Recommendations for a cordless hedge trimmer?

I've never used a battery operated hedge clippers, and the lead on the electrical one is too restrictive. I've high and wide hedges which I want to trim significantly this summer, but my old petrol hedge clippers is gone.

What would be the most reliable cordless hedge cutter now? Is battery better than petrol yet? If so, what specs should I be looking for? There seems to be a decent number of good brand hedge trimmers under €100 (I notice amazon.de seems to be cheaper than amazon.co.uk for many of them) but I wonder would they be a false economy.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Lex Luthor

I got one in either Lidl or Aldi about 2yrs ago
Probably cost about 50eur

Still going strong
It’s their Florabest one

monkeynuz

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I've never used a battery operated hedge clippers, and the lead on the electrical one is too restrictive. I've high and wide hedges which I want to trim significantly this summer, but my old petrol hedge clippers is gone.

What would be the most reliable cordless hedge cutter now? Is battery better than petrol yet? If so, what specs should I be looking for? There seems to be a decent number of good brand hedge trimmers under €100 (I notice amazon.de seems to be cheaper than amazon.co.uk for many of them) but I wonder would they be a false economy.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

You can’t go wrong with either Husqvarna or Stihl, the technology is rapidly catching up with petrol.

Odyssey 2005

Aldi have one this Thursday. €59. Looking at it myself. Fairly light work do should do the job.

Darwin

OP I think the answer depends on how much hedge you have to cut and perhaps what type. I started out with a Greenworks hedge trimmer (from amazon) with a 40V battery. I have about 50 metres of copper beech and then another two longish sections of Laurel and Golden Leylandii. The Greenworks did the job ok but the motor gave out after 1 season. I replaced it with another and same thing happened. Third purchase was an Ego 65cm Hedgetrimmer with 56V battery. I've had a year now and it's been fantastic, plenty of power and enough runtime so you are tired by the time the battery needs recharging. It's not cheap, but it is what I should have bought in the first place. You might get away with something cheaper, but if you have a difficult job to do, a better trimmer is worth the investment.

my3cents

Only because the OP mentioned the restrictive length of the power cord, commercially we used to use a generator and with mains powered hedge trimmers. I have to admit we had to regularly replace all the power cables because of all the cuts in them

Roen

Using a 36v Makita 55cm bar trimmer the past few years. Really like it.

No idea how it compares to petrol as I've only ever had the battery powered guy.
Never found it wanting. Briars, fuschia, Griselina and a host of other stuff in the ditch and garden.

Edit: Just noticed you mentioned high. It's heavy enough, bit again no idea what your expectations are in terms of weight.

Darwin

Darwin wrote: »

OP I think the answer depends on how much hedge you have to cut and perhaps what type. I started out with a Greenworks hedge trimmer (from amazon) with a 40V battery. I have about 50 metres of copper beech and then another two longish sections of Laurel and Golden Leylandii. The Greenworks did the job ok but the motor gave out after 1 season. I replaced it with another and same thing happened. Third purchase was an Ego 65cm Hedgetrimmer with 56V battery. I've had a year now and it's been fantastic, plenty of power and enough runtime so you are tired by the time the battery needs recharging. It's not cheap, but it is what I should have bought in the first place. You might get away with something cheaper, but if you have a difficult job to do, a better trimmer is worth the investment.

Just checked this out and it seems like what I'm looking for.

I'm drifting between the Irish and the British Ego Plus websites, as very surprisingly this product is not on Amazon.co.uk at all, while none of the Dublin stockists listed on the Ego Irish website have details on their respective websites.

Irish website: €279: HT6500E 65CM HEDGE TRIMMER

British website:£199 (c. €223): HT6500E 65CM HEDGE TRIMMER

What is the best battery to buy for this? On p. 39, 'Which battery should I use?' it says use the 2.5Ah battery (lasting 33 minutes) for hedge trimming. It does not have hedge trimming down under the 5.0Ah (lasting 75 minutes) or 7.5Ah (lasting 13 minutes) batteries. Is this solely because the latter two would be heavier? If I get the 2.5Ah for this, but I'd like to get the same brand chainsaw or lawnmower later it seems from that I'd have to buy the 5.0Ah or 7.5Ah battery as well. What would you recommend? (Here's a list of the various available battery sizes)

Roen

I've often wondered about those products, especially the batteries ^^
I mean 5Ah is 5Ah surely. So why are they so expensive? I can get 3 of the Makita 5Ah batteries for the price of one of those.

Or is there something to do with delivering 5Ah to a 56v device versus a 36 or 18v device that's causing the price to go up?
OP, I'd go for the biggest you can afford. Better looking at it than for it.

Lumen

Roen wrote: »

I've often wondered about those products, especially the batteries ^^
I mean 5Ah is 5Ah surely.

No.

Roen wrote: »

So why are they so expensive? I can get 3 of the Makita 5Ah batteries for the price of one of those.

Or is there something to do with delivering 5Ah to a 56v device versus a 36 or 18v device that's causing the price to go up?

Yes.

5Ah @ 56V = 280Wh.
5Ah @ 18V = 90Wh.

Roen

Bingo, cheers.

OK, I just did the deed; I went for the 4.0Ah battery with the Ego HT6500E so I hope it won't be too heavy. I also got the fast charger. While their website is hugely informative, the pricing and marketing of all the Ego products is very peculiar. There are very few of them for sale on Amazon, and none at all of the HT6500E there.

All the Irish prices were about €100 more expensive and, unlike the Ego UK website, you cannot buy directly from the Ego Irish website (some of the Irish stockists listed on the Irish website were no longer stockists so they need to update that).

Moreover, the price seems to be all but fixed across the internet -perhaps £10 saving here or there. I got it off one of the large gardening sites where, again, the prices between competitors were precisely the same, but one had delivery to Ireland for £16 while the other had delivery for £60, so that was the deciding factor.

I found the Australian YouTube review below helpful. At 8:20 he suggests the brushed HT2400E as a lighter alternative to the brushless HT6500E, which I came across for much cheaper at £209 including 2.0Ah battery and standard charger on Amazon.co.uk here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHvmHKhiNCk

Roen

Well wear!

jay0109

Fuaranach

how did this go for you?

I'm in a similar situation with a wide and high hedge that has all sorts in it. Want to get at it before the frost starts.

If happy with your purchase, can you let me know where you made it. And is there any sort of guarantee?

thanks

jay0109

jay0109 wrote: »

Fuaranach

how did this go for you?

I'm in a similar situation with a wide and high hedge that has all sorts in it. Want to get at it before the frost starts.

If happy with your purchase, can you let me know where you made it. And is there any sort of guarantee?

thanks

So far so good; it's a lovely piece of equipment to work with. I don't get much use out of it though as my hedges aren't that extensive - a full day's work per year - so the cost per metre isn't great (it cost almost exactly €500, including the charger and battery - both of which can be used if I buy other Ego Plus machines).

I bought it via keengardener.co.uk and they were fine. I'd google as there could be a cheaper price than that company now.

septicsac

I have a petrol long reach Stihl HL75, that has had a bit of a hard life, so leaning towards a new machine.
I like the look of the Stihl HLA65, lighter than the petrol, cheaper to purchase and cheaper to run. Its only for around the house, whitethorn of 12-15mm and beech of similar diameter, so should handle that fine.
Anyone have one and how is it going?
They appear an awful lot cheaper in UK than here, near 700E here and little over 550E brough in Newry, but thats nothing new.

Accidentally

I purchased a Makita 36v DUH551Z to replace an old petrol cutter. I already have Makita tools with 5a batteries, so bare unit was an easy choice.

Performance wise it's been much better than the old unit, and has had no problem with brambles, blackthorn or hedging. It's not the lightest, but the swivel handle makes it much easier. Haven't managed to run out of battery power yet, as an hour of cutting will wear out your arms quicker than the batteries.

Cost about €120 delivered from the UK, but seems to be at least twice that if you buy it here, but maybe they are old prices.