Electrical garden shears or the old fashioned ones?

[John Smith]

Hi,

I have a small front garden - terrace job - but I have lots of plants and bushes in it including a type of bamboo that is growing to the Moon. I reckon there is about a good day's work there with clippers but... my old hand clippers are rusted away. I've been quite ill this Summer, am just on the mend now, so was unable to do anything back in the Summer.

Should I simply get a new pair of hand clippers or opt instead for one of the electrical ones which, frankly, scare the daylights out of me. Are they THAT dangerous to use? In terms of hand clippers someone mentioned getting 'long handled' ones as they make clipping quicker than the short ones that I have - is this true?

Thanks for any advice or info on brands, what to pay, where to buy, etc. I am thinking of Argos or B&Q, Homebase.

John.

[Spider]

Hi John,

I have many trees, shrubs and an enormously long hedge. I manage very well with manual tools. If you're not that happy with electric tools, give them a miss. I use quality (Felco) secateurs, manual shears, geared Wilkinson Sword by-pass lopper, a folding pruning saw and, occasionally, a bow saw. I even use a push-cylinder-mower on my two lawns, so no electrical gear enters my garden (unless hubby is d.i.y.-ing).

Although I recommend hand/manual tools, I doubt I should recommend specific brands to you. I really get on with my tools, but you may prefer different brands/prices/weights to me. Have a look around some of the bigger garden centres, take your time and get a sense of the balance/weight of each tool, how comfortable the handle is, how easy to operate safety features (I sense this may be important to you). If your expertise lies in losing garden tools :-)!!, look for brightly coloured handles - although not at the expense of tool quality.

Once you've got your tools - whether manual or electrical - buy some oil so that you can maintain them and keep them from rusting. Remember, it's not only rain that rusts blades, plant sap does it just as effectively.

IF you do consider an electrical tool, please use a circuit-breaker from the start - don't wait until you've had an accident.

Regards, Spider

[usenet]

You mean an RCD, a "circuit-breaker" doesn't necessarily mean an RCD though an RCD is one sort of circuit breaker.

If your house is modern or has been fairly recently rewired all sockets which 'might be used for appliances outdoors' must have RCD protection anyway, this will be in the consumer unit (Fuse box). Thus additional protection is unnecessary and can even be a bit dangerous as there will be no discrimination between the RCDs.

[John Smith]

Thanks for the info both. I think I will give the electrical tools a miss. I know about the RCDs but, anyhow, I try to avoid the electrics whenever possible.

[Chris Bacon]

Dangerous? Because "there will be no discrimination between the RCDs"? How?

[usenet]

I was going to go further...

Essentially because you may trip one or both of the related RCDs and then putting them back on may, or may not, energise something unexpectedly. It's an unlikely cause of danger I must admit but why spend money on extra, unnecessary, complication which may confuse you.

[Spider]

Thanks for clarifying, Chris. Spider

[John Smith]

I had a look at B&Q but they only do electrical gardening cutting tools. I was surprised to see that an identical page turned up on the Homebase site as on the Argos site when I did a search for "shears" - the difference being that the Homebase site does not have the products in the shop. So it looks like Argos as my local garden centre is notorious, IMPO, for being very expensive.

[John Smith]

I bought a nice set of shears, lopping shears and pruning shears for £15 in Argos. I was a tad worried about the quality but they seem pretty good for the job in hand and I have got through a large part of the cutting back this afternoon. I am glad I got the lopping shears as the thick bamboo needs it.

Thanks for the info.

John.