Anyone any views on these? We probably don't need a heavy duty one, I'd be tempted by cordless but I'm not sure they're any lighter, and I notice they don't tell you the wattage of the cordless ones. Mains ones seem to be 400W or so, whereas you're doing well with a battery one if its 50W. Anyway - anecdotal comparison of them would be appreciated.
Corded - cuts laurel no problem. Bosch 14.4V NiCD - bounced off laurel =A354 Bosch 18V L-Ion - untried, may be better =A380 Bosch 36V L-Ion - untried, Screwfix =A3159 Petrol powered - solves the problem
I suspect the only real cordless is the last one - batteries are =A360, you can get a Bosch 36V drill body to go with it to "dilute the cost" but that is going to set you back a not inconsiderable sum.
Corded is cheap even if you need a very long extension lead, petrol however solves the "150m long cable required" although I believe TLC still have 16mm H07RNF on offer at the moment which would be hilarious as a windup :-)
14.4-18V cordless have 15mm blade gap. Bosch 36V cordless has 20mm blade gap. Mains corded have 24-25mm+ blade gap.
The more expensive cutters move both blades rather than having one stationary which tends to result in less vibration, although most are not particularly severe in that regard anyway. The biggest vibration is typically the brake which seems to be a trigger-release pawl type in that it is essentially instant & pretty brutal. They are quite noisy devices of course.
It comes down what you *really* use the trimmer on.
- Traditional box hedge - cordless will be ok
- Conifers into cones - cordless will get stuck on thicker bits
- Laurel hedge - cordless other than 36V will struggle
- Hacking the Amazon - corded
If you go to
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you can read the reviews. Always start with the lowest score as often the most useful.
Corded will brute-force cut laurel, cordless tend to bounce off or just snag - and snagging gets very tiring.
Remember to use it with an RCD (plug-in) or on an RCD protected circuit because hedge trimmers are one area where it is very common indeed to cut through the cable.
The larger hedge cutters (Bosch, Makita etc) have a better double- handle design with multiple triggers which makes their stability somewhat better than the "mini-Bosch" type which lack the same guard design. I really prefer the oversized handle which ensures hands are well away from the blades - it does force you into the =A369-89 models though.
If you go along to a DIY store you can get the feel of them re weight & how happy you are with the various designs from cheap to expensive. The better models have triple switches on the front handle so you can use it in any orientation, the rear handle has another switch so you are forced to keep both hands away from the blades. Check the weight too.
I replaced my hedge trimmer cable with 3-core to the safety break. It's double insulated so that the earth isn't connected in the trimmer, but it means an earth leakage is pretty much guaranteed when you cut the cord, and thus instant operation of the RCD.
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