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).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

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).

I have a similar height section of hedge, and use a trimmer on the end
of a extension bar on the brush cutter. Doing the sides is easy enough -
you can walk along it and reach most of it. My hedge is quite thick -
about 5' probably. So I still need to use a step ladder for the top
which is less than satisfactory - but I need the hedge trimmers reach to
get the full depth. Using it like that is quite tiring since you are
supporting and swinging a significant length of tool horizontally.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:43:49 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

Using it like that is quite tiring since you are
supporting and swinging a significant length of tool horizontally.

Boasting?
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

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).

I had one but it got nicked. I wasn't sorry. Almost impossible to
handle, so heavy.

Now I slip the farm manager a few bottles, and he does the tops with a
flail..

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).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

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.

HTH

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.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:



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.


you can still buy them online but
http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/popup/stihl.aspx

or you can still walk in to any stihi*dealer and buy one over the counter,
surely you must have a dealer within reasonable driving distance.
\0

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

On 13 Aug, 14:14, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * jim writes:


On 8 Aug, 10:22, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
Anyone any comments on the available long reach hedge cutters?
///////

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.

IIUIC Viking elec hedgecutters are a Stihl brand.
HTH

In article ,
jim writes:
On 13 Aug, 14:14, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * jim writes:


On 8 Aug, 10:22, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
Anyone any comments on the available long reach hedge cutters?
///////
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.
IIUIC Viking elec hedgecutters are a Stihl brand.

Yes, which means they have exactly the same problem.
In the end, I ordered from a local stockist. However,
since none of the local stokists actually stock anything,
I've got to wait for it to arrive in stock.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
(Andrew Gabriel) writes:
In the end, I ordered from a local stockist. However,
since none of the local stokists actually stock anything,
I've got to wait for it to arrive in stock.

Picked up the hedge trimmer. As to the bit about not being
allowed to do mail order so the local stockists can assemble
and teach you how to use the appliance, complete ********
would be the most applicable phrase.

Assembly was reasonably straight forward, except just about
every instruction was ambiguous, and with a diagram which
in most cases was such a magnified view of some bit of the
trimmer that it wasn't actually easy to see what bit of the
trimmer you're supposed to be looking at. No picture at all
of the whole thing assembled so you can see how the parts
are supposed to be orientated (except for a tiny one on the
front cover which is too small to see any detail).

I bought the shorter one, but even then, it's long and that
takes some getting used to. After assembling on the dining
room floor, I stood it up, and dinged a piece of plaster
off the ceiling;-)

In use, it's a very smooth operator. Compared with my
standard B&D trimmer, it's very quiet, very low vibration,
and very powerful (in part due to new blades, no doubt),
and much faster to use. However, it's also heavier of
course, and it takes some getting used to handling the
weight and length, and making it cut exactly where you
want. I found myself getting out the old B&D trimmer for
a few things -- the long reach can't cut close to you,
and there were some places where I couldn't easily
manouver it's length, and the standard B&D worked better.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]