Drive Types – Electric vs. Hydraulics

Electric Drives —Generally, electric shredders require less space, are easier to operate and maintain, and are more energy-efficient than their hydraulic counterparts. They also tend to be less expensive. Electric shredders are appropriate and sufficiently powered for processing many materials.

Hydraulic Drives — Hydraulic drives are often better for more heavy-duty processing. They are also better for processing materials that experience frequent overloads from batch feeding. Hydraulic drives also offer better shock load protection from non-shreddables and work well with an Auto-Chop feature, allowing more precise particle size control.

When would I need a hydraulic shredder? A hydraulically powered shredder might be more appropriate if you have any of the following factors in your processing environment:

• Materials are batch fed.
• Feed includes unsorted or unknown materials.
• Materials are exceptionally difficult to shred.
• Process requires tighter particle size control.
• System needs to meter shredded material to downstream equipment.
• System will require frequent starts and stops.
• Shredder will require reduced voltage start (soft-start).