Hedgetrimmers

I need to look at hedgetrimmers as mine has died 10 ft short of finishing a 165ft long  beech hedge. (finished it with shears) I also have the usual bushes which have a tidy up occasionally.
Any suggestions to Makes etc. What to steer clear of. Best value for its lifetime.
Funds are tight but would rather spend a bit more on one to last than a cheap one which will be unreliable.
I dont need one desparately,  so wondered if buying one out of season is beneficial.

I agree with CQ; trimmers will not last long if asked to do the job of cutters, even if they do claim to be able to tackle branches nearly the size of the gap between the blades. On the other hand you don't want anything so heavy that it puts you off using them.

I have a 100' rear garden with privet hedges on 3 sides and can do the whole lot with a Bosch AHS 52ACCU rechargeable trimmer using both rechargeable batteries supplied. No more aggravating (and sliced-through!) cables and of course it's handy for the little trimming jobs where you just can't be bothered messing around with extensions and cables.

Downsides (apart from remembering to recharge the batteries!) is that a pair of replacement batteries cost as much as the whole appliance did originally, the cutting speed is slower than mains-powered versions, and as a trimmer I wouldn't expect it to last long hacking my way through a jungle!

I'd agree with everything said so far.

I think we're discussing a machine suitable for a woman ....

Hi CQ,

I gave my answer as a woman.

Re.: electric start, I haven't seen it on a mower or hedge trimmer (yet) but, at work this year we started selling Ryobi strimmers - as opposed to only the very expensive Stihl - and some of these have electric push button start and some are even 4 stroke, for those who struggle making a mix.

If it's any help Argos quotes the McCulloch Daht 25 Petrol Hedge Trimmer as weighing in at 5 kg. and the Bosch AHS52 Cordless 14.5v at 2.6 kg. One would assume that this is in "ready to go" status, i.e. with fuel and battery respectively although it doesn't actually say so.

I did find my Bosch cordless felt lighter than the mains-powered one it replaced though, which was a bit of a surprise; might be partly down to doing away with the pesky cable!