Hedge trimmer - this any good?

Been thinking of getting a hedge trimmer - don't mind using clippers, but the hedges get out of control as the clippers won't cut thicker stuff. One hedge is Box and isn't too bad, but 'pruning' it back every few years takes ages; the other hedge is Privet which is far more difficult to 'prune'.

A decent trimmer would cut the thicker stems (say up to 15mm) so the hedges could be shaped not to overhang paths. Most of those with good capacity seem to be quite long and I reckon 60cm would suffice for hedges about 50cm wide and 120cm high.

Anyway, found this:

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would do the job I think.

Doing a search on it, I found that there's a 60cm version, otherwise the same and was cheapest at Homebase! . With discounts this weekend it might be about £85.

Does the team think that it'd be OK for the proposed use? Be a nice new toy to have :-)

Reply to
PeterC
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PeterC wrote in news:nc8bv5gcmstq.g3ftpsig0u1w$. snipped-for-privacy@40tude.net:

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You might have to go around the box with shears afterwards to even things up a little, on the other hand you stand in pretty good stead with the privet.

Like everything toolwise the harsher the cut the less even the result, to do a top job with Box you'd choose something with a smaller gap between the teeth.

On the other hand (again!) you don't want to buy to trimmers and if you're only going to by one by the one that's going to do the best job of your most difficult hedge - the privet.

As an aside Axminster are (were last time I looked) doing an 18V Bosch cordless one for around the same price but only 15mm tooth spacing, you pays your money you makes your choice.

Reply to
Chris Wilson

I'd have said 15 mm was on the large side to be cutting with a trimmer.

It might do it but, especially with a budget model, each time you do it will be giving a fair kick to the reduction gears.

Reply to
newshound

this:

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> which would do the job I think.

er, yes, a cords is a nuisance so I'll just have to be careful! atm it's cut (the hedge) 3 or 4 times a year.

Reply to
PeterC

I eventually managed to do that. I would not have believed it was possible to cut the cord into about 10 pieces, until I did exactly that. It had a section of spiral formed cord, and at one instant, the loops were stretched to the same pitch as the teeth and flicked into the cutters, falling into about 10 cleanly broken pieces.

On another occasion, I was at the top of the ladder cutting the top of the hedge. Neighbour came out and waved. Not having any hands free, I waved back with the hedge cutter, neatly slicing through the cable.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Looking at the trimmers in the local brico today, there was a Ryobi (I think) with a flexi cover over about a metre of the cord, the diameter too large to go into the teeth. Should save the cord for a few folk I know.

John

Reply to
JTM

I once planed a new cord - it was on a new planer and it still had a few kinks in it 'out of the box'. Reached the end of the wood, moved back to the start and flicked the cord back and the kinks brought it forward to just under the wrong place. Not terminal but annoying.

Reply to
PeterC

The one I'm looking at will take 34mm, so that's a bit of waste pipe then!

Reply to
PeterC

In message , Chris Wilson writes

I've got a Bosch cordless hedge trimmer. No hedge but some Yew trees to trim. It works well for that useage.

IIRC it's 14.4V - but one reason for buying it was that the batteries match those on my Blue Bosch cordless drill. So I have 2 spare batteries for use with it 9or the drill)

Reply to
chris French

In message , JTM writes

You can slide a length of plastic hose over the cable.

I find draping the cable over my shoulder works well.

regards

Reply to
Tim Lamb

How good are cordless trimmers, realistically? I just feel that a few stems near the limit will flatten the battery rather quickly.

I see your point about coarseness of cut, but neither hedge is 'pretty' so it might not matter. I'm very wary of overloading a trimmer as the drive is usually weak.

Useful - perhaps I should look at Makita :-)

Reply to
PeterC

PeterC wrote in news:19bwunv5t7tu8$. snipped-for-privacy@40tude.net:

I have some new 18v Bosch cordless tools, driver, drill and jigsaw and to be frank I was gobsmacked at the performance I got from them - only just got them to replace some older and much cheaper tools. The performance is akin to quality powerful mains operated tools of a few years ago and knocks spots of cheap battery ones. The hedge trimmer uses the same battery - that's how I spotted it.

But anyway I know some prefer Makita, I've just got a mains Makita SDS+ and to my mind it runs a little hot - but I have been abusing it ;-) When I asked here a few weeks ago about comparative performance between Bosch (blue) and Makita the general concensus was that induvidualy particular tools ma be better from one maker when compared to the other makers version but overall they were much of a muchness.

It's whatever works for you :-)

I'm getting the 18v cordless (just checked it's in stock)

Reply to
Chris Wilson

Well, I had a look at Axminster's site and found the Bosch AHS 550-24ST. From what was said about tooth spacing and cut, I chose 24mm as a compromise as it should handle the 10 - 15mm bits OK (16mm spacing seemed a bit close).

It was delivered on Wednesday, used on Thursday and hacked through everything most impressively. After about 20 min. continuous use the blade was cold - didnn't seem to bother it at all.

2-year warranty should test it on about 6 cuts - there's harsh!

What's the best lubricant? Bosch's 'manual' (leaflet) has no information, so I was thinking along the lines of chainsaw oil.

Reply to
PeterC

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