Wood Shredder Finance

Spread the cost of an industrial wood shredder from £15,000 to £180,000 with flexible finance options. HP, lease, or refinance, compare rates from 40+ lenders.

Can you finance a wood shredder?

Yes, wood shredders are financed as a standard asset purchase, usually on hire purchase or a lease, with the machine itself acting as the security. UK prices typically run £15,000 to £180,000, and most deals are written over 24–84 months with a deposit of around 15–20%. Decisions typically take 24–48 hours. Used machines are financeable too, usually with a shorter term.

Typical Cost

£15k – £180k

Approval Speed

24–48 hours

Subject to full underwriting for larger tickets

Rates From

5.1% APR

What would a wood shredder cost per month?

Wood Shredder price (ex VAT) £60,000

Deposit 10%

Agreement term 60 months

Annual interest rate 9%

Balloon payment £0

Your estimate

Indicative only. Not a quote and not an offer of finance.

Pre-filled with a typical wood shredder price. Indicative only, not a quote.

Finance options

Hire Purchase (HP)

Rate: From 5.6% APR
Term: 24–84 months
Deposit: 15–20%
Ownership: Yours at the end
Best for: Processors wanting to own the shredder outright

Finance Lease

Rate: From 5.1% APR
Term: 24–84 months
Deposit: None required
Ownership: Return or buy (balloon payment)
Best for: Tax efficient; claim payments against profit

Operating Lease

Rate: From 5.9% APR
Term: 36–60 months
Deposit: None required
Ownership: Return at end
Best for: Suits sites refreshing throughput capacity on a cycle

Representative example

On a purchase price of £60,000: a 10% deposit of £6,000, then 48 monthly payments of £1,266 at 5.9% APR representative (fixed). Total amount payable £66,768, including the deposit. The rate you are offered depends on your business and the asset.

What buyers actually specify

Guide prices for sizing a finance agreement, not quotes. Manufacturers in this market mostly price on application, so where a current UK list price could not be confirmed the row describes a specification class rather than naming a model. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.

Machine or specification	Guide price	Type
Untha Pallet Shredder	£18,000 – £32,000	Compact Pallet Shredder
Untha RS Series Four-Shaft Shredder	£45,000 – £95,000	Four-Shaft Wood Shredder
Untha LR Series Single-Shaft Shredder	£95,000 – £175,000	High-Throughput Single-Shaft Shredder

Tax benefits

A wood shredder generally qualifies as plant and machinery for capital allowances, so a business can typically set some or all of the cost against taxable profits through the Annual Investment Allowance or other first-year reliefs, subject to your total qualifying spend for the year. Confirm current treatment with your accountant before finalising the finance structure.

Market context

Waste wood processors, pallet recyclers, biomass fuel producers and timber merchants dealing with offcuts are the main buyers. Throughput rating, expressed in tonnes per hour, is the main driver of both machine value and site suitability alongside the target output size, whether that is a coarse chip for mulch or a finer feedstock for biomass fuel or pellets. Untha, Weima and Doppstadt are among the manufacturers active in this equipment category, offering four-shaft designs built for continuous operation and single-shaft designs suited to large-volume processing. A permit may be required to operate a wood waste processing site depending on the scale and material handled, which is separate from the equipment purchase. Replacement is generally driven by blade and screen wear from continuous operation and demand outgrowing a compact shredder.

Frequently asked questions

Why does throughput rating matter more than machine size?

Throughput, measured in tonnes per hour, tells you how much material the shredder can actually process in a working day, which is what determines whether it matches your site's incoming wood volume, rather than the machine's physical footprint alone. A shredder that looks large but is rated for low throughput can still leave you with a backlog if your incoming volume outpaces it.

Four-shaft or single-shaft wood shredder, which should I choose?

A four-shaft shredder is generally built for continuous, high-volume operation and produces a more consistent particle size, suiting sites running long shifts. A single-shaft shredder can handle large volumes of bulkier material and is often chosen where output size specification is less critical than raw throughput. The right choice depends on your incoming material and what your downstream market or process needs the output to look like.

Do I need a permit to run a wood shredder on site?

A permit may be required to operate a wood waste processing site, depending on the scale of operation and the type and volume of material handled, and this is separate from the equipment purchase itself. Check current environmental permitting requirements with the relevant regulator for your site before committing to a specific throughput or scale of operation.

What output size do I need for biomass or pellet feedstock?

This depends on what your downstream buyer or process specifies, since biomass boilers and pellet production typically need a finer, more consistent particle size than general mulch or bulking material. Check the specification your buyer requires before choosing a shredder, as output size affects both which machine suits you and how it should be configured.

How quickly can I get wood shredder finance?

Most applications are approved within 24 to 48 hours once a supplier quote and recent accounts are available. Because this is typically a larger ticket, lenders will usually want fuller trading history and accounts for higher-value systems, so it is worth having these ready when you apply.