Recommend me a hedge trimmer

[nuttycyclist]

I have a hedge trimmer, but my arms aren't long enough.  (depth of hedge, not lack of ladder).

I'm thinking of getting something where the head is on an extendible pole.  My local shop closed just before I got there, and screwfix I passed on the way home was out of stock.  This makes me think that something better must be available which I am to buy instead.

Potentially it'd also be good to have an interchangeable head with a mini chainsaw instead as I have a number of limbs to remove (tree, not mine).

Mains 240v please, as I don't want the faff of petrol/maintenance, nor always having a flat battery when I need to use it.

Over to you for suggestions.  The cheaper the better.

[pcolbeck]

First you need to decide if you want a hedge trimmer or a hedge cutter. They are different things. A trimmer really is only designed to trim very small branches (basically the growth since the last trim). A cutter will plough through much bigger branches. I bought a cutter a few years ago for our mixed native hedge (thicker and tougher growth than privit) and its transformed the annual cut takes about 10 percent of the time it used to do.

I have a Bosch AHS 70-34 which has a 70cm cutting length. Fantastic.

[nuttycyclist]

The blade on that looks like the blade on mine, albeit longer.  Mine has got through some decent stuff (1cm+ diameter leylandii branches) and had quite a few years of abuse.

What I'm really after is similar, but where the blade is on a longer pole with potentially a rotating head.  I drove past somebody the other day who was cutting the flat top of his ~10 feet hedge while walking on the pavement.  No ladders.

I saw something last year in Lidl which was similar, but also had a mini chain saw that could be put on instead of the cutter/trimmer blades.  Looking at a few trees in the garden this would be excellent, other than Lidl no longer stock it and I don't know the quality/capability.

[MikeFromLFE]

.

What I'm really after is similar, but where the blade is on a longer pole with potentially a rotating head.  I drove past somebody the other day who was cutting the flat top of his ~10 feet hedge while walking on the pavement.  No ladders.

I saw something last year in Lidl which was similar, but also had a mini chain saw that could be put on instead of the cutter/trimmer blades.  Looking at a few trees in the garden this would be excellent, other than Lidl no longer stock it and I don't know the quality/capability.

That sounds like the think from Amazon I've just bought made by Einhell.
Battery powered and on an extending stick. The chain saw attachment is 'good enough' for most branches and I'm finally getting next door's conifers under control.
Not had it long enough to make a proper judgement, but so far I'm impressed.

[rafletcher]

.

What I'm really after is similar, but where the blade is on a longer pole with potentially a rotating head.  I drove past somebody the other day who was cutting the flat top of his ~10 feet hedge while walking on the pavement.  No ladders.

I saw something last year in Lidl which was similar, but also had a mini chain saw that could be put on instead of the cutter/trimmer blades.  Looking at a few trees in the garden this would be excellent, other than Lidl no longer stock it and I don't know the quality/capability.

That sounds like the think from Amazon I've just bought made by Einhell.
Battery powered and on an extending stick. The chain saw attachment is 'good enough' for most branches and I'm finally getting next door's conifers under control.
Not had it long enough to make a proper judgement, but so far I'm impressed.

Cordless though?

[Jaded]

I have a mountfield cordless kit. However it is battery powered. It has a trimmer, mini-chain saw and hedge trimmer. The latter two can be used with extension poles. They all use the same battery.

I've had a look and it doesn't seem to be available anymore. 

There must be similar kit out there, wired.

[MikeFromLFE]

.

What I'm really after is similar, but where the blade is on a longer pole with potentially a rotating head.  I drove past somebody the other day who was cutting the flat top of his ~10 feet hedge while walking on the pavement.  No ladders.

I saw something last year in Lidl which was similar, but also had a mini chain saw that could be put on instead of the cutter/trimmer blades.  Looking at a few trees in the garden this would be excellent, other than Lidl no longer stock it and I don't know the quality/capability.

That sounds like the think from Amazon I've just bought made by Einhell.
Battery powered and on an extending stick. The chain saw attachment is 'good enough' for most branches and I'm finally getting next door's conifers under control.
Not had it long enough to make a proper judgement, but so far I'm impressed.

Cordless though?

Sorry, yes, chunky battery.

[De Sisti]

I recently sliced through the cable of my hedge trimmer. Still not decided whether to effect
a repair or just buy a new one.

[citoyen]

I recently sliced through the cable of my hedge trimmer. Still not decided whether to effect
a repair or just buy a new one.

The cable of my hedge trimmer is probably about a metre shorter than when I bought it, due to constantly having to splice it back together again.

Definitely buying a cordless model when it eventually needs replacing.

Somehow I manage to avoid having this trouble with lawn mowers, though I find the cable a constant nuisance.

[nuttycyclist]

I've used corded appliances in the garden for over three decades without issues.  I know how to avoid chopping things I don't want to, whether the cord or the tree in the hedge.

And I also have a healthy disregard to health and safety, as the neighbours will attest to when they saw me last year standing ~15-20 foot up on the top of the hedge trimming it... some significant distance away from the ladder I'd used to get up there.

[Kim]

Weirdly, the only time I've managed to damage a cable with the tool it was powering was by dropping a glue gun and slightly melting the insulation in the time it took to pick it up.

Too obvious, I suppose.

(I did once have an IEC C15 plug burst into flames in my hand while focusing a spotlight at the top of a ladder in the dark, but that wasn't the spotlight's fault.)