This shredder swallows without problem branches up to 3-4 cm in diameter (better not to force in this case) and creates beautiful and regular chips that must give excellent compost. The blade is reversible and allows to hold a full season without purchase (I recommend also buying a spare blade in advance, you never know). The only two small problems I see is that the blade is in steel instead of tungsten carbide, which would have allowed him to hold longer, and also access to the blade that requires removing 6 screws each time. For maintenance, it's a bit painful.