Hello,

I am looking to buy my first hedge trimmer; can you give me any
advice?

I notice the main difference seems to be the length of the blade:
42cm, 48 cm, and 52 cm seem to be common lengths. Is there an optimum
size?

If you have a hedge 48cm wide, do you go for the 48cm blade? But if
you have a hedge say, 60cm wide then doesn't it matter which blade you
go for as you will have to make two passes anyway?

I've visited a few sheds; in some the trimmers are fixed to the
shelves with cable ties but in others you can pick them up. One thing
I have noticed is that the ones with the longer blades are heavier, so
is it the case that long blade machines cause more fatigue if used for
long periods of time?

I notice some of the bigger machines claim to cut larger branches. Is
there an optimum size to choose here? And I presume the cordless
models are not as powerful as the corded alternatives?

Thanks,
Stephen.

In message , Roger Mills
writes
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Stephen wrote:

Hello,

I am looking to buy my first hedge trimmer; can you give me any
advice?

I notice the main difference seems to be the length of the blade:
42cm, 48 cm, and 52 cm seem to be common lengths. Is there an optimum
size?


snip

You've got it about right - although there's little point in matching blade
length to hedge width - 'cos you'll also want to cut the vertical sides!

In general, the longer the blade, the faster the operation - but that does
increase the weight and the amount of effort required. My hedges are very
wide - far wider than the longest blade available - so blade length
determines whether or not I can reach the far side of the hedge when holding
the machine at arms length.

Machines which will cut thicker twigs have much bigger notches in the
blades, and need more powerful motors - again increasing the weight and
cost - so it's horses for courses. Define what it is you want to achieve,
and buy a suitable machine. None of them will realistically cut anything
more than about 15mm - whatever they claim! For anything bigger than that,
you need loppers (or a saw).


Actually, I'd say the key difference was petrol or electric. Petrol is
more powerful, noisier, heavier than electric. But they will cut much
thicker stuff and are probably faster. Neither is 'better' - it all
depends on the job and other criteria you are using to choose a machine.

But a key question for the OP is what type of hedge and how big/long is
it - this is a key question in choosing a machine.

I have no experience of cordless trimmers - but wouldn't expect them to be
able to tackle anything other than thin twigs on smallish hedges.

I've got a cordless trimmer. (42 cm I think) I use it for trimming the
topoiaried Yews in the garden and a few other shrubs, for which it
performs well, it will deal with reasonably sized stuff, and I prefer it
to the old mains one I had. As ever, it depends on what you need
--
Chris French

chris French wrote:

Machines which will cut thicker twigs have much bigger notches in the
blades, and need more powerful motors - again increasing the weight and
cost - so it's horses for courses. Define what it is you want to achieve,
and buy a suitable machine. None of them will realistically cut anything
more than about 15mm - whatever they claim! For anything bigger than that,
you need loppers (or a saw).


Actually, I'd say the key difference was petrol or electric. Petrol is
more powerful, noisier, heavier than electric. But they will cut much
thicker stuff and are probably faster. Neither is 'better' - it all
depends on the job and other criteria you are using to choose a machine.

While it is possibly true in a general sense that "Petrol is more
powerful" it's no longer always true.

--
Chris Green

On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:33:53 +0100, chris French wrote:
Actually, I'd say the key difference was petrol or electric. Petrol is
more powerful, noisier, heavier than electric. But they will cut much
thicker stuff and are probably faster. Neither is 'better' - it all
depends on the job and other criteria you are using to choose a machine.

Hmm, that sums up what I was going to type :-) I do find petrol trimmers
get a bit heavy when doing the tops of hedges - mainly because of the way
I have to stand to reach, I suppose. For the sides that's not an issue,
nor is it for smaller hedges I suspect (ours is about 7' tall and a
similar width)

If in doubt, get a heavy-duty petrol one *and* a lightweight electric...

cheers

Jules

In article ,
chris French writes:

Actually, I'd say the key difference was petrol or electric. Petrol is
more powerful, noisier, heavier than electric. But they will cut much

I'd question if petrol is more powerful. Electric hedge trimmers
seem to mostly range from 400W to 650W. If there was a need for
any more power, that's still way below what could be drawn from a
13A outlet and more powerful ones could be built, so the lack of
them would point to there not being a requirement for more power.

The more significant difference is going to be if you have
suitable access to a socket outlet where you need to use the tool.

thicker stuff and are probably faster. Neither is 'better' - it all
depends on the job and other criteria you are using to choose a machine.

TBH, I suspect sharp verses blunt blades is going to be far more
important than the power of the motor.

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

Jules wrote:
On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:33:53 +0100, chris French wrote:
Actually, I'd say the key difference was petrol or electric. Petrol is
more powerful, noisier, heavier than electric. But they will cut much
thicker stuff and are probably faster. Neither is 'better' - it all
depends on the job and other criteria you are using to choose a machine.

Hmm, that sums up what I was going to type :-) I do find petrol trimmers
get a bit heavy when doing the tops of hedges - mainly because of the way
I have to stand to reach, I suppose. For the sides that's not an issue,
nor is it for smaller hedges I suspect (ours is about 7' tall and a
similar width)

If in doubt, get a heavy-duty petrol one *and* a lightweight electric...

cheers

Jules

also consider on on a pole, as then you can cut tall hedges (within
reason) without perching precariously on steps!

--
Please reply to group,emails to designated
address are never read.

In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
chris French writes:

Actually, I'd say the key difference was petrol or electric. Petrol is
more powerful, noisier, heavier than electric. But they will cut much

I'd question if petrol is more powerful. Electric hedge trimmers
seem to mostly range from 400W to 650W. If there was a need for
any more power, that's still way below what could be drawn from a
13A outlet and more powerful ones could be built, so the lack of
them would point to there not being a requirement for more power.

The more significant difference is going to be if you have
suitable access to a socket outlet where you need to use the tool.

thicker stuff and are probably faster. Neither is 'better' - it all
depends on the job and other criteria you are using to choose a machine.

TBH, I suspect sharp verses blunt blades is going to be far more
important than the power of the motor.

There is another fundamental difference other than petrol/electric:
double or single edge cutting.

I have only used an AEG trimmer which is *double* cut. Nice in that you
can trim upwards with either hand, however, maintaining the scissor
action relies on the unused edge holding the cutting edges close
together. IMO this leads to excessive blade wear. The single cut
versions are stronger and appear to give a cleaner cut.

regards


--
Tim Lamb

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:01:55 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
TBH, I suspect sharp verses blunt blades is going to be far more
important than the power of the motor.

And how well lubricated they are. Our electric one stalled on me a couple
of weeks ago and I took the blade assembly apart - all the grease had gone
from the surfaces, and in some spots moisture was getting in and starting
to rust the surfaces. I don't believe that "dismantle the whole lot" is in
any maintenance schedule in the manual, but I don't think the trimmer's
more than a few years old (it was given to us by a neighbour who decided
we had more deserving hedges than he :-)

Cleaned the whole lot, sanded, cleaned agin, re-greased and it's all
running happily again. Blade endges still seemed good, so I left those
well alone.

cheers

Jules

In message . com, Jules
writes
On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:01:55 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
TBH, I suspect sharp verses blunt blades is going to be far more
important than the power of the motor.

And how well lubricated they are. Our electric one stalled on me a couple
of weeks ago and I took the blade assembly apart - all the grease had gone
from the surfaces, and in some spots moisture was getting in and starting
to rust the surfaces. I don't believe that "dismantle the whole lot" is in
any maintenance schedule in the manual, but I don't think the trimmer's
more than a few years old (it was given to us by a neighbour who decided
we had more deserving hedges than he :-)

Cleaned the whole lot, sanded, cleaned agin, re-greased and it's all
running happily again. Blade endges still seemed good, so I left those
well alone.

Agreed - particularly when used for trimming conifer hedging. Following
the advice of a local landscape contractor I always squirt WD40 (yes it
does actually work in this particular case), on the cutter bars before
and after and, when doing the annual conifer hedge cut, once during the
work.
--
Robert

In article ,
robert writes:
In message . com, Jules
writes
On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:01:55 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
TBH, I suspect sharp verses blunt blades is going to be far more
important than the power of the motor.

And how well lubricated they are. Our electric one stalled on me a couple
of weeks ago and I took the blade assembly apart - all the grease had gone
from the surfaces, and in some spots moisture was getting in and starting
to rust the surfaces. I don't believe that "dismantle the whole lot" is in
any maintenance schedule in the manual, but I don't think the trimmer's
more than a few years old (it was given to us by a neighbour who decided
we had more deserving hedges than he :-)

Cleaned the whole lot, sanded, cleaned agin, re-greased and it's all
running happily again. Blade endges still seemed good, so I left those
well alone.

Agreed - particularly when used for trimming conifer hedging. Following
the advice of a local landscape contractor I always squirt WD40 (yes it
does actually work in this particular case), on the cutter bars before
and after and, when doing the annual conifer hedge cut, once during the
work.

My new Stihl says you should spray the blades with a resin solvent.
(WD40 might do that.) It doesn't say any lubrication of the blades
is required, although it does require lubrication of the gearbox
every 25 hours use.

My old B&D says you should oil the blades. Since I was usually outside
just next to the car, I used to pull out the dipstick and let it drip
along both sides.

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