John Rumm coughed up some electrons that declared:

Thought it might be worth reporting back on said widget now I have had a
chance to give it a workout. The hedgetrimmer add on I got was a
Husqvarna one rather than a Ryobi, but they all seem reasonably
interchangeable. The box suggested a fairly long list of makes that it
would fit. The Ryobi "expand-it" one does not have the articulated
gearbox on the end that lets you change angle of the trimmer which seems
fairly essential to me.

The hedge was/is a hefty conifer "wall" that is about 80' long, 12' tall
and about 4' thick.

As a simple hedgecutter the ergonomics of it are pretty poor, and it is
not at all well balanced. Even without the extension bar in there it is
nose heavy. This means that in use you need to experiment with a variety
of techniques to find ways of using it comfortably. For low level
working the trick seems to be to use a shortish should strap and work
the weight by using a combination of push and pull effecting a pivot
point on the strap. For long striaght runs best results seem to be
achieved by holding the cutter at fixed height and walking along the
hedge. For high up work the easiest to control position is with the pole
almost straight up, but you do have to take care to avoid a face full of
clippings. For reaching across the top of wide and tall hedges it is
hard work, but will let you cut in places it would otherwise be very
difficult to get a conventional trimmer into. On the plus side you can
clear a 8' wide swathe at a time from one ladder position.

Power was adequate (with the 30cc brushcutter) to tackle branches upto
the capacity of the trimmer (probably 1/2" to 3/4" inch) - half throttle
being enough for most trimming, and flat out when hacking the woody
bits. Took about three tanks of fuel to do the lot and I collected just
over a cubic meter of clippings.

So in conclusion, if you have a big hedge that needs taming
occasionally, it get the job done. If you want to do lots of detailed
fiddly bits, the a conventional trimmer would be needed as well.














































Hi John,

Sounds like you've done well. I didn't know about the articulated trimmer at
the time, so went for a fixed one. Mine can only manage 1/2" branches (25cc
Ryobi full throttle). Don't know the make, but some generic Expand-It
compatible part that B&Q were selling.

Having said that, mine does what I expected it to and has still proven a
useful buy - just not as good as yours by the sound of it.

I agree on the balance issue, but at least being able to work a pole's
length away from hawthorn and holly is a bonus

Cheers

Tim