In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
jim writes:
On 8 Aug, 10:22, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
Anyone any comments on the available long reach hedge cutters?
I currently have a fir hedge (fortunately not fast growing)
which is a very square cut 3m tall and 2m wide, which I cut
with a normal electric hedge trimmer whilst balancing on a
step ladder (quite a stretch to do the top). Was watching a
gardener with a long reach hedge trimmer doing someone's garden,
and thinking to myself, that's definately the way to go. I would
probably be after a mains electric one (installed outdoor sockets
for cutting the hedge ages ago).

Stihl make an excellent 4stroke general purpose m/c with a long (very)
'pole' handle. Several models. It takes various attachments including
a hedgecutter blade which can tilt some +90deg to - 45deg. You can
cut the flat top of a 2m high just by walking along. Higher if you
go for an angled top. Usual strimmer/brush cutter attachments + more.

Recommended with provisos - expensive (but quality high); weight is
near the limit of what I am comfortable with for lengthy use (?5Kg);
although 4 stroke it uses a 2 stroke mixture; can be more awkward to
use than the normal style hedgecutter for a length of plain hedge but
can deal with more awkward situations.

After reading specs, I decided to go for a Stihl HLE71K electric
one. However, after contacting several of their resellers, Stihl
seem to have ****ed them all off so much they're all trying to
push you other brands instead (Stihl won't let them sell on the
Internet anymore).

Oh well, back to review specs of other makes instead.

I have been using the previous version of the longer (71 not 71K)
trimmer for a few years and would not be without it. Took a bit of
getting used to but it cut the time spent trimming our mixed and conifer
hedging significantly. It is not happy with stuff 12mm thick so
initially you may need to cut out anything of a larger size with loppers
but then the trimmer will cope with the annual growth without any
problems.

As the cutter bar on this and most long-reach kit is around 50cms you
will not be able to reach the back of 2m wide hedge whilst standing at
the base of a tall hedge.

I buy Stihl stuff from a local Stihl dealer who does not sell via the
internet but who has always given me a better price than I could obtain
online.
--
Robert