being light has many, many benefits. Yes, Sun Joe is a little noisy. I always wear earplugs because I like my hearing and want to keep it. I'd say it's quieter than a lawnmower, though, and it's eating up a veritable mountain of dead branches I would otherwise have to haul away to the dump (!) so I can deal with a bit of a whirring motor sound. You should be aware that Sun Joe will, on occasion, whip branches around at your face or through your hands. That's the reason for the gloves & safety glasses (see above). No big deal. Expected, really. You will probably also want to know that tiny little branches go straight through. I don't really care because I'm trying to tame the Unrelenting Jungle, not create a yard fit for a magazine photo spread. I also don't bother much with leaves so I can't comment on those. Other items that I personally find essential to include in the chipping process are : - loppers (especially ones that can lop up to 1.5") - a really long extension cord (I am currently limited to a 100 foot radius from my closest outlet and this makes me sad-ish) - a tarp (for catching all that mulch you might want further than 100' from your closest outlet). In the interest of full disclosure, other, more ambitious, members of my household would prefer a giant gas powered chipper-shredder. Then again, said members of my household are also in charge of chopping firewood so there might be a slight bias. In closing, I sure hope Sun Joe and I have many more years together. We have plenty of work to do! Photo: Sun Joe stands in the middle of a path it is in the process of mulching. The Unrelenting Jungle lurks all round. Doesn't Sun Joe look a bit like a super hero?