Electric hedge trimmers

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Monika
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Having cut our about 100' of hedging (mainly rosa rugosa with some pyracantha and hawthorn) manually over many years, I am thinking of asking Father Christmas for an electric hedge trimmer this year. What should I look out for and any recommendations? The hedges are close enough to the house to reach safely with an extension cable.
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Primrose
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Not that I've much experience of using one, but the one I inherited from my late dad weighs a ton and it's only possible to use it for a few minutes before having to rest and put it down, and trying to use it above shoulder height is impossible. So make sure you try physically holding one and doing some imitation movements with it before buying , especially if you have any length of cable inhibting your movement.
PLUMPUDDING
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Light weight ones are easier to wield if you're doing a long hedge, but my favourite is the more powerful one with a longer blade. It weighs more but reaches further and gets the job done much faster. If my arms get tired I stop and do it in two sessions.
robo
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I bought my wife a battery one for trimming some small bushes it's useless, I inherited a flymo one which I used to cut the river bank when we had our chalet in Wales it was old and well used but kept going and worked well, my suggestion would be to buy one with a good reputation they cost more but last longer and work better than cheaper ones, the obvious makes to me are flymo, Makita, a.e.g., dolman is a subsidiary off Makita and are well made ,I've a dolman chainsaw in Spain it's a well made and great machine
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Ricard with an H
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I gave up on electric trimmers even before I left suburbia because the powerful ones weighed as much as a decent two stroke machine that was more powerful though I'm not up to speed on recent electric powered machines.

The machine I use is a single-sided Kawasaki 26 cc, I find it very powerful and not heavy enough to cause me a problem and though I don't do more than an hour at a time the Sea Buckthorn hedge is close to 100 paces. I even trim my miniature oaks with it going through 10 mm branches easily.
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Monika
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Many thanks for all the replies. I will mull it over. The hedge is long but low and accessible from both sides, so I don't need a long blade. We have a Stihl agent near us who has always been very helpful when we have bought petrol strimmers and large lawnmowers in the past, so we might go and ask him for advice (he does also sell cheaper brands than Stihl!).

Over the last 35 years, I have always cut the hedge by hand but find that, in spite of rubber 'buffers', the jolt of the blades closing gives me painful wrists for days to come - hence the request.
Catherine
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The best hedge trimmer we have ever bought, Monika, was from Aldi. It is a telescopic hedge trimmer with all sorts of bits and pieces and cost £59. It is electric but we have a huge extension so it isn't a problem for us. Definatley worth looking for one from Aldi, very good quality.
Last edited by Catherine on Wed Nov 25, 2015 2:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Monika, electric hedge cutters have come a long way over the last 20 years or so, as they are lighter and more powerful.
If you have a stihl dealer near you ask to have a look at the viking range of electric hedge cutters. The only thing i have have noticed with a few different makes is, as a safety feature, you have to pull the trigger and a bar or lever at the same time, this can be a little awkward if you don;t have big hands......So if you can give the machine a dry run in the shop, so much the better.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

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richard p
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ive used various makes and sizes and decided that bosch are arguably the best, not cheap ,but cut well and last , the one ive got now is a 70cm blade with 20 odd mm tooth spacing , will cut thumb sized twigsand the long blade makes the job go quicker, they do smaller ones if thats too heavy.
more budget end of the market look at flymo , worx or lidles own brand.
sally wright
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Dear Monica,
have a look at Little Wonder hedge trimmers; they really do what it says on the tin. We are on our third (bought last summer) in 25 years in a nine acre garden with about 5-600 m of hedges ranging from escallonia, beech, yew, box and leylandii. They are easy to sharpen and re-wire if you cut through the cable. They are made in America so no worries about general safety. We did not actually break the other two they have just worn out to the point that there is very little power left in them and after a while they grind to a halt.
I would go for the shortest single sided blade model you can find in the 110v format (yes you will need a transformer but they are much safer in use).
Regards Sally Wright.
Monika
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Many thanks for all your advice, folks. We are going to 'do the rounds' the week after next (when our overseas visitor has gone) to some retail outlets, including a Stihl dealer from whom we always had very good service when we used a large petrol mower and strimmer. It is tempting (and probably cheaper) to find one on the internet but I really do want to handle one before buying.
MarkMcL
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I managed to pick up a cordless hedge trimmer from Warrior Eco Power Equipment before the actual release date and am quite happy with it.
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