Toni. "Unfortunately he won’t let me use it" what kind is it?. Ive been looking for a manageable shredder. I am female, 75, 5ft 6" and live alone (by choice) with my dogs so my tools have to be operator friendly. I have found some of the lithium ion tools work great--they are versatile, light weight and vary in working ends from grass shears, to hedge cutters, to reciprocating pruning blades. And with the lithium ion chargeable batteries, you are not limited by an electric cord. But for the basic stuff I use my 1970s bush axe. It is light weight and with a good whack it will fell all most anything that doesn't require a chain saw! I have an electric chain saw--the gas pull chain was getting to be a little much. I also have a few machetes but to me they don't handle as well as the bush axe.
Of course with all tools you need to operate them safely, but there is no reason why a woman cannot operate most garden tools on the market today, or any traditional one's. There are instruction videos on YouTube for most tools--even how to operate a traditional grass cutting scythe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
