Customer Reviews for Sun Joe Shredder Joe 12 in. 13 Amp 16:1 Reduction Ratio Electric Leaf Mulcher/Shredder

I've had this sunjoe leaf mulcher+shredder for about 3 SpringSummer Seasons. It worked great! The Shredder shredded green weeds and redwood needles for mulch and for composting in my garden. Unfortunately this Spring 2024 the on/0ff button is difficult to push in and the motor won't stay on!!!!. Both of my thumbs are exhausted from trying to turn the machine on. I've cleaned inside and the dust sponges but the on/off switch won't go on or won't stay on. Very frustrated! I'm not sure I want to take it apart to clear the on/off button connections. Do I really need to buy another shredder? Couldn't Sunjoe make a better on/off switch like the chipper?

The funnel came broken where it latches so I can't even use it. I don't blame the shipper (amazon/USPS) as the box came without any damage and the contents were secured inside. Poor quality control.

I've owned the Sun Joe SDJ616 for around 4 years now. It does a good job of shredding the leaves. It does not clog given the design as gravity feeds it. Here's what I don't like.. I feed it with a snow shovel. It can't handle anything more that a few handful of leaves without someone standing over top pushing them down. In fact, forget about this being a one man operation unless you have some small in the city postage stamp yard. My son feeds me the leaves and I push them down. They should offer the hopper in a bigger size with a wider opening to allow a larger volume to flow through.

I purchased this to help compost my leaves. This works great as long as you don’t put in branches or twigs as it is not designed for those. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is that the unit creates a lot of dust so I got rid of the legs and mounted it on a thin plywood base with a hole in it that rests on top of a 20 gallon trash can. It works well after I made a cloth gasket to seal the space between it, the plywood and the can.

I bought a new house in the winter. I didn’t know there was no grass. Only leaves and brush. This and the Sunjoe chipper cleaned years of leaves in short order. I love this mulcher.

This product was great for my project! I had another brand for several years and loved it too, but it died. After much ado, I chose the SunJoe to replace it. It has several features and more power than the other. The twine is so much easier to change - no tools needed. My whole need for this product is about pine straw. No other reviews seemed to talk about pine straw mulching. I have only reviewed two other things in my life and one of those was a vacation location. I have twenty 100' tall huge pine trees in my yard. I decided to use pine straw to make a pathway in my new wonderful raised bed garden. It took a few days but it is wonderful - almost like a carpet! You have to set the setting on "coarse" instead of "pine straw" or it would take forever and more twine than you could stand to use. My pathway is 84' x 3' x 2" thick. I did have to change the twine for every trash bag full of mulch. And you much be patient - go slow and put a big handful in at a time. It takes about 20 minutes to fill a bag. I am female and 5'10" tall. After each bag I changed the twine and rested and encouraged myself to do another one. It's a slow process. But - I LOVE IT!

Received it, had some problems installing legs is about it. Runs great, goes thru cutting lines quick especially when there are small twigs in pile. Used two days in a row, only problem was dirty power switch, used air compressor to blow out area and fixed it.

This product works very well for the price. I used a 32 qt Rubbermaid trash can from Home Depot to collect leaves (which is quicker than trying to fill bags) and would basically just pour them in slowly into the funnel. If the funnel backs up just use your hand to push the leaves thru the opening. I also used a 20 qt trash can to catch the shredded leaves under the machine. You can adjust the legs to fit over the trash can. The only thing that would make this product better would be if it had steel blades instead of weed eater line that has to be replaced after several loads of leaves. Overall I highly recommend this product for the price and for shredding leaves into very small pieces for composting.

The product went together easily. I was a little hesitant after reading some of the reviews, but went ahead and tried the shredder anyway. I am happy I did as this shredder works great. You do have replace the easily replaced line more often if you run twigs, rocks or bark through it. It is loud. I also built a wood base for it so it set on a large trash barrel. Using the trash barrel is much easier than using bags. Its not a commercial unit but for home use it will do the job.

I got this to help dispose of the trimmings I made to my Red Oak trees this Spring. So all the leaves were green and attached to small twigs. I thought that this might be a more challenging job than piles of dry Fall leaves. But that didn't matter to this Sun Joe! It very quickly made a minced green blob of leafy matter just a fraction of the size of the pile it formerly was. The small twigs passed through stripped bare. It can do about a 5' round pile of leaves in about 2 minutes. I prefer to place a 20 gallon rubber barrel underneath it to catch the mulch then dump that out. It is loud and whines at a higher pitch than an electric weed eater. The plastic filament is thick at 0.10 size and you could cut your own replacement pieces from a spool of line. When done, you can easily disassemble it and store it in the box it came in.

Sun Joe shredder helped me reduce volume and cleanup my composting area. It needs to be feed slowly but the end result is uniform tiny peaces of leaves. When mixed with grass cuttings my compost pile temperature went up right away and started cooking. I have only had the shredder for two weeks but it looks like it will cut my time to finished compost in half. The unit fits perfectly with standard lef collection bags. Thanks PS Good customer service and quick response to questions. Dan

This is a nice solid product from Sun Joe. I own their 40 volt rechargeable 18 inch snow blower and it works extremely well, So when I saw this 110v shredder it was no problem to choose it as they make a great product. Unpacked from box and assembles in less than 15 minutes, No tools required. Ran a Heavy duty outdoor grounded extension cord plugged into an exterior GFCI receptacle and turned it on. I tested an assortment of old tomato plants, leaves, grass and grass plants, pine needles etc…. If you read the directions they recommend using 2 handfuls at a time, if you follow that plan it works great. You can bog it down if you over feed it or force too much down its throat in one shot. I used a 2 foot stick I found in the yard so I wouldn’t have to push the leaves down with my own hands. It took me about 20 minutes to mulch the pile in the pictures into a nice fine mulch which I am going to mix into my tomato garden before I plant this year ,It’s a great composter… Overall a very high quality product with a high rating from me. Operates quietly with the electric motor and no pulling a cord to start it, also has a circuit breaker so its overload protected. Thanks to the JOE people for another quality product.

What a leaf-wracking muncher. I tested a number of plants weeds and live oak leaves a great addition powerful for it size and easy to assemble it is loud so wear ear protection and munch them weeds and leaves up for the compost or trash. Remember small soft organic matter only

You are probably better off with a mulching mower. I bought this in 2022 spring, and it sort of worked in a quirky weak way for a while. It can only shred leaves -- it doesn't like twigs or pieces of palm frond or gum balls, so you've to be extra careful about what you feed it. Its motor died within a year, and I have been trying to get a replacement since (there's no user-serviceable parts inside). It's been out of stock according to the support team, but their website says the opposite.

Shoddy parts and Safety Hazard: After 1 year of use the internal fan for the engine shattered and flew at high speeds. Thank goodness for the casing that kept it from hitting me and my kids. I learned this after the machine started to smell like it was burning, which it was, because the fan was no longer cooling down the engine. This cheap part breaks easily causing your investment to become worthless with only 1 season of use. While you can get a replacement under warranty, the item has to be in stock. There is no waitlist for customers like me in need of a replacement under warranty, "since they have so many customers in need of this item". Instead, you will be notified when it is in stock, and must beat the rush by calling again in hopes of getting one of the now in stock items. Alternatively, you can be given a store credit only good on the main business website, but since their are no replacements available, you'll just have to get a different item altogether and find another solution for your leaves. Takeaway: This item worked great when it was working, but it doesn't last. When it breaks, you'll just have to get in line with the rest of us looking for a solution for the leaves in our yards.

I have had two of these Sunjoe leaf mulchers and both have not lasted. First unit lasted one fall season and then at the beginning of the next fall season, the motor started for a short time and then started smoking and seized. I bought a another one and it worked for 2 fall seasons. At start of 3rd fall season after 30 minutes of use the engine started smoking and then seized. I would not recommend the Sunjoe SD616 Leaf Mulcher. They do not last. I am promised a new unit when available but it will be too late for this season.

This product did an excellent job of shredding the leaves and was easy to use. The mulch made the material fine and just the way I wanted.

Motor seized in first season. While still under warranty contacted SnoJoe and was very dissapointed in their service. They responded to my e mails initially then nothing, never heard from them again. Would not recommend this product.

This Sun Joe Shredder is simply made but does the job. It performs best when not overloaded. I haven’t used it to shred leaves yet but it works well shredding straw as mulch for my garden so I’m sure leaves will not be a problem.

loved my Sun Joe and it worked flawlessly until I tried to use it today. After a minute or so smoke started pouring out and I could smell burning plastic and that electrical smell. It was making an awful noise just before I shut it off. I disassembled it hoping it could be saved, but it " toast". The sealed bearing on the bottom of the shaft seized up and spun in the plastic housing melting it and grounding the armature. Apparently it was a defective sealed bearing. Now it's junk, but I liked it and will buy another hoping I don't get another defective one

I had this particular unit less than a year. I experienced smoking with the motor and requested a replacement from Sun Joe. After much customer service exchange and repeated requests for pictures of the mulcher they finally agreed they'd send a new unit when it was in stock. I've been waiting six weeks. This was the second mulcher I've bought from them the first only lasted about four years, if even that.

Works great have to keep sticks out of it I’m extremely satisfied now to put the nutrients back in my yard

The unit is easy to assemble and take apart for storage. Great.

Used it for about 30-45 minutes. Feeding slowly and used a 20 amp 25’ drop cord. Worked well during that time. Then the motor changed sounds and smoke started coming out of the vents for the motor where the power cord goes in the body of the unit. Turned it off and unplugged it. Waiting for it to cool off to assess the damage.

it was very easy to set up, but I think it's cheesy materials for the price. it is easy to use but the motor is loud and dust and gunk flies out of the top. I would not buy this product again, at least not for the price. all it really does is weed whack in a bowl on a stand.

Have 4 large oak trees with piles of leaves, was a great tool and really shreds the leaves down to a fine mulch - used 4 or 5 times this season