Anyone use a cordless hedge trimmer?

[Keith]

Once you quit laughing, I'm serious. Does anyone use a cordless hedge trimmer for weekly touch ups on small hedges? I'm not talking about dropping them in a viburnum, just fresh, tender growth in things like azaleas and loropetalum.

I've got a lawn that the owner does all the small hedges himself. He broke out a Ryobi cordless last week while I was mowing. I stopped and asked if I could check it out. The thing was feather light. It got me to thinking, it might be perfect for touching up small hedges. Even if it lasted a year, it seems like it would be great for those hot summer days when the last thing you want to do is break out a 12 lb hedge trimmer just to do a touch up.

 

[Landscape Poet]

Not sure about that but I am interested in responses as what others think and are using. The thing I had most are eugenia topiary - they seem to consistently need touched up every visit to every other visit on some properties. Anyone have solutions to help ease the pain of trimming them and other smaller/softer landscape plants like them with out using the felcos or hedge shears?

 

[jvanvliet]

I use a cordless; Shindaiwa BR802. Fill the sucker up with gas, pull the string & away it goes.

 

[billslawn89]

I use a cordless; Shindaiwa BR802. Fill the sucker up with gas, pull the string & away it goes.

haha! ya! you are right! it is cordless and i guess we all use cordless, gas powered cordless. i've been using stihl and they are getting heavier each year. time for something lighter.

 

[Eric E]

Anyone have solutions to help ease the pain of trimming them and other smaller/softer landscape plants like them with out using the felcos or hedge shears?

Try some PGR's

 

[Darryl G]

I've got a cordless Black & Decker and love it, so I'm not laughing. I keep it in my toolbox. I picked it up at the B & D outlet remanufactured. I have a small power inverter I keep in my truck so I can recharge it. It's not only good for touching up small shrubs, it's good for when you have to climb between a house and the shrubbery or do a one handed reach. I often use it for touch ups after using the gas fired units. I get about 45 minutes of use per charge.

Now the down side...being a homeowner B & D unit, it doesn't give the greatest cut. It will shred the stems on some of the finer hedges/shrubs and the gearbox is starting to not sound very good. I looked into getting a second battery for it and it would have cost almost as much as the unit did.

But for doing a couple of little Barberries or Boxwoods or Euonymus or something, it's really handy and I wouldn't want to be without it...nice to be able to just stuff it in my toolbox and have it handy. I usually only bring my gas-fired units if I know I'm doing hedge/shrub jobs for the day.

 

[ArenaLandscaping]

This would be a good choice for professional use- http://www.stihlusa.com/hedgetrimmers/hsa65.html

 

[Darryl G]

That Stihl looks pretty nice but I bet it's more that the $50 I paid for mine. Here's the video for it...their site link is wrong. http://www.youtube.com/stihlusa#p/search/0/yhjrOz6jzUM

 

[Keith]

Thanks, but the price of the Stihl is more than I want to invest. The weight of it is a deal killer. I have Tanaka that is lighter than the weight they show for the Stihl.

 

[Darryl G]

This is the unit I have...the B & D Hedge Hog - the thumb safety switch is a little bit of a pain too but you get used to not releasing the trigger enough to re-engage it. Not a bad little unit really. I googled it and came up with this link to it on the Sears website which has a few reviews of it. http://www.mysears.com/Black-Decker-Hedge-Hog-Trimmer-reviews?tab=reviews

Just so it's clear, I am not recommending this thing as a primary hedge trimmer for a pro landscaper, but to supplement your gas-fired units, it's nice to have for light duty trimming.