Boring topic....new house, relatively big garden with a massive hedge, never bought any tools always had ancient handmedowns
Currently researching petrol mowers, strimmers and hedge trimmers. Need cordless or will be spending forever to do stuff
Reviews wise I'm leaning towards the mountford brand from screwfix. Money is tight so ideally I won't be spending more than I have to, but want easy of use and reliable.
Had a gardener in to cut the hedge when we first moved in, and it cost over £200, can't afford that a couple of times a year!
go petrol and buy from a local place who service as well so they can sort out any issues you have
I thought the Reynaud's thing had pretty much made petrol/2stroke history?
Buy stainless gardening hand tools. Buy powertools with a good reputation. Secondhand e.g Stihl will possibly be a better long-term purchase because spares will be available.
I too have a lot of hedges to deal with. I use this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/192106683850?lpid=122&chn=ps&adgroupid=41285909471&rlsatarget=pla-278687365883&adtype=pla&poi=&googleloc=9045405&device=c&campaignid=738225731&crdt=0
I've had one for a few years now and it's been super reliable and more than powerful enough for my needs. It will deal with 13mm stems with little bother.
Top tip- if you have many trees nearby, think about getting a leaf blower too, and a few spring-up leaf bags, like this:
I have some Makita 18v stuff - drill/driver and have just got the 18v hedge trimmer as I have the two batteries already. Probably only worth doing if you have multiple cordless tools though.
I've switched from petrol to battery. Didn't think the mower would be up to much but a thread on here convinced me to give it a try and its been fantastic. Ditto the hedge trimmer. Worth considering if it isn't that huge a job.
Petrol stuff is pretty rubbish for the environment. Obviously pretty unavoidable for big gardens but if you can get away with battery or cable its worth considering.
'Petrol stuff is pretty rubbish for the environment. Obviously pretty unavoidable for big gardens but if you can get away with battery or cable its worth considering. '
Tell me about it. It takes at least two days to trim all my hedges. It would be nice to think that I'd be nicely buff/ toned because of this- fat chance!
I've been happy with petrol for the mower as I sometimes have to tackle overgrown areas my tenants have let go, but think the battery mowers would be fine for reasonable lawns. Hedge trimmer, I have the cheapie McCulloch battery job from B&Q and it's been fine for mine and my mate's privet. I noticed last year the guys trimming this one have switched to battery Stihl trimmers.
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those pop up bags look good! the gardener chap I had do the main tidy had 3 tonnes of waste so it will definitely take some work to keep it in check.
I'm not sure battery powered stuff would have enough charge / be able to cope?
Happy to be wrong as I'd rather not have the faff of fueling and servicing.
Corded is a definite no no, garden is too big and too far from plugs
Are rechargable lawn movers any good? Do they have a mulching function? I like the idea of not having to empty cuttings
Mulching can be a bit of a PITA in my experience if you go out on the lawn much as it just treads into the house. Might be because I don't mow it often enough though...
If you have a large lawn area go for the largest diameter mower with the biggest grass box. Mine has too small a grass box which I am forever emptying which in turn means it takes a full day to cut the grass. I had a gardener in cutting the grass one year and he had all the lawns cut in a couple of hours. His mower did cost him over a grand though!
I do gardens all day every day. How big exactly is this one? Got photos?
Stihl battery hedge cutter is brilliant and that's for pro use so would be no issue for your hedge. Battery lasts us all day or more.
Hsa 86.
Some people obviously missed reading the "money is tight" bit.
And many two stroke engines are fine for regular long duration use without risk of circulation problems. It's the cheap plastic rubbish that'll turn your capillaries to stone.
Hsa 86 for not much more than the cost he paid for one cut of his hedge and would last him a life time. Buying cheap is a false economy and will make the job 4x as hard or where you end up paying someone else anyway as it's such a chore.
Have a look at Webb hedge trimmers and mowers or Lawnflite better then the cheap crap that will last a season but not as expensive as Stihl
No photos I'm afraid, if you are a professional gardener I imagine you wouldn't think it is big, but for me it is! It is a corner plot with lawn on 3 sides and a large conifer / holly hedge on 2 sides approx 2meters tall and 1meter wide. The back garden has some conifers and several other plants I havent worked out yet. Lots of spiky non children friendly ones....
Yes, money is tight having just moved in so I can't be stumping up £1000's on stuff, as I am in the process of having to furnish and entire house whilst getting friendly with lots of tradespeople....
Petrol stuff is pretty rubbish for the environment. Obviously pretty unavoidable for big gardens but if you can get away with battery or cable its worth considering.
Do tell how better.
I don't know the size of your lawn- but if you can, get the biggest (manageable) mower. Think about disposal of cuttings/ waste. Will the council take them as green waste?
Echo petrol stuff is very good quality but doesn't have the cachet of Stihl so bargains can be found on ebay.
Buy a billhook and do it the old way.
I'd look for a second hand Stihl hs81r or a Kawasaki/echo/Tanaka hedge trimmer, 30" blade. Say £150. At 2m high you'll be fine with just a hop-up platform at £20 or so.
A used Honda Izy at £250 should last years for mowing. A straight shaft loop handle strimmer at £100, same brands as above. And then a blower if you can afford one as they properly clear stone chip areas and under hedges etc.
I bought a used echo brush cutter (srm4000u) 7 years ago for £120. I'm still using it every day and it's had NO repairs in that time!
PS I am selling this but suspect it's slightly on the big side for you! [img] 
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Try and find a local auction house or house clearance place , our local auction regularly has petrol mowers / streamers and hand tools .
[b]YoKaiser[/b], which mower? Been looking at Bosch/Ryobi/Makita offerings, and no clear winner.
I've got 20m hedge so probably on a smaller scale than the OP...but I just use a decent pair of shears and can't really see a hedgecutter being much faster.
I think shears result in a better maintained hedge as well. A hedge cut with a trimmer tends to get a thick carpet of branches and leaves on the surface and is hollow/bare inside, I tried to sort ours out over two years and then gave up, just chopped it hard back to the stems. Took a year to recover but is now much healthier, sunlight can get into it and its green all the way through.
Hedge trimmers just cut every branch flush with the surface, with shears, you cut the hedge the same but can chop the bigger branches further inside the hedge, which encourages them to branch/spread out inside the hedge rather than on the surface.