The Bosch AXT25D quiet shredder is a powerful, quiet garden shredder well suited to bigger, woody garden waste.
It is one of the most reviewed garden shredder on Amazon and is our previous ‘Best Quiet Garden Shredder’. In recent times its ranking on Amazon has fallen but it retains our best in category rating for 3 reasons:
- It’s the latest version of the shredder we own. After almost 10years of use and abuse our shredder is still going strong
- When we first reviewed the 25D it got a good, solid 4.1 stars on Amazon. In recent times there have been a flood of 1 star reviews which we find a bit suspicious
- It’s still one of the best quiet shredders you can buy
Read our review of the current best quiet garden shredder for 2021 – The Tacklife PWS01A
As with all quiet shredders (with the exception of the Bosch AXT 25TC) the 25D uses a cut and crush system. Bosch refer to this as a drum and roller cutter which I don’t find very descriptive.
The roller is a heavy, toothed cog. Shredding or chipping takes place as the teeth on the cog rotate towards the fixed striking plate on the side of the shredder. As the cog rotates it digs in and pulls any woody material through the shredder. This action creates a very strong self-feeding mechanism. Take a look at the video below to see what I mean.
In some cases, the self-feeding mechanism can cause branches to whip around as they are pulled into the shredder. Wearing gloves and eye protection is a must with this type of shredder.
The relatively slow rotation of the toothed cog wheel makes it much quieter than any impact shredder.
Let’s take a look at the good and the bad – but first, the technical details.
Bosch AXT25D Quiet Shredder – Technical Details
- Automatic feed and low noise levels for extremely convenient shredding
- Collection box with 53 L capacity for easier collection of the shredded material
- Removable hopper for easy filling and convenient shredding
- Tool only works when the collection box has been inserted. Cutting capacity, max. diameter - 40 mm. Cutting speed - 41 rpm
| Feature | Value | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Throughput | 190kg/hr | |
| 2 | Motor | 2500 Watt Induction | |
| 3 | Shredding Mechanism | Quiet Toothed wheel and striking plate | |
| 4 | Max diameter that can be cut | 40mm | |
| 5 | Collection box capacity | 53 litres | |
| 6 | Cable length | 5m | Not bad but you will still need a heavy duty, outdoor extension lead, outdoor extension lead |
| 7 | Other features | Patented detachable hopper for fast, convenient feeding and compact storage | As a safety device the shredder won't operate without the collection box installed |
| 8 | Folds down for storage |  |
|
| 9 | Weight | 31.3kg | |
| 10 | Guarantee/Warranty | 2yrs parts and labour | Extendable to 3years when registering the shredder |
The touch pad control panel prevents blocking via its “pulse” reverse mechanism, making the shredder easier to operate and control.
Is it Any Good?
The Good
This is the one of the most powerful shredders we have seen. It is not just the motor power. Plenty of garden shredders boast 2,500W or more. Take a look at the Ryobi rsh3045 Silent Shredder which claims a 3000W motor. Bosch power trains, in all their products, are first class. They seem to be able to get all of that power where it counts – shredding your garden clippings.
In use it copes with anything you throw at it without slowing down and without appreciable difference in noise level. The only time we have known it to jam is when we have really abused it.
It is sold as a quiet shredder – and lives up to the name. Even under very heavy load you can easily have a normal conversation while stood next to it. That’s not something you can say of any impact shredder.
Speed of shredding is very important. Just look at the throughput figure above – 190kg per hour. That is more than twice the amount the AXT2200 rapid can manage. This throughput is truly amazing for an electric shredder – you can see it in action in the video clips below. In practice we doubt it is physically possible to feed material through the hopper to achieve that speed of shredding.
AXT 25D in Action
The AXT 25D loves the work that make most impact shredders cringe. Hard woody waste, right up to the maximum rated size, is chipped effortlessly. Smaller branches are an absolute breeze.
The self feeding action works flawlessly. There is no need to strip all the smaller branches of larger branches. If the main branch fits into the hopper it will be pulled in, side branches, leaves and all. It really does look like a tree growing backwards.
There are mixed feelings about the collection box. On the one hand, a built-in 53 litres of storage is quite convenient. On the other hand, crushed waste tends to come out of the shredder almost like a continuous pillar. If it isn’t manually distributed around the container it pretty quickly backs up and causes the shredder to cut out. More on the collection box later.
Watch out for any bigger knots in branches. As mentioned, the self feed mechanism is pretty effective. Branches are pulled into the hopper veryfirmly. Knots or side branches may be bigger that the hopper aperture and can get jammed.
The ‘pulse reverse mechanism’ is pretty effective on clearing blockages caused by branches jamming in the feed hopper. It does nothing to help clear jams caused by compacted green waste. More on this in the ‘Not So Good’ below.
The AXT 25D majors strongly on safety. There is no room for little fingers to get inside when it is operating. It won’t operate at all without the collection box in place which, while it can cause problems with keeping your shredding going, is a major step forward in garden shredder safety.
Bosch have also done a good job on designing the hopper to be stowed for storage. It is still heavy to move but it will fit neatly into spaces under shelves or work surfaces.
Enough Review. Take a Look on Amazon
The Not so Good
The biggest grumble about this shredder used to be all about the collection box. There are now quite a lot of negative reviews that relate to the shredding mechanism itself. The collection box is part of the shredder’s safety features and it cannot be operated if the collection box is not securely in-place.
One or two users report having difficulty positioning the collection box correctly. As the shredder won’t operate unless the box is properly attached this can be a problem.
Unfortunately, crushed shreddings don’t tend to ‘flow’ to fill the container without some manual intervention. Instead, the shreddings tend to form a column directly under the output chute. This means they can build up quickly and cause the machine to stop.
You only need to remove the collector box and distribute the waste more evenly and you can carry on shredding. Remembering to do this can be a bit of a chore.
The more serious complaints about the shredder simply not doing its job are more concerning.
In our experience the mechanism works perfectly for predominantly woody waste. Unfortunately, as impressive as the self feed mechnism is in operation, it does cause a problem.
As the branches are pulled through the hopper any remaining leaves are stripped off. These leaves lodge in the hopper and get compacted as more branches and other woody waste is pulled through and shredded. The self feed mechanism can be very powerful. Leaves can get compacted and form a very solid, green wedge that can easily jam the mechanism.
There have been increasing reports of the cutter/striking plate mechanism not being properly set up when the shredder is shipped. The gap between the crusher cog and the striking plate is critical for good operation.
Fixing this just requires a click on an adjustment knob but, if Bosch really are shipping without the machine being set-up correctly, it is a major fault. Adjusting the mechanism is pretty easy when you know how but who reads the instructions first up anyway?
At 32kg this is a pretty heavy machine. You really don’t want to be moving it up and down steps too frequently so you need to think about where it will be stored. It is a bit top heavy so it can be unstable when being moved (it’s rock solid when being used for shredding). Despite Bosch’s claims, we think this shredder is probably not suited to anyone who isn’t reasonably strong.
Should you buy it?
I confess to a little bias here. I own and regularly use the AXT 25D’s predecessor which works brilliantly.
Is it right for you though?
If your requirement is to shred predominantly woody waste, right up to the 40mm maximum diameter, and you have a medium to large garden, then the AXT 25D remains a brilliant choice.
If your requirement is to shred predominantly green, leafy waste this is not the model for you. You should look at the Bosch AXT 2200 rapid. In all honesty – if you are going to spend this much on a shredder I would stretch a little further and purchase our top choice for 2019, 2020 and 2021 – the Bosch AXT 25TC.
Enough Review. Take a Look on AmazonQuiet Shredders – The top alternatives
Please note, we have not done a full review of the products below. They are presented here to help you with your own product research – good luck.
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Last update on 2024-12-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API