OK my son has bought a place and finally got around to starting on the overgrown garden.

One of these strimmer hedge cutter tools would be of help and it is his birthday very shortly.

What to get …electric battery or 2 stroke?

Any experiences or recommendations appreciated.

I have the Ryobi Expandit two stroke Strimmer and hedge trimmer, think it’s at least 3 years old and still going strong!

I’ve got a battery powered electric one. Worked for a bit then gave up, and I gave hand shears a go. Waaaay easier.

I’ve got the Ryobi Expandit too. Works well but doesn’t like running for more than an hour (trail clearing)

You get what you pay for. Professional gardener here. Anything under about £700 will be a short lived pos I’m afraid.
I used to swear by Sthil petrol gear but now use a battery powered combi system made by a company called Ergo. It’s pretty decent kit.

 Anything under about £700 will be a short lived pos I’m afraid

Oh for the love of god 🤣

I’m def not a pro gardener but I borrowed a mates petrol combi thing (not Stihl… cheaper) to cut my hedges. It was pretty heavy – the Stihl petrol long reach hedge trimmer I subsequently bought is much lighter and way better.
Jack of all trades…..

Depends on how much hedge he has to cut I guess.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttl488gdo-25cc-petrol-bent-shaft-2-in-1-grass-hedge-trimmer/63778

I have one of these – only really used the hedge trimmer part – works ok but weighs a ton though after a while if you’ve got a lot of hedge to do. Beats doing it by hand though.
If I had the money though I’d have gone for the Stihl version – had been down the local Stihl dealer several times over the years to gaze wondrously at it before finally trudging dejectedly down to the local Screwfix to mingle with the rest of the great unwashed…..

Howsyourdad.
I’ve bought stuff that’s not even cheap but not as expensive as the good equipment. It just doesn’t last. If it’s petrol then it starts playing up after a year or so, if electric then it can last longer but once you look inside hedgecutter internals then the difference between bushings and bearings becomes evident. The cheap stuff is ok for a bit then chuck. The good stuff if looked after will do about 2-5years at professional workloads so a lifetime domestically and is kick ass quick.

He’s not a professional gardener though, jeez, 700 quid my arse.

My cheap mcculloch cabrio strimmer lasted nearly 10 years, doing my own garden.

I’d buy separates tbh though.

Actually the Stihl cam in the hedgdcutter is a bushing and runs ridiculously hot. The whole thing disintegrates after 2 years. The Ergo uses 2 bearings which are replaceable at £30. Nice one Ergo. It’s like bike stuff really. Got to work through the rubbish stuff until you know what actually works long term.

Yeah. It’s like telling a beginner cyclist they need a £7k ‘sled’.
I’m overly opinionated about my work kit. Understandable when you use it every day.

I’ve got a titan 2 stroke from Screwfix and it works really well and would definitely recommend it, would always go for petrol as you know when you come to use it the battery won’t be flat 😂

Yeah but petrol. Have you got fuel? How old is it? It loses volatility over time you know? Have you added 2 stroke mix? So there’s a bunch of questions/hassles.
Electric (I’m smiling to myself as I’ve been a vocal mtb ebike hater), is easier to store and have ready when you need it. If the battery is flat then 20mins sees you right. You ever had to battle with a recalcitrant 2 stroke?😄

I appreciate I’m overanslysing this. Humour me, I’ve had a beer and this is far removed from covid argument/gloom. Plus it’s something I know a bit about through hard won experience.
By the way I use hand sheers as well. All box work, topiary and cloud pruning, I prefer to feel every cut and be closely involved in the job. Powered kit is too aggressive in this situation.

Fair dos matey!

And then if you factor in your time.
I watch neighbours spend the whole afternoon doing a job that would take 10mins with my kit. (Often I can’t bear it and quickly do it for them).
So £700 over £350? Twice as good? No, 100 times as good.
Fox fork or Suntour? (probably not fair as I expect Suntour are ok these days).
You get the idea.

On beer 3 now!

My hedge trimmer is a Screwfix own brand electric thing, bought years ago and had absolutely zero maintenance and work fine trimming stuff in the garden. Absolutely fine for domestic use.

Yeah but petrol. Have you got fuel? How old is it? It loses volatility over time you know? Have you added 2 stroke mix? So there’s a bunch of questions/hassles.

Thanks for letting us know.
I’m 56 and have been using petrol mowers, strimmers, chain saws and God knows what else for a large part of my lifetime.
Each year I use stuff then put it away, without draining the fuel, for about 5 months until I need it again.
Amazingly not once have I had any of the issues you listed but now I know I’ll buy battery stuff.
🤷🏻‍♂️

Wait…I lie.
I have a 9hp petrol garden shredder that I haven’t used for 2 years.
Went to it a few weeks ago and it wouldn’t start even though it had fuel.
Removed the jet from the carb, cleaned it and put it back.
Started right up.

I use petrol Stihl for all the bigger/tougher/longer jobs and Worx battery kit for everything else mostly the 40V stuff, I prefer the battery kit to be honest, quieter more reliable I have a load of batteries and the van is setup to charge them when I am driving around anyway so costs me next to nothing.

I would never touch Screwfix Titan stuff, total crap in my opinion.

I garden for a living currently andf have been for the past 2.5 years….doing a computer science degree too so not sure I’d classify as a pro gardener ‘cos I don’t do it all day, but I have some City & Guilds tickets so am kind of qualified.

Anyway I have been using a Stihl km131r kombi unit. Very heavy, has vibes but is a real beast. Definitely not only for domestic use which is fine for me as I do heavier duty work too. But If I were to buy a domestic machine then I’d seriously consider the Makita DUX60. The batteries will work with all the other Makita tools. My problem is the drive shaft is incompatible with the square tipped drive shaft of the Stihl unit so my Stihl attachments won’t fit the Makita unit. Stihl do a battery unit but it’s not completely wire free as it needs attaching to a backpack battery.

Ego get good reviews although how many of those are by people who sell the Ego products I couldn’t say. Not a brand I’d go for personally.

Echo are good quality and they do both a battery and a petrol split shaft unit. I’d definitley consider their kit.

Shindaiwa are like Echo…same company but slight variations on their kit. Still very good quality.

Ryobi are like a cheap Stihl so it might be worth looking at their expand-it range as I’m sure they’d be fine for domestic duties. Their attachments are meant to be compatible with Stihls too. Stihl are better quality though.

Honda’s versa tool is four stroke which is unusual. Good quality, heavier than two stroke and again probably ott for domestic use.

Husqvarna do good battery kit so well worth a look at.

I’d say go Makita. They’ve been in the battery game longer than most. Pricey but shouldn’t be a throw away item and yet still better value than a lot of the above brands.